Advertising: Strategy and Effective Practice

Advertising: Strategy and Effective Practice

Canon IXUS 100

Group: NGUYEN TRUNG TRANG (Black)LI YI ZHEN (Bunny)LIN WEN TING (Echo)LIN SHU (Sarah)

Batch Number: DMCD2 0948ANov 20th, 2009

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Submitted as a part requirement of Diploma in Mass Communication

INDEX

1. Situation Analysis

2. Target Audience

3.Communication Objective

4. IMC Plan

5. Evaluation Plan

6. References

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1. Situation Analysis

1. Internal Analysis

History

The company we know today as Canon was first founded in 1933, as a small street side shop called Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory. The founders, Goro Yoshida and Saburo Uchida, started the company in order to produce a 35-millimetre rangefinder camera.

The first camera the company develop went by the name “ Kwanon” , after a Buddhist Bodhisattva . Although three version of this camera were marketed and as many as ten were said to be in production, none were ever sold on a large commercial scale.

Although Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory had developed a camera, it had failed to develop a lens. The company decided to partner with Japan Optical Industries, the company we now know as Nikon. This company had developed a camera lens under the name” Nikkor”

1939: Precision Optical Instruments Laboratory released its first camera to the commercial market: the Hansa Canon. The first X-ray cameras.

1969: The Company’s name is changed to Canon Inc.

2007: Canon Europe’s 50th anniversary.

Nowadays, the company produces digital compact and SLR cameras, printers and analog and digital copiers for the office, together with its line of image Runner and image Press digital multifunctional devices.

2008: Canon was awarded over 2000 patents in the U.S; it regular places in the top five in total patents for the year.

The strengths and weaknesses of the product

a. The strengths :

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Canon strengths its reputation of excellence by unleashing a new compact digital camera, slimmest ever in IXUS model. Featuring 12,1 megapixel with 3x optical zoom, cannon IXUS 100 IS sports a 2,5-inch pure color LCD with a smart auto mode which uses canon’s scene detection technology to ease users to tough shots. Canon Ixus 100 Is also features a striking 18,4mm wide stainless steel body finished in a choice of silver, black, gold or red replacing its previous release.

The new Canon IXUS 100 IS Digital Camera features:

* Ultra-slim IXUS design* 12.1 MP* 3.0x optical zoom with optical IS* Smart Auto mode with Scene Detection Technology* DIGIC 4* Motion Detection Technology* Face Detection Technology* 2.5-inch PureColor LCD II* i-Contrast* HD Movies (1280×720, 30fps) and HDMI connection.

b. The weaknesses:

2. External Analysis:

2.1 History of the SONY:

In 1945, after World War II, Masaru Ibuka started a radio repair shop in a bombed-out building in Tokyo. The next year, he was joined by his colleague Akio Morita and they founded a company called Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo K.K. The company built Japan's first tape recorder called the Type-G.

In the early 1950s, Ibuka traveled to the United States and heard about Bell Labs' invention of the transistor. He convinced Bell to license the transistor technology to his Japanese company. While most American companies were researching the transistor for its military applications, Ibuka looked to apply it to communications. Although the American companies Regency and Texas Instruments built the first transistor radios, it was Ibuka's company that made them commercially successful for the first time. In August 1955, Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering released the Sony TR-55, Japan's first commercially produced transistor radio. They followed up in December of the same year by releasing the Sony TR-72, a product that won favor both within Japan and in export markets, including Canada, Australia, the Netherlands and Germany. Featuring six transistors, push-pull output and greatly improved sound quality, the TR-72 continued to be a popular seller into the early sixties.

University of Arizona professor Michael Brian Schiffer, Ph.D., says, "Sony was not first, but its transistor radio was the most successful. The TR-63 of 1957 cracked open

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the U.S. market and launched the new industry of consumer microelectronics." By the mid 1950s, American teens had begun buying portable transistor radios in huge numbers, helping to propel the fledgling industry from an estimated 100,000 units in 1955 to 5,000,000 units by the end of 1968.

Sony's headquarters moved to Minato, Tokyo from Shinagawa, Tokyo around the end of 2006.

The name "Sony" was chosen for the brand as a mix of two words. One was the Latin word Sonus which is the root of "sonic" and "sound" and the other was "sonny", a familiar term used in 1950s America to call a boy. Morita pushed for a word that does not exist in any language so that they could claim the word "Sony" as their own (which paid off when they successfully sued a candy producer using the name, who claimed that "Sony" was an existing word in some language).

At the time of the change, it was extremely unusual for a Japanese company to use Roman letters instead of kanji to spell its name. The move was not without opposition: TTK's principal bank at the time, Mitsui, had strong feelings about the name. They pushed for a name such as Sony Electronic Industries, or Sony Teletech. Akio Morita was firm, however, as he did not want the company name tied to any particular industry. Eventually, both Ibuka and Mitsui Bank's chairman gave their approval.

2.2 Evaluate the product with Sony’s products:

Specification

Model Digital IXUS 100 IS    DSC-T900  DSC-T300/R

Recommended Retail Price* Street price varies

SGD 469.00  SGD 679.00  SGD 499.00

Effective Pixels Approx 12.1 Million pixels (CCD)

 Approx. 12.1 Mega Pixels

 Approx. 10.1 Mega Pixels

Effective ISO Auto, ISO 80/100/200/400/800/1600

 Auto, ISO80-1600

 Auto, ISO 80-1600

Movie Mode Standard, Color Accent, Color Swap:

 1280 x 720, 30fps,

 640 x 480, 30fps,640 x 480,

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HD 1280 x 720 (30 fps), 640 x 480 (30fps) / 320 x 240 (30fps)

Approx.9Mbps 1280 x 720, 30fps, Approx.6Mbps

16.6fps, 320 x 240, 8.3fps

Optical Zoom / Digital Zoom

Approx. 4.0x, Safety Zoom, Digital Tele-converter

Approx, 4.0x  Approx, 5.0x

Memory Card TYPE

SD memory card, SDHC memory card, MultiMediaCard, MMCplus card, HC MMCplus card

Memory Stick Duo / Memory Stick PRO Duo / Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed) / Memory Stick PRO-HG Duo

 Memory Stick Memory Stick Duo / Memory Stick PRO Duo / Memory Stick PRO Duo (High Speed)

Compare to the same line product of Sony, our product has more convenient and modern functions than others so that customers have to spend a larger budget to buy our competitor’s product.

Past and current advertising & promotional program

This product has only been in the market for more than a month, and we have already given out cases along with memory cards upon purchase. It has not been very effective as the promotion is quite new and unattractive. Apart from that, we also hold a Stylebook Contest to create awareness and free publicity.

2. The Target Market and Target Audience

Canon IXUS 100 IS suits almost everyone from the age of 18 to 29. This is the range that people travel the most in their lives. Our camera with a lot of useful and easy functions would be the best companion to be with you on your trip. The price is reasonable and affordable comparing to other competing products on the same range and similar functions this is almost the cheapest.

Various shoot modes allow anyone to take a picture at anytime anywhere. Singapore is a country of multi-nationality, multi-religion and they love to travel. What is better than a Canon IXUS 100 IS to capture the best moments that you never want to miss?

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The four colors for you to choose allow anyone to get to their style. Even businessmen can also use this in black or silver color. Usually young people will go for red, but the new color golden is also not a bad choice.

The design is simple, stylish and modern, appealing best to youngsters. The youth love technology products, they would love to carry a IXUS 100 around to show their style and design their own pictures or scrapbooks. Only 18.4mm, it would take no bigger place than a Blackberry.

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3. Communication Objective

This IMC program aims to reach out to the target audience in the best simplest way and generate profit. By using mass media we would like to create brand awareness and loyalty

4. The IMC Strategy

IMC Tools

In order to reach out to the target audience stated above, we would definitely use advertising first. Advertising is the most effective way to create awareness among loyal and potential customers. Our plan is to expand advertising internationally as this product appeals to most people. We will use big posters for our outlets, shopping malls, on public transport (buses and bus stops), television commercials (15 seconds), and online ads. Widespread advertisements help us to reach out to a large number of audiences in order to generate good purchasing behavior.

Secondly, we would like to combine these advertisements with a sales promotion. Canon IXUS 100 IS is a new product on the market; which means it will be compared to many other competitor’s similar products. With a simple sales promotion we give out free Kingston 2GB memory card upon each purchase, anyone who wants a good camera especially suited for traveling as well as keeping family pictures will not miss this chance. On the other hand, we will give our customers free 2 cases: travel case and water-proof case, giving them the opportunity to discover the excitement of taking pictures underwater.

Hand in hand with advertising, our sponsorship would also be a great way to create free publicity. We will sponsor big programs, quiz shows, art shows not just to increase awareness but also to strengthen the image in consumer’s minds.

Last but not least, Direct Marketing is a great way to “aperture” the audience. Consumers can directly order and get delivered to house by our website. Op top of that, questions will be provided to see if they are satisfied.

Media Vehicle

For advertising and sponsorship we would choose television and public transportation. Radio is not relevant in the sense that the audience has to imagine too much. In their mind a camera is a camera; we need to show them how good it looks and how unique it is comparing to others. Besides we also want to use Internet – one of the cheapest and fastest. By the way, through Internet we would receive feedbacks

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from the customers. In this way we would be able to keep up with the pace of new demands from them.

Print Ad & Creative appeal

In comparison with other cameras in the same range, Canon IXUS 100 IS is considered the slimmest, with two extra mega pixels – more than the latest model. We want to impress our audience not by appearance but quality and guarantee. As simple as that, we just want to show our customers a clear message: This is your best choice.

The major features of the camera are highlighted in radial format: slim, mega pixel, 3 kinds of detection application, etc. Below the camera is 4 colors for the customers’ choice and the word “easy” is stated right in the middle, catching the eye of the target audience.

As in Television and Radio Production, we learnt the Rule of the Thirds. It simply means the trisection of the camera. This rule is especially strictly applied

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Media Schedule:

Media Vehicles

October November December1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4 1 2 3 4

Channel 51 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 1

Channel U1 1 2 2 1 1 1 1 3 3 2 1

Channel News Asia 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 1 1

Strait Timesx x x x

Canon Website (Direct

Marketing)x x x x x x x x x x x x

Sales Promotionx x x x

Public Transportx x x x

In the first month we advertise mostly on TV. The Canon Website will be constantly updating about the new product to reach out as many as possible. The TVC is simply a message of 15 seconds introducing the product to the market/

In November, TV ads will be reduced. To increase awareness and trigger the potential customers to buy the product, we start to advertise on newspapers and public transports.

The month of December is the month of shopping. We will impress the consumers by giving our promotion: Memory Card 2GB Kingston. Along with sales promotions, we

5. Evaluation Plan

Advertising

The sales record will definitely tell how effective the advertisements are. If the sales drop, it could result from lack of creativity in ads or too few ads reached target customers. Usually after 2 weeks of advertisements the sales will go up, but creative appeal in ads will keep getting new customers to come and buy the product. Sales promotion

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As long as the consumers are happy with the offer, the sales record will increase tremendously. It will hit a peak in the middle of the moth of promotion and then slowly come down as the promotion is going to be over. The sales record then would be compared to other programs to see if it is a better way to attract potential and loyal customers.

Sponsorship

To be a sponsor of an event, there are a lot to evaluate. First thing first, we have to evaluate the event: is it interesting? How many people attended? How do the people feel after the event? If it can attract, impress and satisfy a lot of people, it means that our sponsorship is good and the event should continue to be sponsored.

Direct marketing

By questions given below, we will develop a survey online in our website, facebook, yahoo and some others to see how people react to the new product. We also have to look at how many orders and deliveries do we have. In the middle of the month of December there will be a lot of orders, but they can still be canceled if the customer doesn’t like the product anymore. On the other hand, based on number of deliveries, we can compare it to other competitors to see if the delivery system is relevant or not. Maybe our delivery time is too long, or the forms are too complicated, those will discourage potential customers to purchase our products.

Our survey will include questions as:

What features of our camera do you like most?

What is its bad function? Any ways to improve this?

What do you expect in our future products?

How about our design? Do you like it? What is your feeling when you first see it?

Do you think this new camera is suitable and comfortable for every activity?

Do you think this price is worthy of the product?

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6. References

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