MRK 240 Take Two

Here we go agaaaainnnnnn!

Select one of the following companies in order to answer questions 1 through 4:a. Ralph Lauren b. Rolex c. Hollister d. Coach e. Mercedes-Benz
1. Explain how the company you selected uses each element of the marketing communications mix to promote its products. (Hint: Explore the company’s website and conduct a web search using the company name along with terms like marketing, advertising, sales, and public relations. Also investigate popular magazines and TV programs where you think you might find mention of the company. )
2. Identify areas where this company is not using a specific element of the marketing communications mix and suggest ways it can improve.
3. Describe this company’s position and contrast it to the position of its major competitors.
4. List the specific media, groups, and individuals that can be considered connectors for this company.

In completing this assignment and keeping up with betsyskotchblogs.blogspot.com, I had to choose Coach as the company to examine.

By the way, from coach.com:

…and from my own personal collection:

(Just because I’m completely in love with it.)

Doing this was actually a lot more difficult than I had thought that it would be. Companies are actually pretty good in disguising their marketing mix with things such as a Mission Statement, or company policies or whatever else. It was really only after getting in depth with some of these things that I was really able to see the real mix.

First of all, since this blog is read by some non-marketing people, I looked up an easy definition of the marketing communication mix, just so that there’d be some background to go on, and then worked from that. So, without further ado:

(Borrowed from http://www.davedolak.com/)

The Marketing Communications Mix is the specific mix of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing a company uses to pursue its advertising and marketing objectives.

Definitions:
Advertising - Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
Sales promotion - Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

In looking at Coach, I found their spring ad campaign, which is as follows:

(from Nitrolicious.com)

Basically, these ads, as well as the rest, which can be found on my blog, are promoting Coach’s spring collection, with the centerpieces being the purse, jewelry and clothing. They are not directed at any one person, but are the spring highlighted pieces.

Personal selling for Coach can be seen in-store. Sales associates will greet you as soon as you walk into the store, and be sure that if you are looking for something in particular, such as a particular item that you saw online, that they will help you find it. They will also suggest items, and let you know if anything new has come in, or if they are expecting any new products coming in.

The website, though, also has what can be argued as person selling. There are options to click on, such as “Try this bag on,” which you can click, tell the program your height, and it will show you a simulation of what that particular bag and its dimensions would look like on your particular dimensions, which I think is a really neat idea.

The website also has some other personal options, such as signing up for Coach’s email list, and searching for items by price, how to wear it, color, size, and type of bag.

Sales promotions are interesting with Coach. The website doesn’t exactly showcase sale items or boast a “bug a large bag, get a matching clutch half off!” deal. But, in thinking about it, I found that it was staring me in the face…

(Coach.com home page)

Right now, they are promoting their spring collection through their ads. The hottest looks for spring are coming out RIGHT NOW, so you better hop on them, or be left in the dust with this winter’s looks.

The Public Relations for Coach were really fun to look into. In the customer service tab at the bottom of their website, I clicked on “Investor Relations” which lead to the company’s mission statement, company profile and global business integrity program.

Coach’s mission statement is as follows:

Coach seeks to be the leading brand of quality lifestyle accessories offering classic, modern American styling.
The Coach brand represents a unique synthesis of magic and logic that stands for quality, authenticity, value and a truly aspirational, distinctive American style. Everything we make, advocate or engage in reflects the attributes of the brand.
Our responsibility to our internal and external customers calls for impeccable service to ensure that their needs are always met. By treating customers like guests in our own home, we seek to establish long-term relationships based on trust and satisfaction.
Our success is rooted in uncompromising devotion to honesty and fairness where our people, our business and our community are concerned. We stand behind our products, staking our name and reputation on everything that we make.
We constantly challenge ourselves to be the very best we can in every aspect of our business. We strive to be a nimble and flexible organization committed to increasing consumer and shareholder value.
Our brand flourishes through our people. Coach brings together strong, collaborative people in a dynamic culture of mutual respect, support and passion for our brand and product. Our team bands together in the face of adversity and celebrates our victories.
In stating all of the values, and using words such as customer satisfaction, integrity, innovation and collaboration, they are building themselves up in the eyes of their customers and potential investors.

Some other gems come from the company profile:

Coach was founded in 1941 as a family-run workshop. In a Manhattan loft, six artisans handcrafted a collection of leather goods using skills handed down from generation to generation. Discerning consumers soon began to seek out the quality and unique nature of Coach craftsmanship.

This opening of the profile shows that Coach is “family-run” with hard-working people, another statement which builds up the company in the eyes of the consumer.

And, finally, by even having a global business integrity program, Coach is once again building up their image in good public relations with their customers.

Direct Marketing was the hardest thing to identify with Coach. There is the email signup, and the catalogue request, both of which come directly to interested customers. And, I’m willing to bet that if you are a big enough customer, as in celebrity status, Coach is willing to bend to your every whim. So, you really could say that personalized clothing for these people are a result of direct marketing.

Coach, in my eyes, struggle in the sales promotion and direct marketing areas of the marketing communications mix. Really, with the name Coach, though, they don’t NEED to hold specific sales promotions, or hold direct marketing. The name is really strong.

However, promoting the sales of a certain bag or a certain bag designer would help to boost sales of Coach. Offering a promotion like the aforementioned “buy a large bag, get a matching clutch half off!” or even say, 10% off would get people into the stores. The clutches are usually priced at about $90, so even with 10% off, they are still making a great deal of money.

Direct marketing would be so easy for Coach with technology. If I were to purchase a bag online, and then purchase another one later by the same designer, they might implement something like amazon.com does with their email list. An email saying, “Hey Betsy Skotch, we saw that you like the Zoe bags, and a new one is coming out,” is perfect for me, and gets me thinking that Coach actually cares about little old me.

Even keeping track of sizes or shapes of the bags that I buy and then suggesting new ones to me would be great. And also suggesting matching or coordinating accessories would help with Coach’s direct marketing.

According to icmrindia.com, Coach’s positioning is rare. “From its inception, Coach's product strategy was to produce timeless, classic pieces which would not be subject to the vagaries of fashion. In keeping with this strategy, Coach generally did not change its designs to suit the trend of the moment. Because of this, Coach's leather goods were identified with classic and elegant designs, rather than being known as fashionable.

However, despite staying away from fashion trends, what set Coach apart from its competitors was that it offered durable and functional handbags in superior quality leather. It was said that the average life of Coach handbags was around 15 years, and when maintained well, they could last well up to 40 years. Coach also offered lifetime service to its customers. The company offered repair services and also replaced some parts of Coach products for free, with the customer bearing only the shipping cost.”

Coach is dedicated to their products and stands by them. They also focus mainly on their handbags, as opposed to clothing and accessories.

Some of Coach’s competitors, such as Dooney & Bourke, Kate Spade, and Michael Kors have similar positioning, but have some distinctions.

Dooney & Bourke bags seem to be popular with the younger crowd, such as high school students, or young celebrities such as Miley Cyrus or Hayden Panettiere, whereas Coach seems to be aimed at the college-aged to late 30’s crowd with money to spend.

Kate Spade on the other hand seems to be aimed at the crowd that is older than both the Dooney & Bourke lovers and Coach fiends due to the simplicity of Spade’s designs.Finally, Michael Kors is on the way high end, and does everything from bags to glasses to footware in the high fashion industry, wheras it could be argued that while Coach is high end, that they do not cater solely to the stars and the insanely wealthy.

If you are wearing Coach, just like many other brands, you are a walking advertisement for their company. The more people that Coach has buying their products, the more brand awareness there will be. You will rarely see me without my Coach purse or even my Coach wristlet, which is common for many women my age when you see them out shopping or at bars or wherever.
Specific media that can definitely be used by Coach are definitely print ads in magazines such as Vogue, Marie Claire and Glamour, and possibly even in Cosmopolitan.

A really interesting outlet that would by a great connector for Coach is the idea of Reality television. Shows such as “America’s Next Top Model” would be a great way for Coach to get more advertisements made, as well as be the center of a television show. Even reality shows such as the Real World/Road Rules challenges on MTV where the winners of a certain event get prizes, getting a Coach prize would be a wonderful opportunity to get the Coach name out.