Applying IMC Strategy
Running head: APPLYING IMC STRATEGY
Applying Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy
to Strategic Market Planning: Implications for the Role of
Communications in Building and Maintaining
Brand Equity
Saravudh Anantachart*
University of Florida
Division
Advertising
*Saravudh Anantachart <[log in to unmask]> is a doctoral student,
College of Journalism and Communications, University of Florida, Gainesville,
Florida 32611. The author wishes to thank John Sutherland for his helpful
comments on various stages of this research.
Applying Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy to Strategic Market
Planning: Implications for the Role of Communications in Building and
Maintaining
Brand Equity
Abstract
This article links the integrated marketing communications (IMC) concept to the
planning process in marketing. As the integration of messages and media, IMC
strategy is applied to an established strategic market planning model, the
Boston Consulting Group (BCG)'s growth-share matrix. Alternative portfolio
strategies are identified from the product portfolio analysis. The view may
also be thought as the on-going process of building and maintaining consumer
brand equity. Conceptual findings are expected to help marketers think more
strategically as they plan IMC programs for their products and services.
Applying Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy to Strategic Market
Planning: Implications for the Role of Communications in Building and
Maintaining
Brand Equity
Marketing in the 1990s is communication and communication is marketing.
Don E. Schultz
The concept of integrated marketing communications (IMC) has become widely
accepted among practitioners and academicians in both fields of marketing and
mass communication, e.g., advertising, public relations. The IMC idea is to
strategically coordinate all sources of information regarding a product or
service in order to optimize the impact of these communications tools on target
audiences (Duncan & Caywood, 1996; Thorson & Moore, 1996). It is the
combination of all marketing communications efforts in an integrated way to
maximize communication effects. For this integration to occur, marketing and
communications functions must be strategically worked together for the
organization to become integrated (Schultz, Tannenbaum, & Lauterborn, 1993).
From a strategic planning perspective, when marketers create plans for their
products and services, IMC should be simultaneously considered an integral part
of their marketing plan. Research on the "orchestration" of these elements is
limited. There are many conceptual papers but a few have actually gathered and
analyzed data on this topic. The lack of research stems partially from lack of
a theoretical perspective.
The purpose of this paper is to illustrate to develop a theoretical
perspective for this research as well as illustrate how IMC might be used within
the strategic marketing planning area. According to Bell (1982), the product
portfolio approach has been well-accepted. Specifically, the well-known Boston
Consulting Group (BCG)'s growth-share matrix is used as the product portfolio
framework. The integration of IMC and the product portfolio approach also has
implications for the role of communications in creating and maintaining brand
equity (Biel, 1993; Keller, 1996).
IMC Principles
There are a variety of definitions of IMC. These conceptualizations fall into
three primary perspectives: (1) the audience perspective, (2) integration of
messages and media, and (3) evaluation of outcomes (Cathey & Schumann, 1996).
The integration of messages and media is the one used most often. This
perspective focuses on contact points at which a consumer is exposed to
information relating to a brand. Among advocates, Belch and Belch (1993)
conceptualize IMC as the integration and coordination of all marketing and
promotional efforts of a company, e.g., media advertisement, packaging, price,
direct marketing, to take advantage of the synergy among them to project a
consistent and unified image to the marketplace. In addition, the American
Association of Advertising Agencies (4As) defines IMC as the planning activity
that recognizes that added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the
strategic roles of various communications vehicles and combine them to provide
clarity, consistency, and maximum communication impact (Schultz, 1993a).
From this perspective, integration requires maintaining a clear and consistent
image, position, message, and theme across all marketing communications tools.
This has been named one voice marketing communications (Nowak & Phelps, 1994;
Phelps, Plumley, & Johnson, 1994). A single positioning (one voice) concept for
a brand is decided at the beginning of a marketing and communications planning
process. When planning the specific actions to take, communications tools are
typically utilized to achieve integrated objectives. Examples of these
communications tools are shown in Table 1.
[Insert Table 1 about here]
Fundamental IMC Tools: Advertising, Public Relations, and Sales Promotion
From an integrated approach, advertising serves to create, build, or maintain a
long term image for a brand, and it may sometimes generate quick sales if the
campaign has the high impact. Advertising is generally used to reach numerous
groups of consumers in various geographical areas with a lower cost when
compared with other types of communications. Besides, it allows a message to be
repeated (frequency).
In recent years, public relations become another type of marketing
communications that marketers have talked about and included it as one of the
effective marketing tools to reach target markets and public as well. Public
relations permits a product or a company to utilize a source credibility through
media to persuade consumers and public. At the same time, it can be used to
reach other group of people or prospects that may not be accessible by
advertising (Drobis, 1993). Finally, like advertising, public relations has a
potential for dramatizing a brand or company (Kotler, 1994).
Sales promotion is usually used to capture the consumers' interest at the
point of purchase and provide incentives for short-term behavior. It can create
stronger and quicker sales than other types of marketing communications efforts.
However, its effect mostly works in the short term and it may not be effective
in the long-term brand building activities.
IMC Principles and Process
Haytko (1996) proposed that the basic principles for success in integrating
marketing communications strategies are (1) coordination of talents and ideas of
each tool, (2) consistency among both internal and external organization, and
(3) complementarity of a proposed IMC campaign. Schultz and his colleagues
(Schultz, 1993b; Schultz & Barnes, 1995; Schultz, Tannenbaum, & Lauterborn,
1993) suggested specific steps for integrating their marketing communications
programs. First, the integration should start at the top management of a
company because it has the authority to make a big change in the company.
Second, the organization should be viewed from an outside-in approach; looking
at integration from the consumer or prospect's view, rather than inside-out.
Third, marketing and communications must have shared objectives, allowing
communications to lead marketing activities when the company is responding to
customers. Finally, Schultz (1994) brings the concept of return on investment
(ROI) from a financial practice to measure the effectiveness of any IMC
campaign.
Appropriate integrating marketing communications tools are needed to
achieve stated objectives. These tools may be single tools, composites of
multiple tools, multiple audiences, multiple stages, and a coordination
mechanism (Deighton, 1996). The strategic planning process of IMC program
should start with (1) identifying all target audiences relevant to the
achievement of the product or service sales/marketing objectives,
(2) segmenting the audiences on the basis of stage in the purchase decision
cycle,
(3) determining messages and communications tools to reach each segment of the
targets, and (4) allocating resources to reach these targets (Moore & Thorson,
1996). In addition, from the strategic perspective, coordination of the
messages and communications tools can be stressed in two different approaches.
Executional integration concentrates on the consistency of communications
messages (Petrison & Wang, 1996). Planning integration ensures that each type
of tools is employed to its best effect (Petrison & Wang, 1996).
After integrating all the communications elements, and implementing them to the
targets, managers need to evaluate the impact of the IMC campaign. Katz and
Lendrevie (1996) propose an approach to measure IMC by examining different kinds
of consumer exposure: media exposures, product impressions, and personal
contacts. It sounds to be a new useful way to measure IMC effectiveness. In
addition, Baldinger (1996), a researcher from the Advertising Research
Foundation (ARF) utilizes the last three steps of the ARF six-stage
model--recall, communication, and persuasion--to measure the impact of the IMC
campaign. By modifying the Foote, Cone & Belding (FCB) grid and applying it
with the result from his copy-testing research, the researcher comes up with the
multiple measures of persuasion for the IMC campaign.
Brand Equity and IMC
From an individual consumer perspective, brand equity may be defined as "the
differential effect that brand knowledge has on consumer response to the
marketing of the brand" (Keller, 1996, p. 104). It is considered an essential
concept for brand management nowadays. Brand equity is composed of brand
awareness (brand recall and brand recognition) and brand image (strength,
favorability, and uniqueness of brand associations). The roles of IMC in
enhancing brand equity can be characterized into two parts. The first is to
establish the brand in consumer's memory and link strong, favorable, and unique
associations to it. Second, marketers can create consumer motivation, ability,
and opportunity to process persuasive messages and retrieve brand information
from memory when making a brand choice.
Building brand equity requires time and money. Consumers will feel and think
about a brand after marketers spend their resources to advertise and promote the
brand over a period of time. Theoretically, an IMC brand will develop equity
even if the consumers does not try the brand. Companies must maintain
consistency in their message and tone by integrating all their marketing
communications in order to keep going and reinforce the brand image (Arens &
Bovee, 1994). All marketing communications are considered a contribution to the
brand building activities and a part of the long-term investment in the
reputation of the brand (Biel, 1993).
Brand equity is the added value brought by a brand while brand image is
described as the cluster of attributes and associations that consumers connect
to the brand name (Biel, 1993). Keller (1991, p. 7) also defined brand image as
"consumer perceptions about a brand as reflected by the brand associations that
consumers hold in memory." Park, Jaworski, and MacInnis (1986) added that brand
image is not a perceptual phenomenon affected by marketer's communication
activities alone. Park et al. (1986, p. 135) extended that "[i]t is the
understanding consumers derive from the total set of brand-related activities
engaged in by the firm." Therefore, the equity of a brand is driven by brand
image (Biel, 1993). Kirmani and Zeithaml (1993) reported that brand equity and
brand image are highly related terms because marketers must attempt to influence
consumer perceptions of a product or develop a positive brand image in order to
build brand equity.
Besides direct and indirect personal experience to a brand, marketing
communications is an essential source of image. It can manipulate the meanings
linked with the brand. Marketing communications, e.g., advertising, also
reflects and forms the brand image. It can generate awareness, letting
consumers know the product exists, increasing the probability that the product
would be included in the consumer's evoked sets, affecting perceived brand
value, and creating an image that influences how consumers view the product
(Cobb-Walgren, Ruble, & Donthu, 1995). In the consumer's mind, brand image is
created through brand associations to the consumer relates the brand to other
concepts both favorable and unfavorable. The classic example is the "Marlboro
man," a uniquely American warrior and a symbol of America's pioneering spirit.
It has been used in Marlboro advertising for almost 40 years. This shows that
the brand is the expression of products and it will exist only through
communications. Marketing communications, in general, plays a vital role in
maintaining and enhancing the value of the brand in the long term.
Since brand equity at the consumer's level deals with associations in the mind
of consumer (Keller, 1991; Srivastava & Shocker, 1991), marketing communications
can influence brand equity in two ways (Edell, 1993). First, communications can
influence consumer's brand attitude, an overall evaluation to the brand measured
as the sum of multiple evaluation scales regarding the advertised product.
Specifically, it can enhance positive evaluation and attitudes (Farquhar, 1989).
Second, communications can influence brand equity by influencing a consumer's
memory structure for a brand. If the brand can be immediately retrieved from
the consumer's memory, it shows a highly accessible association between
advertising and the brand. In other words, it is the value of brand equity
(Edell, 1993; Herr & Fazio, 1993).
Product Portfolio Management
Generally, the objective of tools developed for strategic market planning is to
help a company select and organize its businesses in a way that can make profits
for the company in the long run. Among the techniques, a portfolio matrix has
been the popular one since it can be initiated by using any pair of indicators
to compare strategic positions of a company's businesses. One of the best known
portfolio techniques is the growth-share matrix developed in the late 1970s by
the Boston Consulting Group (BCG), a leading management consulting company.
This approach has later been used among marketing practitioners, and widely
described in the literature both journals (e.g., Day, 1977; Hedley, 1977), and
strategic management and market planning textbooks (e.g., Abell & Hammond, 1979;
Kotler, 1994; Thompson & Strickland, 1993). The BCG's product portfolio matrix
is basically a two-dimensional display comparing the strategic positions of a
company's diversified business investments (Thompson & Strickland, 1993). The
matrix allows business and marketing strategists to develop plans which reflect
the need of each unit of business and business as a whole (Bell, 1982). This
perspective should also have an impact on planning the integrated marketing
communications for each unit in the company.
Figure 1 shows the growth-share matrix for a company which has four strategic
business units (SBUs)--A, B, C, and D. They represent company brands or product
lines. The position of each business unit, or brand or product line, is plotted
on the basis of its market growth rate (high or low) and relative market share
(high or low). Market growth rate, along the vertical axis, indicates the
annual growth rate of the industry. A middle range of market growth rate is
about 10 percent (Abell & Hammond, 1979). Relative market share, along the
horizontal axis, is a ratio of a business's market share to market share of the
leader in that industry. It can be divided into high and low relative market
share by using 1.0 as the middle line (Abell & Hammond, 1979).
[Insert Figure 1 about here]
IMC Strategy and Product Portfolio Management
Product portfolio management enhances the application of IMC strategy and
provides a framework for research on the integration of IMC with marketing and
other sales efforts. IMC strategy, i.e., advertising, public relations, and
sales promotion, can be developed according to the cell in which the brand
rests. In other words, one can generalize the integrated marketing
communications strategy from each matrix position shown in Figure 1 (A, B, C,
and D). Likewise, one could infer that a company is using IMC if its strategies
fit what would be expected for the location of its brand(s). Table 2 presents
the natures of each brand or business unit, overall marketing strategy for each
situation, IMC strategy composed of advertising, public relations, and sales
promotion, and stages in brand building.
[Insert Table 2 about here]
Problem Child. Problem child (A) is a business unit in the high growth
market, but it has relatively low market share. Although the business in this
stage has little market share, it has a potential to become profitable business
since the growth rate in this market is high and there is a few competitors in
the market. The problem child business generates low cash flow and low profit
margin, and it needs more investment to push the business to survive or move it
to another stage. Typically, innovations or new products for any company may
fall into this situation.
Therefore, to respond to the marketing objective in expanding a brand's
market share to become a star, marketing communications efforts should be
focused on investing in share building activities. Advertising is often the
main strategy in creating brand awareness through mass media. Public relations
activities, e.g., press conference, press release, may also help creating
awareness among prospects and publics. In addition, sales promotion activities
encourage trial, for examples, by giving free samples, coupons. Therefore,
brand equity building may be created in the process through the communications
activities that let consumers aware of, and have knowledge and experience toward
the brand.
However, a challenge with a problem child is the shortage of the
availability of funds to invest in IMC activities because the business has
relatively low cash generated; nevertheless, it needs an intensive investment to
move it (Bell, 1982). In addition, brand building activities does not have an
immediate result; they have the long-term effect (Aaker, 1992). It may be hard
to receive enough investment to put all the brands that the company has in this
situation. Hence, some poor problem children may be divested.
Star. Star (B) indicates a growth brand, high market growth rate, and,
high market share. A star position indicates an opportunity for high return on
marketing investments. Such a brand should generate high sales and high margin.
However, since it is in the market that has high growth rate, it need may need
additional investments of cash to maintain a rate of growth consistent with the
market. Such investments could include improved delivery, quality, product
support, or price reduction (Abell & Hammond, 1979). The marketing goals for a
star are to hold the high market share that the company have had, and to build
market share by attracting a new group of prospect users and increasing
consumption of current users. Products that fall into this situation usually
are new product forms, or new product line extensions (Bell, 1982).
For a star brand, IMC should concentrate on activities that facilitate
share growth. The strategic focus of advertising and public relations is quite
different from that of the problem child. Since the number of competitors in
the market is likely growing rapidly, the star brand needs to protect market
share as well as build share by differentiating itself from its competitors.
Advertising and public relations can build image of the brand and company. Or
to explain it in another way, value or equity of the brand is built through
advertising and public relations. Sales promotions may also incorporate by
creating preference among current users and enhancing trial among prospects.
Cash Cow. C or cash cow shows a brand with high market share in a stable
market. In fact, the number of competitors in the market may even be beginning
to decline. However, because a cash cow is established in the market, it can
enjoy high margin and highly positive cash flow. A cash cow is considered the
financial source for other business units in the same company. The brand in
this stage itself needs relatively little investment to generate market share
due to the low growth rate of the market.
Marketing strategy for a cash cow is to hold market share, and to maintain
market dominance and strong cash flows. Since the market becomes more
segmented, mass communication is less important (Bell, 1982). In the mature
situation, the combination of IMC strategy is changed; the budget is reduced.
To survive in the long run, the company must bring cash generated from the cash
cow to invest in the stars and some problem children to make them move toward
this stage. The sales of the current cash cow will decline and be deleted in
the long run.
Trade advertising and sales promotion become more important than consumer
advertising and public relations in help holding and maintaining the share
(Bell, 1982). Trade advertising is intended to push more products to the
retailers while sales promotion activities are used to increase brand switching
among the brand's non-users. At the same time, consumer advertising and public
relations are still needed to remind current consumers in order to keep them and
maintain market share of the brand. Brand equity created in the first two steps
may be needed to maintain here through advertising and public relations.
Dog. Dog (D) is a brand with low market share in a low growth market.
Typically, a brand in this situation generates low profit margin and low
positive cash flow. There is little need to invest in the market since it is
the declining market; no more newcomers enter into the market. The number of
competitors is also reduced. The appropriate marketing strategy is basically to
harvest or liquidate the brand. However, in the other aspect, there may be an
opportunity for the company to implement a niche strategy, focusing on a
specific part of the market where the consumers have special needs that can be
served (Bell, 1982).
If a marketer decides to remove the brand from the market, IMC will have a
limited, if any, role. However, the marketer decides to try a niche strategy,
the IMC budget will be minimized by the size of the niche group. Advertising,
public relations, and sales promotion activities are needed to run, but in the
limited area, media, budget, or size. Through an effective IMC, it may help
maintaining niche consumers from the pressure to follow other consumers to
switch to new brands. For instance, the marketers may use selective and
insightful advertising to reassure and remind the consumers about the brand, and
simultaneously employ public relations to retain the company image.
The value of the brand, or brand equity, in this stage becomes minimal; it
needs to be maintain through the marketing activities, and/or may be needed to
recreate to bring it back to be alive again. Otherwise, it will die finally.
Discussion
Product Portfolio Strategies
From the applications of IMC strategy to various types of situations which
have different levels of market growth rate and relative market share, a company
may have all business units or brands in each of the cells as shown in Figure 2.
The company should have one or more cash cows (C1 and/or C2) that can generate
enough cash to support stars and problem children. The company makes strive to
move a successful problem child (A1) to a star, and removes an unsuccessful
problem child (A2) from the market. A star that can build its market share (B1)
would be moved to a cash cow. If not, a failed star (B2) becomes a dog. Some
dogs may be capable to compete in a niche market (D1) while the other is
ultimately withdrawn from a market (D2). The strategic planning process is to
develop the right portfolio which combines the right combination of risk and
return, assures the growth of the company, and let the company survive in the
long term (Abell & Hammond, 1979).
[Insert Figure 2 about here]
The implications for product portfolio planning approach has strong
implications for IMC planning because each type of branded products dictates
different IMC strategies. Each position in a cell needs an IMC strategy unique
to that position. One IMC strategy is unlikely to be appropriate for all
company brands. Likewise, one global IMC strategy will be inefficient and
ineffective for company with brands in different locations within the product
portfolio grid.
Predicting Future IMC Strategies
The previous discussion leads to the next point. The product portfolio
analysis may be useful to anticipate the kinds of IMC strategy which will be
utilized in the future (Bell, 1982). Each business unit will move through all
the four cells over time. However, market situations may not be as expected.
Figure 3 shows the possible movement of business units in the matrix.
[Insert Figure 3 about here]
A problem child, A1, may be predicted to move to A2. However, it is still
a problem child brand, i.e., a new product. The marketing goal is to increase
market share in a growing market. The IMC strategy used may be to increase
trial among competitive users and new customers. In another situation, a star
business (B1) may fall back to become a problem child (A3) because of some
marketing problems, e.g., improper positioning, poor pricing, lack of
distribution, or competitive efforts. Once problems are fixed, the proper IMC
effort would be to correct consumer perceptions that led to the brand decline,
thereby increasing sales to current customers and/or competitive customers.
Likewise, if the problem is competitive efforts, the IMC strategy would be to
support the counter efforts.
In addition, the position change from A1 to D1 indicates that a brand moved
from a problem child to a dog without ever becoming a cash cow. Niche strategy
would be appropriate for this situation. The movement from either a problem
child (A1) or a star (B1) to a divested dog (D2) reflects the intention to
withdraw the brand from the market.
Added to the previous implication, Figure 3 recommends that it is not a
simple IMC strategy for each cell that a business unit is in. Different IMC
strategies may be planned and employed in different business units, though they
are in the same cell position. These imply that the effect of integrated
marketing communications strategy is in the long term.
Competitive Analysis. Another implication of applying the IMC strategy to
the product portfolio analysis is to try to position major competitors of the
business units on the matrix (Bell, 1982). The purpose is to predict the future
strategic movement of the competitors in order to develop strategies to
counteract or inoculate against these efforts. However, it may be somewhat
difficult to plot the competitors' positions along the two dimensions without
complete and accurate competitive information.
Implications for Brand Equity Building
The last implication regarding the relationship between IMC concept and
strategic market planning is thought as the on-going process of brand building
activities (Maltz, 1991). The IMC practices, i.e., advertising, public
relations, and sales promotion, represent the communications role which help
change the consumer's brand attitude and memory structure while the activities
have changed and moved along the cells in the matrix. Starting as a problem
child, brand value is in the nurture step. Investments must be made in
marketing communications to build a strong brand. As a star, the brand gains
more awareness and preference through communications from consumers; it should
finally become a strong brand. In other words, the brand has equity. In the
next step, a cash cow, an established brand in consumer's mind, should be
maintained its equity by utilizing IMC tools to reinforce and remind the
consumers about the brand, and differentiate the brand from its competitors.
Finally, in the dog situation, communications may have no role to play if the
marketers delete the brand from the market. However, in the choice of niche
market, IMC still has the minimal role in keep maintaining the brand equity to
its niche consumers.
Limitations
Although the author conceptualizes the application of IMC strategy to the BCG's
share-growth matrix in the general way, its implication may be limited. First,
from the IMC definition as the integration of messages and media, the author
proposes IMC as advertising, public relations, and sales promotion activities
which are played around in the matrix. They sound to have a good fit with most
of general consumer products in markets. It, however, may not be useful to
apply the findings to some industrial products in which advertising or sales
promotion are not the important tools to market the products. Personal selling
is needed to be concerned instead.
The second point that the author wants to make here is about the role of IMC in
the strategic market planning. Though communications is mainly mentioned in the
current study as a key to apply to the planning process, it does not stand
alone. One must think of integrated marketing communications as one factor in
the marketing programs or strategies for a brand. Other factors that might
influence the brand or business unit are, for example, the quality of the
product, packaging design, the pricing strategy used, and the efficiency of the
distribution system. IMC cannot perform correctly or effectively without those
actions provided in the appropriate shapes.
Since this article is intended as an exploratory link between IMC strategy
and market planning, the author does not include some particular points toward
the planning process. Future research may be needed to explore the difference
in the IMC strategy between the low and high information processing that
consumers have held in their minds regarding kinds of products and services
(Vaughn, 1980, 1986). Or, the levels of competitions in the market may also be
needed to elaborate to separate between the IMC efforts for low and high
competitive situations in each cell of the matrix.
Conclusion
From the conceptualization of IMC as the integration of messages and media, the
author applies the concept to the product portfolio management. What have been
shown from the applications are the generalization idea of IMC strategy for each
cell position of the portfolio matrix, the portfolio strategies for a company,
the anticipation for future strategies of various business units in the matrix,
the prediction for competitor's IMC strategies, and the understanding of brand
building process by referring to the role of communications. These conceptual
findings should help marketers to think more strategically regarding integrated
marketing communications programs for any products or services than think
tactically. In other words, the decisions would be concerned with the long-term
opportunities for brands or business units (e.g., share growth, share holding)
rather than appeals or execution.
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Table 1. Examples of Marketing Communications Tools
ADVERTISING
PUBLIC RELATIONS
SALES PROMOTIONS
Print advertisements
Crisis communications
Sampling
Broadcast advertisements
Lobbying
Couponing
Outdoor advertisements
Community relations
Premiums
Transit advertisements
Charitable donations
Contests, sweepstakes
On-line advertisements
Sponsorships
Rebates
Direct mail advertisements
Special events
Demonstrations
Motion pictures
Publications
Trading stamps
Packaging
Seminars
Combination offers
Brochures and booklets
Speeches
Exhibits
Posters, leaflets
Annual reports
Entertainment
Display signs
Company magazine
Allowances
Point-of-purchase displays
Fund raising
Fair shows, trade shows
Directories
Publicity
Trade deals
Free standing inserts
Press conferences
Testimonials
Retail store advertisements
Press kits
Cooperative advertisements
Symbols, logos
Research
Financial incentives
Table 2. Business Units and Related IMC Strategy
Business Unit
Problem Child (A)
Star
(B)
Cash Cow
(C)
Dog
(D)
Market
Growth Rate
High
High
Low
Low
Relative
Market Share
Low
High
High
Low
Number of
Brands in the
Market
Few
Growing
number
Stable number,
beginning to
decline
Declining
number
Sales
Low sales
Rapidly rising
sales
Peak sales
Declining sales
Profits
Negative
Rising profits
High profits
Declining
profits
Cash Flow
Cash user
Cash balance
Cash generator
Cash trap
Overall
Marketing
Strategy
Expanding
market share/
harvesting
Holding/
building
market share
Holding/
maintaining
market share
Harvesting/
liquidating/
focusing
IMC Focus
Investing for
share building
Leading for
share growth
Maintaining
share
Targeting to a
niche/ deleting
IMC Strategy
( Advertising
(Emphasis)
Building
awareness
(High)
Building
awareness
(Moderately high)
Maintaining
share
(Moderately low)
Niche/ deleting
(Minimal)
( Public Relations
(Emphasis)
Building
awareness
(High)
Building
awareness
(Moderately high)
Maintaining
share
(Moderately low)
Reducing to
minimal level
(Minimal)
( Sales Promotion
(Emphasis)
Encouraging
trial
(High)
Encouraging
trial, preference
(Moderately low)
Increasing brand
switching
(High)
Reducing to
minimal level
(Minimal)
Brand Building Stage
Building brand
equity
Building brand
equity
Maintaining
brand equity
Maintaining/
recreating
brand equity
Source: Adapted from Bell, M. L. (1982). Advertising strategy and strategic
market
planning. In A. D. Fletcher (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1982 Conference of
the
American Academy of Advertising (pp. 7-11). Knoxville, TN: University of
Tennessee, p. 8; Dhalla, N. K. & Yuspeh, S. (1976). Forget the product
life
cycle concept! Harvard Business Review, 54(1), p. 104; Kotler, P.
(1994).
Marketing management: Analysis, planning, implementation, and control
(8th
ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, pp. 373, 621.
High
Market
Growth
STAR
B
PROBLEM CHILD
A
Rate
Low
CASH COW
C
DOG
D
High
Relative Mar
Low
ket Share
Figure 1. The BCG's Growth-Share Matrix
High
Market
Growth
STAR
B1
B2
PROBLEM CHILD
A1
A2
Rate
Low
CASH COW
C1
C2
DOG
D1
D2
High
Relative Mar
Low
ket Share
Figure 2. The Product Portfolio Matrix of A Hypothetical Company
High
Market
Growth
STAR
B1
PROBLEM CHILD
A2
A1
A3
Rate
Low
CASH COW
DOG
D1
D2
High
Relative Mar
Low
ket Share
Figure 3. Position Changes in the BCG's Growth-Share Matrix
Source: Adapted from Bell, M. L. (1982). Advertising strategy and strategic
market
planning. In A. D. Fletcher (Ed.), Proceedings of the 1982 Conference of
the
American Academy of Advertising (pp. 7-11). Knoxville, TN:
University of
Tennessee, p. 10; Day, G. S. (1977). Diagnosing the product
portfolio. Journal
of Marketing, 41(2), p. 34.
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