Communications Planning: What It Is & Why It's Important

COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING: WHAT IT IS AND WHY IT’S IMPORTANT

7/2/14

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WHAT WE’LL TALK ABOUT

• WHAT’S COMMS PLANNING?

• WHAT’S THE PROCESS?

• CASE STUDY EXAMPLE

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WHAT DO WE DO AT TMK?

TitleInsertion Date:FP4C Cost:Circulation:

Media PlanningEngagement PlanningCommunications Planning

Contact PlanMedia Strategy

Channel Planning

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WHAT IS COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING?


“Communication planning is the art and science of reaching target audiences using marketing communication channels such as advertising, public

relations, experiences or direct mail for example. It is concerned with deciding who to target, when, with what message and how”

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MORE SIMPLY DEFINED...

Reaching the right AUDIENCE...


...With the right MESSAGE...

...At the right TIME!

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UNIFIED STRATEGY IN A CHAOTIC WORLD


Comms planning helps us...✓Identify the ways consumer interact with brands ✓Prioritize touch points to devise the most effective channel plan✓Ensure consistency across all media and communications✓Outlines clear outcomes and expectations

...When there’s so much to consider

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UNIFIED STRATEGY IN A CHAOTIC WORLD


Comms planning helps us...✓Identify the ways consumer interact with brands ✓Prioritize touch points to devise the most effective channel plan✓Ensure consistency across all media and communications✓Outlines clear outcomes and expectations

...When there’s so much to consider

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COMMUNICATIONS PLANNING CYCLE


Brand Immersion:

Understand the Brand, the

business and the target.

Determine goals and campaign

parameters

Strategy Development:

Map out strategic

framework across all

channels, include POEM

Tactics Planning:

Define channel roles, budget allocations,

develop media plan

Implementation:

Implement, execute and monitor media

plan

Evaluation:

Analyze campaign

performance, gather insights and learnings

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TODAY’S FOCUS


Brand Immersion:

Understand the Brand, the

business and the target.

Determine goals and campaign

parameters

Strategy Development:

Map out strategic

framework across all

channels, include POEM

Tactics Planning:

Define channel roles, budget allocations,

develop media plan

Implementation:

Implement, execute and monitor media

plan

Evaluation:

Analyze campaign

performance, gather insights and learnings

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BRAND IMMERSION: FIRST STEPS, KNOW YOUR CLIENT

Deep dive into brand’s business and campaign nuances. Ask questions, get clarity.


Understand the client and their business via desk research & client provided materialsClient briefs provide info on background, campaign

objectives, target market, budget, etc

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BRAND IMMERSION: COMPETITIVE KNOWLEDGE

Conduct a full market landscape analysis to understand what other brands are doing in media and how to best compete and stand out in the market space


Quantitative Analysis:What are competitors spending? How are they spending?

Qualitative Analysis:What are the communications platforms? What trends do we see?

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BRAND IMMERSION: TARGET INSIGHTS


Understand the target- who it is, what they like, how they live and how they interact with brands and media. Target insights can help map out the consumer journey through media, which helps inform media touchpoints

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BRAND IMMERSION: ALL THE TEAM PLAYERS

Understand who else your client is working with from a communications stand point, what they’re roles are and open lines of communications between teams. Everyone needs to work together for a successful communications strategy


All looking to help client

achieve objectives and goals

Media Planning Agency

Media Buying Agency

Social Media Agency Creative Agency

Events Marketing Agency

Public Relations Agency

CRM Agency

SEO Agency

In house media department

Mobile Marketing Agency

Branding Firm

Content Marketing Agency

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

Post Brand Immersion, we have A LOT of information, insights, ideas to work with....


Target Insights

Marketplace & Industry Trends

Agency Partner Insights/

Ideas (e.g. message or comms platform)

Campaign Goals

Campaign Goals

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

The media strategy or communications strategy combines all insights to identify the optimal touch points or platforms for the campaign


Target Insights

Marketplace & Industry Trends

Campaign Goals

Agency Partner Insights/Ideas (e.g. message or comms

platform)

Campaign Goals

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: NOT ALL ABOUT PAID MEDIA

Paid media is no longer the only way for brands to engage their consumers. More than ever before, brands have many options and outlets to communicate with their target


Ignoring a portion

Paid Media:Traditional Advertising across

any channel

Owned Media:Brand’s own content

(website, social platforms, etc)

Earned Media:Blogs, PR, Press, Shares, etc

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: PAID_OWNED_EARNED MEDIA

While we specialize in paid media, our jobs as planners is to consider how all media works together


The importance of POEM:

✓Stretches budget ✓Opens up more opportunities for visibility and engagement✓Creates the most cohesive marketing programs

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STRATEGIC DEVELOPMENT: DEVELOPING A STRATEGIC

Consider a criteria list to help identify how various opportunities, ideas, media channel, placements, etc fit into the communications strategy:

✓Does this achieve campaign objective?

✓Does this communicate our message?

✓Are we effectively and efficiently achieving our objective?

✓Are we speaking to our target? At the right time? In the right places?

✓Does this leverage all other existing brand efforts?


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CASE STUDY EXAMPLE: A|X DRESSED FOR

The Challenge: Increase consideration by a wider, fashion conscious female audience

Key Insight: Visual web was filled with fashion & personal style images, many of which aggregated under #wiwt (What I’m Wearing Today)

Solution: #Dressedfor user-generated style board


Paid media support:Partnered with media that has personal style curation at its core to amplify the hashtag

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CASE STUDY EXAMPLE: A|X DRESSED FOR RESULTS!

Paid Media:Drove $4.56MM in revenue

$12.02 ROAS

Earned Media:17MM Instagram

impressions12MM Likes

Owned Media:3,000 approved looks posted

70 A|X curated looks

Communications Planning: What It Is & Why It's Important

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