Integrated Marketing Communications



20/11/2012Presented toDorothy KeanePresented byJulieanne O Connor933450883920Integrated Marketing Communications Contents History3Brand Values4 Brand Personality6 Brand Strategy8 Integrated Marketing Communication9 Conclusion12Bibliography13 1815465-3517904994910869950The Nintendo Company is renowned worldwide for their lead in the videogames industry to date but this company started out long before videogames were ever even heard of. Nintendo was founded in 1889 by a man called Fusajiro Yamauchi in Kyoto, Japan. Mr Yamauchi first began producing Hanafuda cards, which were Japanese playing cards. These cards were initially intended for export from Japan but became very popular within Japan and throughout the world. In the early years Nintendo tried to launch into a number of different areas including the launch of a ‘love hotel’ and a taxi company service but both these projects failed. But even to date Nintendo have a number of different interests outside the video game industry including being a majority stakeholder of Seattle Mariners major league baseball team. CITATION Nin12 \l 6153 (Nintendo, 2012) In 1933, the company became an unlimited partnership know as Yamauchi Nintendo & Co. In 1950 Fusajiro passed on all operations and power to his son Hiroshi Yamauchi who took office as President of the company and changed its name to Nintendo Playing Cards Co. Ltd. Nintendo Playing Cards Co. Ltd was the first Japanese company to successfully manufacture plastic playing cards to a mass market. Hiroshi made a deal with Walt Disney to produce cards which featured some of his characters on them. This opened up a wider audience and allowed Nintendo to now also target the children’s playing cards market. In 1963 Nintendo Playing Cards Co. Ltd was listed on the second section of the Osaka Stock Exchange and on the Kyoto Stock Exchange. Just under a year later Hiroshi decided to change the name dropping the ‘Playing Cards’ they were now to be known as Nintendo Co. Ltd. This is when Hiroshi decided to explore the gaming industry which would turn out to be the major success of Nintendo. CITATION Eri12 \l 6153 (Balanon, 2012)Over the years Nintendo have made significant developments which have changed the lives of gamers throughout the world. In 1977, Nintendo in collaboration with Mitsubishi Electric developed the first home-use video game console, "TV Game 15" and "TV Game 6". Since then Nintendo has been the leader in the development of the video game world. They have brought a new life and meaning to gaming. Nintendo opened the gaming world to everyone rather than aiming just at the standard market. CITATION AHi12 \l 6153 (A History of the Nintendo Company Ltd, 2012)Brand ValuesBrand value is in one aspect how the company is perceived from its consumers and the general public, but brand value is also a representation of the company’s financial position on a balance sheet. For this I shall discuss the perception of the company from the consumers’ point of view. Family Entertainment -45085893445Nintendo changed its focus to providing fun and entertainment for the family as a whole. This was as a result of their plan to widen the audience for video games. Throughout the development of Nintendo products they focused on how to involve the whole family in the gaming experience. Nintendo proved this most successful in the launch of the Nintendo Wii. The Wii is aimed as a fun entertaining way for the family to interact. It allows for hours of fun with the added bonus of exercising as you play without even noticing. The marketing strategy of the Wii was for everyone to see the benefits. Children would see the fun gaming side to it where as parents could see how it allowed for hours of family fun and a way to get the family more active.Simplicity Nintendo is synonymous with brightly coloured, fun children’s’ video games. It was always seen to be aimed at the younger generation but now Nintendo attract all generations and variety of people. Nintendo is seen to be too easy and occasionally referred to as been ‘dumbed down’. The company play on this perception of Nintendo games. They market it as being a casual, enjoyable type of gaming experience for all to enjoy. The idea of the Nintendo gaming range being too easy comes from the development of the hardware used. In earlier times the limitations of the hardware lead to games being difficult even though they were less complex. For instance, in MegaMan, all that you could do was run, jump and shoot. So in order to make the game more engaging and keep consumers interested they would have to make the games challenging. Nintendo’s brand value is worth approximately $2,437m. This is an enormous amount of value for a company which its main production is video games. CITATION Bra12 \l 6153 (Finance, 2012)459295517145It is very important for Nintendo to maintain this level of value and keep their high standard within the company in order to stay competitive. Brand personalityBrand personality is the human characteristics or traits in which the consumer will associate with a particular brand. Brand personality shows brand behaviour in two different ways, both as the individual, such as employees, representing the brand and also through the companies advertising, packaging, promotions, etc. Brand personality is basically the personification of the brand. The brand personality of a company comes as a result of the consumer’s experience with the brand, so we can tell from this that first impressions make a great impact on the consumers experience therefore this is one of the most important traits for branding. CITATION UGr12 \l 6153 (Grocers, 2012)Nintendo has created a strong brand image. The variety of characters helps to personify Nintendo. When you ask people what would they associate with Nintendo the most frequent answer is Mario and Luigi or Donkey Kong. Nintendo characters allows the consumer to engage with the company as selecting characters in games helps to make the experience more realistic and a personal experience.Words which are regularly associated with Nintendo include:Mario and LuigiEntertainment336804069215Family funLearningInteractiveJapanGame consolesOne DirectionDonkey KongPokémonFrom these we can then personify Nintendo and create a more realistic image for consumers.If Nintendo was a person it would be:YoungMaleJapaneseFunActiveGamer Brand StrategyBrand strategy is decision-making for effective handling of brands. Brand strategy is based on the definition of the characteristics of the intended consumers. This is the long-term marketing support for a brand which includes the understanding of consumer preferences, and their expectations of the brand. 41338502795270In 2005, Sony ruled the video game world, closely followed by Microsoft. The close competition between both companies, Sony with the Playstation and Microsoft with the X Box, left no room for Nintendo. As a result of this Nintendo decided to develop a Blue Ocean Strategy as opposed to trying to compete within this close market. Blue Ocean Strategy is a modern age business strategy which focuses mainly on ignoring all competition on the market, and creating new customers therefore creating a new market with less competition. Nintendo’s aim was instead of putting this new technology and power into the hands of gamers, was to put it into the hands of non-gamers. They wanted a console that would appeal to everyone, to mother and child, teens and parents. Out of this came the introduction of the Nintendo Wii. CITATION Bra121 \l 6153 (Brand study Nintendo, 2012) Another of Nintendo’s Brand Strategy’s was the employing of a talented product design team. Nintendo has one of the most creative production groups that have a thirty year record of creating new games. The new strategy was for this group to be open-minded in their creation and fulfil all of its potential. They succeeded in this with the creation of both the Wii and DS. Both the Wii and DS appeal to a wide range of people. The appeal of these products was “casual games”. The new category went from 1% to over 20% by 2005 (Enterbrain, 2005). A final strategy of Nintendo was the hiring of a new CEO. The new CEO was a young, energetic, entrepreneurial gamer. He gained acceptance and began to generate excitement around the new strategy, and was able to line up the talent which was needed to implement it. This has resulted of nearly five years of market and brand success for Nintendo. They now face competitors creating a formidable response. CITATION Vie12 \l 6153 (View Point, 2012)Integrated Marketing CommunicationIntegrated Marketing Communication is the approach to obtaining the objectives of a marketing campaign through the use of different promotional methods that are intentionally designed to support each other. It is also used when companies are trying to attract new customers and retain them in the future. The stronger the brand value of a company is the easier it will be for the company to retain customers.Nintendo worked with advertising agency Leo Burnett for over seven years but in 2007 they decided to break away from them. This resulted in a bidding war between advertising firms to establish who would work with Nintendo. The marketing firm Karmarma outbid three other firms with a bid of $13 million to become the current advertising agency for Nintendo. Going out of their way to let people know they care about everyone, not just their target market has allowed Nintendo to build up good relationships with all they encounter. Nintendo use the following ways to advertise their brand:Internet Having a market that is influenced greatly by technology and innovation, Nintendo decided to put a big percentage into internet marketing. Placing ads on popular websites such as YouTube, Google and Facebook will help to reach the target market in a larger way. Also giving the consumer an opportunity to purchase products online allows them to purchase at their own leisure. Nintendo have set up contracts with some of the top gaming websites which include , and . Exposure through these leading websites will give Nintendo instant exposure and the ability to reach the target audience quicker.Interactive/Direct MailDirect and Interactive media is another way Nintendo can target a segment and keep them interested. Demo booths set up in stores such as Gamestop will give Nintendo give the market the ability to try out games before they buy them. This gives them familiarity with products and decreases the chance of a customer returning a game that they do not like. Interactive kiosk in shopping shopping centres will also allow customers to get an idea of what the product is about. Billboards promoting our Nintendo will generate a buzz and interest that will have consumers talking and interested to see what the company has to offer. TelevisionLike any company, television is an important method to use for integrated marketing program. A strong advertising message will be a strong component to building solid ground within the market. Placement of commercials on stations such as Cartoon network, MTV and ESPN will target a good part of Nintendo’s target market. In saying this Nintendo will also broadcast advertisements on channels that will target all types of consumers. The great thing about what Nintendo are doing is that they feel gaming is for everyone to enjoy. To get that information out to everyone Nintendo need to have an integrated marketing communications approach that exceeds those that they have put out in the past. MagazineMagazine is a media link that is not used enough by companies. Nintendo want to hit the magazine market in a way that will brings’ positive feedback and customers desiring Nintendo products. Bleed pages is a strategy that Nintendo want to incorporate to grab the reader’s attention. Nintendo have set up different structural measures with two of the most popular gaming magazines: Game-pro and Game-informer. When reaching out to the older market or less known markets, Nintendo’s strategy will concentrate more on the ability to enjoy games at a certain age than the actual game they are playing. PromotionsNintendo’s promotion objective has less money thrown into it, but seems to bring about the most interest. Coupons in magazines and kiosks placed in shopping centres will have opportunities to get discounted items and other bonus options. Combining the products in 3091815127000with different discounts of purchases keeps customers happy that they get a help with pricing, but also keeps them purchasing within the company. Such promotions as purchasing a Nintendo game, you could get up to ten percent off your next video game.ConclusionNintendo as we can see are quiet successful with their branding. They are very good at creating a unique image for the Nintendo brand. From their brand values it is clear that to Nintendo want to create the ultimate brand for all to enjoy. Nintendo want products that are for everyone not just your typical gamer. Over time Nintendo have built up strong brand values and recognition. They treasure the fact that brand values are highly important to consumers and try to build on these all the time. Nintendo now tend to focus on the family aspect if gaming. From the release of the Nintendo Wii they have managed to bring this aspect of gaming to the attention of all consumers. This has created a whole new brand personality for the company in comparison to many years ago. Nintendo is now perceived as a fun, active, family gaming experience. Nintendo have also changed their branding strategy. Nintendo now operate a Blue Ocean Strategy. This is a strategy which focuses on building up a consumer base and trying to obtain this. Nintendo do not perceive the market as a competitor. They prefer to create their own market and allow competitors to compete with them.Nintendo use many different ways of advertising and gaining consumer interest. Their main form of advertising is the use of the internet. This is one of Nintendo’s most valued forms of advertising. Overall Nintendo have many strong values and continue to grow within the market.Bibliography BIBLIOGRAPHY A History of the Nintendo Company Ltd. (2012). Retrieved October 2008, from Yahoo voices: , E. (2012). History of Nintendo. Retrieved November 2012, from FacerEnzine: study Nintendo. (2012). Retrieved November 2012, from sixsix8productions: , B. (2012). Brand Direcrtory. Retrieved November 2012, from Brand Finance: , U. (2012). Ugrocers. Retrieved november 2012, from Ugrocers: . (2012). Nintendo History. Retrieved November 2, 2012, from Nintendo Co. Ltd: Point. (2012). Retrieved November 2012, from View Point: ................
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