Communication Mix: Performance Evaluation

In modern marketing technologies, the emphasis is shifting from scattered advertising messages to building a full-fledged communication with the end consumer in a language that he understands, for which each company needs to develop a set of marketing communications, or Communication Mix. Leading consultant of Fashion Consulting Group Galina Kravchenko considers methods for measuring the effectiveness of IMC (integrated marketing communications), which can be produced by the staff of the company.

It is important that the use of all parts of Communication Mix is ​​consistent with the overall marketing objectives of the company and that each of the tools complement each other. Only in this way will marketing communications become integrated (IMC).

Famous American experts in the field of marketing communications Don E. Schultz, Stanley I. Tannenbaum, Robert F. Lauterborn in the book "The New Paradigm of Marketing" (1993) define IMC as "a new way of analyzing the whole, where before we saw only separate isolated components, such as advertising, public relations, sales promotion, purchases, communication with employees. This approach allows us to coordinate all types of communications in order to look at them through the eyes of the consumer - as a flow of information from undifferentiated sources. "

Communication Mix for the fashion industry

1. ATL - direct advertising in the media, targeted mailing

2. BTL - sponsorship, Product Placement, point-of-sale advertising, POS materials, organization of contests and lotteries

3. Sales Promotion - special promotions

4. Sales techniques - modern sales techniques

5. Expomarketing - work at exhibitions

6. PR - publicity and public relations, including special events, including fashion shows

7. Visual Merchandising - visual merchandising

Now, in a situation of budget cuts, the question of the effectiveness of communication tools is becoming especially acute. It is logical that only those instruments whose effectiveness can be calculated on the basis of sales and customer flow become relevant.

Typically, the calculated indicator of the effectiveness of advertising for shoe companies is the ratio of sales to revenue (in rubles), so the following are examples of calculating the effectiveness of communication tools based on this indicator.

We will make a reservation right away that not all used tools lend themselves to “shortcomings”. The most “unreadable” are sponsorship events and Product Placement.

By placing a banner on the playing field, you will not be able to accurately predict how many minutes it will be in the frame of the TV channels broadcasting the game. Accordingly, it is impossible to calculate the cost of a contact, as is the case with direct advertising. The advantages of using this method are repetitions of games and impressions in news blocks.

Product Placement is gaining momentum today, but the use of this tool for shoe companies is limited. Shoes as a product in the frame may be limited time. Although, for example, a store sign or a showcase may well leave the brand name in the memory of the viewer. Some storylines may develop in the trading floor, advertising banners with your brand may appear in the frame. At the same time, the choice of films and programs is most often done intuitively, and the method itself works on the image of the company, except for the specialized programs “Control purchase”, “Remove it immediately”.

In the context of cost reduction, it is advisable to focus primarily on image advertising, but on selling advertising, so you can refuse the above measures.

You can determine the effectiveness of IMC in several ways - through monitoring at points of sale, evaluating the flow of visitors

Point of sale monitoring

The most effective way of monitoring is to collect data about the buyer and from the buyer. Modern software products allow you to enter information into the database already at checkout. For example, the cashier asks the question: “How did you find out about the store?”, Customers' answers allow you to determine the most effective sources of attracting new customers.

However, it is important to remember (and do) that all information about ongoing promotional activities should be present in the software product in the form of a drop-down list. In this case, you can make several answers.

For each store, a certain quota is indicated for a survey of respondents - at least 90% of the total number of those who made a purchase. During the hours of the influx of buyers, often the store staff does not have time to conduct surveys. Monitoring on an ongoing basis makes sense only in well-computerized stores, as the imperfection of the software product can increase the checkout time.

To verify the reliability of monitoring, mandatory “measurements” are required. These are independent customer surveys within 10% of the total number of customers during the monitoring period.

The results are compared, and an error is revealed for each of the advertising media. Carrying out control measurements is necessary in parallel with the peaks of advertising activity, so that it is possible to adjust the data for all advertising media. Information obtained from monitoring data is corrected for% error.

The result of the work is the justification in monetary (revenue, rubles) and quantitative (sales, pairs) expression of what type of advertising brought a big return.

The effectiveness of the type of advertising (RUB) = revenue from the type of advertising (RUB) - the cost of the type of advertising (RUB)

The effectiveness of the type of advertisement (%) = the effectiveness of the type of advertisement (rub.) / The cost of the type of advertisement (rub.)

The disadvantage of this method is that buyers recall advertising not only of the last, but of previous seasons. Therefore, during the control measurements it is necessary to conduct an in-depth interview to identify purchases made under the influence of advertising for the current season.

The practice of such monitoring shows that the most popular responses of buyers will be a “signboard” and a “shop window”.

Visitor Flow Rating

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However, we must remember that the direct effect of advertising is the number of visitors to the store. In the practice of the shoe business, there are times when advertising of a new collection has already been launched, and the new collection itself occupies only 20% of the sales area. Buyers come, but they can’t buy anything yet. In this case, the data of visitors' counters will help to show the effectiveness of advertising. You need to compare the number of visitors before the period of advertising activity with the flow after the start of the advertising campaign.

Number of visitors before the start of the advertising campaign <or> Number of visitors during the period of the advertising campaign

To get the most reliable data, adjust the number of visitors taking into account the seasonality factor.

Return Coupons

You can evaluate the effectiveness of certain types of advertising. For example, ATL and Sales Promotion are conveniently controlled based on the return of coupons, they will help to calculate who was affected by the advertisement.

Coupons can be of different types: discount ones - giving discounts, exchange ones - exchanging for a discount card, gift ones - giving a gift.

An effective ATL tool for shoe companies is the distribution of the so-called product price list for mid-price and low-price companies. Usually this is a newspaper or mini-magazine with photographs of shoes and a description of its characteristics. The format allows you to include interesting articles about the company, its employees, promotions, as well as the layout of the return coupon. It is the number of coupons returned that will show the effect.

Coupon effectiveness (pcs) = coupon return (pcs) / number of coupons distributed (pcs)

The sales information accompanying the coupon will help you calculate the effect.

Coupon effectiveness (RUB) = coupon sales - event price with coupon (RUB) / event price with coupon (RUB)

Special promotions

Interesting promotions in the next period are interesting. For example: "Having made a purchase before the New Year, you will receive a discount of 50% between 1 and 31 of January." That is, purchases are stimulated during a period of decline in sales.

In shoe practice, the example of consistent incentive works well when stocks go one after another. The first promotion begins in a relatively successful period, before the decline in sales. Buyers are given coupons - cash discounts valid for purchases during the second promotion. The second action involves a partial direct reduction in prices - discounts on a limited group of goods, as well as an indirect reduction in prices only for coupon holders.

For example, the first promotion offers all customers to participate in the drawing of valuable prizes. All purchasers during this period are given cash coupons. Their implementation will be carried out during the second campaign. During the second campaign, prices for all-season shoes are reduced. When buying shoes on the lining of the autumn-winter season, a discount on the coupon is provided, that is, a second purchase is stimulated.

In this situation, efficiency is calculated in the same way as in coupon promotions.

Sales Techniques Efficiency

It is known that after conducting sales trainings, the effect of sales growth is observed, that is, the effect is immediately visible. By comparing the sales of each specific seller before and after the training, you can calculate the effectiveness.

The effect of training (RUB) = sales after training - sales before training (RUB) - training costs

For an adequate calculation of sales, it is necessary to take into account the seasonal factor, and also remember that the effect of training extends to the entire period of staff work.

Expomarketing Efficiency

In the practice of companies participating in shoe exhibitions, there is always a collection of contacts of all visitors to the stand. To assess how productive the exhibition was, the orders collected at the exhibition are taken into account. It is also useful to consider how many new customers have appeared and what orders they made directly. Thus, the effect of the exhibition is:

1. The number of target visitors - potential customers

2. The volume of orders - sales directly at the exhibition

3. Number of new customers

4. The volume of orders - sales for new customers.

However, with complex events, presentation + exhibition, it is impossible to draw a clear line, therefore, the general sales and costs of the entire list of events are usually considered.

Expert Information: FCG Leading Consultant Galina Kravchenko has over 8 years of experience in marketing and advertising. She moved from a marketer to a marketing director of a member of the board of directors. Work experience in shoe companies since 2002 of the year (including Camelot, NOVALKAN, ZENDEN). He has experience in crisis management, building a marketing structure from scratch, repositioning brands and managing assortment in the shoe market. Since 2007, he has been working at Fashion Consulting Group.