QUESTION
SOLUTION
An Integrated Marketing Plan is the ultimate marketing assault for a successful campaign aimed at creating a distinct impression in the mind of all relevant stakeholders. The issue of Carbon Tax has left a lot of different stakeholders divided and perhaps even a little agitated, and there is a desperate need on the part of the government to win back the trust of the people.
In such an environment, it is too risky to launch just one offensive and put all of one’s eggs in a basket. The government needs to win at all costs, and will not do so unless it communicates the appropriate message to each of the different stakeholders. There are also a large number of environmentalists and other forward thinkers who believe that something must be done now to stem the problem of global warming. A large number of them see Carbon Tax as a massive step forward, and not the poison pill the media would have one to believe.
Hence, this paper evaluates how to develop an integrated approach to marketing which synergizes the use of multiple media, while also leveraging the power of public relations and on-ground activism to achieving a singular marketing goal.
Introduction / Background Information
Australia accounts for 1.5% of the world’s carbon emissions, and on a per capita basis is the world’s number 1 carbon pollutant (Carbon Tax 2012). Mining, airlines and steel are the three industries which are the most guilty of carbon emissions, and it is imperative to safeguard the future of our country and this planet, something must be done now. While other countries like India and South Africa implemented ‘carbon tax’ in 2010, Australia made little or no progress towards its environmental responsibilities and faces the prospect of global penalties. A case in point is Australia’s national airline Qantas, on whom the European Union has imposed a 15% carbon emission tax (AAP 2011).
Armed with an environmental background, it is now important to get an overview of the political climate in Australia at present. The Labour Party under the stewardship of Prime Minister Julia Gillard came to power in the 2010 general elections which resulted in a hung parliament. With 72 seats in the House of Representatives, the Labour Party in conjunction with three independents and 1 Greens MP formed a minority government by a slender margin of 76-74 against the opposing coalition led by Tony Abbott of the Liberal Party.
Gillard’s predecessor as Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, had in 2007 inked the Kyoto Protocol, the United Nations backed international environmental treaty created to fight the growing problem of global warming. In April 2010, Ruud had proposed an energy trading scheme called Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme (CPRS), but failed to gather enough support to have the bill passed. It is widely believed that the CPRS greatly affected his popularity, and cost him the party leadership (Kelly 2010).
In the day’s running up to the General Elections in 2010, Gillard, who had by then wrestled the party leadership away from Rudd and taken over as Prime Minister, outright denied that her government had any desire to introduce a carbon tax. Since then, Gillard modified her stance, declaring that not only had “circumstances changed”, but it was her intention all along to introduce an ‘Emission Trading Scheme’ and not really a ‘carbon tax’ (Gillard 2010).
In November 2011, ‘The Clean Energy Act’ was passed by the Senate enforcing the aforementioned tax on companies from 1st July 2012. The House of Representatives saw the Labour party squeeze out a narrow 74-72 vote win, while the Senate passed the act 36-32. The numbers are crucial because they highlight how strong opinion is both for and against the idea of a carbon tax with Opposition Leader Abbott declaring that should his party come to power in the 2013 General Elections, he will repeal the order without hesitation.
Target Audience Segment Analysis
With the clear objective of reducing the spread of misinformation surrounding the implementation of the carbon tax, the media campaign that I have developed is targeted specifically at the average Australian national.
The easiest way to segment the target audience is based on household income (socioeconomic). I have chosen this approach also because it is the most relevant way to explain to a consumer how much impact the tax will have on them specifically.
In conjunction with the implementation of carbon tax, the tax-free income threshold has been raised to $18,200, and will result impact over a million taxpayers. This group has to be targeted specifically, and can be a very strong loyalist to the government’s message (Carbon Tax 2012).
The government’s calculations reveal that families can expect an increase of $514.80 per year in their household expenditures. However, despite the increase, low income households are expected to be better off based on the allowances afforded to them as a result of the higher tax collections.
An additional way of segmenting the audience is to look at their employment status. Over 14% of Australians are above the age of 65, and this number is growing. Pensioners and retirees will receive special benefits through the implementation of this scheme, and need to be communicated to separately (Index Mundi 2012).
Additionally, there are a small number of environmental evangelists (psychographic) who could aid our communication effort by becoming on ground supporters for a clean and healthy tomorrow. Such groups need to be activated, and it is important that our Integrated Marketing Plan includes finding and equipping such action groups.
The youth are likely to benefit significantly from all pro-environment action that is taken today (demographic). The men and women in government who have passed this legislation may not be around 50 years from now to benefit from its impact, but there is a large young population base which will reap the rewards. They need to be communicated with.
While certain segment based targeting makes sense, the fact that most Australians will benefit from carbon tax means that mass media must also be used to spread the word.
Before we proceed any further, it is imperative to understand what exactly carbon tax is. The first and perhaps most important thing to understand is that it is not a direct tax levied on consumers. It is a cost of $23 per tonne of carbon pollution, levied on 500 of Australia’s biggest contributors to carbon emission. At present, these 500 companies pay ‘nothing’ for the damage they cause to the environment, and as a result continue to do so without a care in the world because it doesn’t really affect them. The objective of the carbon tax is to hit polluters where it will hurt them the most – their wallet. As a result of this tax being imposed on the polluters, it is widely hoped that they will look at alternative ways to be do business which will not damage the environment (Carbon Tax 2012).
The drawbacks of this approach though are quite obvious. There is a worry that companies will look at other ways to mitigate the additional cost levied on them through cutting jobs, passing on the cost to the consumer, relocating to other nations where the taxes are lower, etc.
Coming back to the case of Qantas on whom a 15% tax had been imposed by the European Union, their instant reaction was to raise airfares in Europe, and pass on the tax directly to the consumer. However, such a knee jerk reaction has its drawbacks, primary among which is a loss of competitiveness in a global marketplace. Qantas also announced early this year that it would cut jobs to help it manage reducing profitability. However, all is not doom and gloom, and ver the last 12 months Qantas has been engaged in developing a way to reduce their dependence on jet fuel, and this very week ran its first commercial flight on a mixture of cooking oil and fuel. The Australian government is doing its bit in helping Qantas stay competitive, giving the organization funding through an Emerging Renewable Program grant to further test the viability of biofuel. While the hybrid doesn’t eliminate Qantas’ carbon footprint, it does promise to reduce it by 60% (AFP 2012).
The interesting element to the carbon tax on Qantas is that with the Australian government now introducing the tax, instead of the money leaving the country, the revenue will get filtered back into the Australian economy, with the benefit coming to the Australian taxpayer.
Another interesting example to observe is that of electricity firms, who will have no option but to increase prices. The government though has proposed that 50% of all revenue collected through carbon tax will return into the hands of households, while a part of the revenue goes into research for alternate fuels. The two measures will result in greater annual income in the hands of lower income households while also creating new jobs (Carbon Tax 2012).
Communication Objectives
1. Improving the Government’s Image– If current media reports are to be believed, the decision to introduce ‘carbon tax’ is going to topple the government. In 2007 when Kevin Rudd tried to pass the legislature, it cost him party leadership, and it appears that now not only does the Labour party appears destined to falter in the 2013 elections, but the Liberals when they come to power will quickly repeal the act.
As my client, it is obvious that my primary objective has to be to improve the government’s image and the only way to do that is to prove to the target audience that ‘carbon tax’ is good for them. Hence, my leading communication objective is to improve the image of carbon tax in the hope that the positive synergy from that rubs off on the government.
2. Creating Awareness – The biggest problem that ‘carbon tax’ is facing is the misinformation that is being spread by different opposing groups. These groups include:
a) Opposition Party (political)– The Liberal / Coalition is making ‘carbon tax’ the basis of their assault on the government and are taking advantage of the lack of knowledge that exists in the minds of the common man to place seeds of doubt about how it will affect them.
b) Environmental Sceptics – There are a small but very active group of environmentalists who believe that the information being provided about global warming is factually incorrect. They are very vocal in online circles, and the information they spread creates more mistrust in the government’s motives.
c) Media – The media instead of taking a neutral stance on ‘carbon tax’ appears to be vehemently against it.
The presence of the above groups makes the task of creating awareness a lot more difficult.
3. Influencing Attitudes –A pro-carbon tax ad by Australian activist groups backfired because it used celebrities to communicate a message to the common man. The subconscious message they wished to contribute by using popular local icons failed miserably since the choice of people failed to connect with the consumer because they were perceived as ‘rich’ and unaffected by the tax. In fact, it actually created greater dissonance with the consumer because the advertiser failed to gauge his audience (Cate Blanchett 2011).
Influencing consumer attitudes is a massive communication challenge and the choice of the right media, message and encoder is absolutely vital.
4. Creating Evangelists – Communicating a life altering message to a 22 million audience is indeed a challenge, and it can be made a whole lot easier by the use of evangelists. Customer Evangelists a concept formalized in 2002 takes customer loyalty to a whole new level. Evangelists are so delighted about the product / service that they spread your message faster than you ever could. (McConnell and Huba 2002)
One of our communication objectives is to create evangelists who will go out there are spread the pro-carbon message.
I have broken down my creative strategies into three categories depending on the overlap between the target audience and the communication objective.
1. National Media Campaign– Since the matter relates to the entire country, it is impossible for us to focus solely on particular segments of society and an Umbrella campaign is necessary to promote the singular overlying objective (Accenture 2007).
It is important not to try and communicate ‘everything’ in a national media campaign, but instead to focus on the ‘major selling idea’, which is to protect the environment. If national media is used to communicate the benefits of ‘carbon tax’ rather than saving the environment, chances are that it will miss the mark.
The most powerful connect that a national media campaign has is emotional, and by focusing on saving the environment rather than using what is almost a derogatory word like ‘tax’, it is possible to pull at the heartstrings of the audience (Kotler 2000).
Market research can suggest whether using a word like carbon can still be beneficial to our communication message, and using environment friendly colours like blue (sky / water), green (trees) and yellow (flowers) can be very beneficial to our campaign (Love 2011).
2. Target Audience Specific Campaigns
The most critical element of running multiple campaigns is consistency. All marketing communication should look and feel like it comes out of the same stable, and the choice of colours and the overlying message should be exactly the same.
Where a target audience specific message can be different is how it chooses to communicate the message.
Target Audience:
a) Low Income Households – The poor are most easily swayed by misinformation, and it is imperative for this campaign to be a success that their issues are addressed one to one. They are unlikely to be swayed by a ‘friend to the environment’ kind of message as their primary concern will be their financial survival. Hence, the communication needs to be direct, to the point and numbers driven, but without complicating matters by using too much jargon. The message needs to be simply – this is how much money you will save each year because of carbon tax!
b) Seniors – Pensioners and retirees are perpetually worried about whether they have sufficient funds to sustain themselves for the rest of their lives. Their entire psychology of decision making is based on living within their means because they are past the stage where they generate fresh income. Hence, like low income households, they are worried about how any new ‘tax’ will affect them. However, in sharp contrast to the aforementioned segment, they are generally better educated and more knowledge. They consumer mass media at a very frequent rate, and are numbers smart. The message to them also needs to be along the lines of how much money they will save each year because of ‘carbon tax’ and can be more detailed.
c) Youth – Information amongst the youth spreads at a very rapid rate since they are usually very active users of the internet and are generally more socially active. The communication used in national media is likely to be relevant to them as well, but the presentation of the message needs to have a younger, cooler appeal.
3. Evangelists Creation Campaigns
It is not easy to create an evangelist, because loyalty for a particular product or service cannot be bought, it comes from within. Hence, not just anyone can be an evangelist for a ‘save the environment’ campaign. That being said, there are enough groups of people who care about the environment, and if armed with the right the marketing communication they can be very strong public opinion swayers for the government.
Social activists more often than not have their own agendas too, but it is imperative that the government reaches out to large groups and gives them sufficient ammunition to run a strong and effective campaign. An additional group which the government must target are Environmental studies students. Such groups can be activated inside school and college campuses and can make a huge difference to public opinion, especially amongst the younger audience through rallies, events, etc.
The proposed media plan is made without taking into account a budget, and hence will need to be open to revision.
Based on our communication strategy, we need to reach out to
a) Mass Audience
b) Low Income Households
c) Seniors
d) Youth
e) Environmental Groups
The media plan for each of these will be unique
a) Mass Audience – Our mass audience campaign will focus largely on television and newspaper.
Our television campaign will focus on using the 4 commercial networks and 2 community networks. Continuity is essential for a strong campaign. We will avoid Subscription TV except in the case of special events or programs which are likely to grab massive eyeballs.
Our newspaper campaign will focus on the 2 national dailies and select Metro Sunday newspapers. Ads will be frequent and eye catching.
b) Low Income Households – National media is unlikely to reach low income households effectively, and chances are any message they receive in print or on tv will be largely rejected. Hence, using radio as a means of communication is useful, and the frequency at which the message is repeated is very important. Choice of time which is most relevant to low income households will be researched and advertising spots will be purchased accordingly.
c) Seniors – An on-ground activation program will be used to target seniors. Community talks at senior centres will be the primary focus of this activity, and printed handouts will be distributed so that seniors are made aware of the financial implication of carbon tax on them. Additionally residential areas which house a large number of seniors will also be targeted through direct mailers (Bharwada 2010).
d) Youth – A series of internet videos which have the potential to go viral will be the primary focus of our youth campaign. These videos will change weekly and carry cartoon characters who will be able to connect with the younger audience. (Bishop 2011)) Additionally a short online game will be created which will show the damage that carbon does to the environment and will encourage the user to see what the world will look like in 2050 should nothing be done to improve the environment. Finally, a popular Australian pop band will be hired to write a song and prepare a music video on saving the environment. The song will be available for free download through popular media like Itunes, etc (Taylor & Francis 2001).
e) Environmental Groups – will need local canvassing and our primary role will be in equipping them with marketing collateral that they can use to host student rallies, local events, etc.
Conclusion
While the problem facing the Australian government due to their decision to introduce ‘Carbon Tax’ is no doubt a challenging one, it is a marketer’s dream. The problem statement defined gives a marketer the opportunity to use not one or two tools in his arsenal, but the chance to develop an integrated marketing plan which takes advantage of advertising, public relations, direct communication, events, activation, etc. An integrated marketing plan needs an integrated marketing communication, and that is where the true excitement for a marketer lies.
Additionally, it gives the marketer to involve the consumer, not just as a recipient of the information that is being dissipated, but as a partner or a collaborator in the process (Lars & Christiansen 2006), which makes the task all the more engaging.
An IMC, if well executed, gives the client (here the Australian government) the opportunity to achieve all its campaign objectives – under one consistent framework, which increases the likelihood of success (Rossiter and Bellman 2005).
The choice of a national campaign, aided by audience specific communication appears to be a win-win strategy for the government, and an excellent way to regain its lost credibility in the face of severe opposition hostility.
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