Proctor & Gamble will limit the use of Personal Selling that it uses to promote Bounty Toilet Paper. Memos will be sent to all regional managers of the retail stores in which Bounty Toilet Paper will be sold. The memo will inform the regional managers about the new product. These regional managers will then be instructed to discuss this product with all the store managers for the stores found in their area. Overall, the memo will serve the purpose of getting product awareness into the minds of all retailers.
Proctor & Gamble plans to use an extensive Public Relations strategy in order to get the new Bounty Toilet Paper in the public s viewpoint. P&G will sponsor a week of programming for the late night talk shows The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O Brien. These shows were chosen based on their large television audience and also because of past affiliations the shows have shared with consumer products. During this week of programming, the shows will feature a variety of comedy sketches with Bounty Toilet Paper involved heavily in the story line. Also, the hosts, David Letterman and Conan O Brien, respectively, will throw out packages of the product, which will serve not only as attention to the product, but also stressing our key attribute of durability of the product. P&G feels that by using this television media with Bounty Toilet Paper, many potential consumers will be pushed more towards the trial of the product, therefore producing a Public Relations success story.
Finally, Proctor & Gamble will also incorporate various other support media in the process of getting the Bounty Toilet Paper brand image out to the public. These support media include billboards, inflatables, shopping carts, and transit advertising, to name a few. The billboards will use the same ads that will be featured in magazines, and will be located in all major markets. Large inflatables will accompany many of the booths placed in the front of retail stores. The inflatables will consist of a large package of Bounty Toilet Paper, with someone passing out free samples beside the inflatable. In all retail stores which carry the product, there will be small advertisements placed on the shopping carts, another means of reaching the potential consumers. Lastly, P&G will place large posters advertising the product in subways, along buses, and on bus stops in most major markets found across the United States.
Objectives of IMC Tools
There are five Integrated Marketing Techniques that are used for introducing a new product, or product extension. The use of each technique is critical to the success achieved by introducing a new product. Proctor & Gamble has used many extensive approaches to introducing new products in the past, and they will continue to do so for future products. The following are the main objectives that are going to be utilized in promoting and introducing Bounty Toilet Paper to the public.
The first IMC Tool that will be implemented for Bounty Toilet Paper will be Direct Marketing. Proctor & Gamble plans to use a new way of Direct Marketing in bringing this new product to the American public. P&G will place the new Bounty Toilet Paper in many restrooms around the nation in order to get all potential consumers to try this product. This will be a strong effort to get the trial of the product out of the way with the consumer never having to purchase the product in doing so.
The most important IMC Tool that can be utilized in order to gain a successful market share is the use of Advertising. Advertising can be used to promote the consumer awareness of Proctor & Gamble s product extension from paper towels to the toilet paper market with this new product. Methods used for gaining attention include television commercials, magazine ads, radio commercials, and newspaper ads.
The next IMC Tool Proctor & Gamble will use to introduce new Bounty Toilet Paper is the use of Sales Promotion. With a product line extension, Sales Promotions are needed a smaller role as compared to the introduction of a completely different product. Therefore, P&G will take a small approach in the area of Sales Promotion with new Bounty Toilet Paper. The use of a bonus pack deal will be the single act of Sales Promotion used to introduce this product.
Personal Selling is another IMC Tool that will be used for the introduction of this new product. With the large size of Proctor & Gamble, Personal Selling seems almost obsolete, but there are still methods in which they must be done. P&G plans to send memos to all regional managers for retailers carrying the new Bounty Toilet Paper. By doing this, P&G hopes to place the product into the minds of all retailers so that they will know more about the product and its attributes.
Publicity and Public Relations, the last of the five IMC Tools, run a linear path of similarity that will be used in the introduction of Bounty Toilet Paper. The main objective is to gain good recognition and reputation for producing a good product. This is very important since toilet paper is a love involvement item and the ultimate goal of any company is to establish widespread consumer loyalty.
Synergy Among IMC Tools
In order to achieve great success with the introduction of new Bounty Toilet Paper, Proctor & Gamble must reach a synergy among the five Integrated Marketing Communication Tools. P&G will initiate these tools first by placing several advertising ads a few weeks before the product hits the shelf of retail stores. Television and radio ads, along with magazine ads will be seen by potential consumers before they actually have the opportunity to buy the product. What this accomplishes is getting new Bounty Toilet Paper into the minds of potential consumers, thus creating the awareness that was intended from the ads. At the same time, memos will be sent out to all regional managers of the retail stores planning to carry the product. These memos will instruct the managers to inform all retail stores of the upcoming Bounty Toilet Paper. The day the product hits the shelf, P&G will place a full page ad in the USA Today national newspaper, that will inform all consumers of the arrival of the product. At the same time, during this first week of introduction, the late night talk shows, The Late Show with David Letterman and Late Night with Conan O Brien, will be sponsored by Bounty Toilet Paper, with the product being used in various methods on the show. This will create even more awareness for all potential consumers to purchase the product. When consumers go out to purchase the product for themselves, they will find many booths located at the entrance of retail stores where Bounty Toilet Paper will be handed out as free samples. Also, upon entering the retail store and locating Bounty Toilet Paper on the store shelf, the consumer will find a bonus pack offer that consists of buy one pack, receive one free. Finally when the product is launched, P&G will place rolls of Bounty Toilet Paper in restrooms found in shopping malls and sports facilities across the country. Consumers will be presented with the opportunity to try the product for free and make their own evaluation of it using this Direct Marketing tactic. Overall, all IMC Tools should come together, placing the product into the view of all possible consumers.
Budget Allocation
Promotional expenditures for the product line extension of Bounty Toilet Paper is going to be very expensive. With Proctor & Gamble already being a very well established company, executives are willing to put forth the money necessary to heavily promote this new product into the consumer market. P&G will promote Bounty Toilet Paper using all the tools in the Promotional Mix. The company will put 45% of its promotional budget toward an Advertising plan. Direct Marketing will be allowed 20% of the budget, considering that less money is needed for this tool than Advertising. Sales Promotions and Public Relations will both consist of 15% of the budget, for they are both equally important in the process of introducing this product. Finally, P&G will allocate the remaining 5% of the budget to Personal Selling, which may seem to be a small amount but will prove more than enough for this product.
Conclusion
Proctor & Gamble is confident that with the introduction of Bounty Toilet Paper they will continue to lead the toilet paper industry. At the same time, they feel that with this product, the way toilet paper is made in the future will be drastically changed. Because of the new approach P&G is taking with this product according to its durability and effectiveness, Bounty Toilet Paper will go on to be the leader in the toilet paper industry. With all the IMC Tools working together coherently, P&G plans to have new Bounty Toilet Paper as a household name within months. During this time, the wheels will be in motion for Bounty to take the toilet paper world by storm and just keep going and going and going.. and going