Noel Leeming’s Offline & Digital Marketing Communications

Author’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Introduction

Statistical evidence provided by McGinnis (2019) shows that merely 28% of marketers today feel contented with their capacity to engage clients across their marketing communication channels. This proof implies that marketing success can only be realised when adequate and appropriate marketing communications are in place. The current paper focuses on employing evidence from literature to evaluate offline and digital marketing communications at Noel Leeming. According, the paper’s first section provides a detailed account of the brand of the company’s marketing communication. The second section is where the firm’s overall products for consumer segments are addressed. In the third section, two products are selected from the product for consumer segments and a discussion offered on how to market one of them using traditional marketing and the second one using digital marketing. The fourth section is where the marketing of these two products is compared to determine the segment that does well. In the last section, a detailed evaluation of Noel Leeming’s strategies for digital and offline marketing communications for the targeted consumer segments is provided.

Brand of Noel Leeming Marketing Communication

Noel Leeming is a multichannel retailer of branded technology services and consumer electronics and electronic appliances in New Zealand. In its context, marketing communication entails the approaches, schemes, ways, and techniques that the corporation utilises to convey promotional messages about the brand or product offerings to its clients directly or indirectly aiming at persuading them to purchase (Fill & Jamieson, 2014; Pawar, 2014). At Noel Leeming, marketing communications, whether traditional or digital, are an essential and multifaceted part of the firm’s marketing efforts. This is because marketing communications encompass both the media and the message deployed by Noel Leeming’s marketers to communicate with the target consumer segments. Generally, marketing communications employ different marketing tools, techniques, and channels, which, when combined, help to create brand awareness amongst potential and existing clients. Dobele, Toleman, and Beverland (2005) suggest that such awareness either establishes a mental picture of the firm’s brand or changes the brand image in the minds of clients, thus enabling their purchasing decisions. In essence, marketing communications offer the avenue by which Noel Leeming presents its brands to audiences of targeted consumer segments aiming at cultivating complete and engaging purchasing behaviours.

The broad brand of offline and digital marketing communications employed at Noel Leeming are emails, brochures, websites, online pamphlets, advertisements, press releases, and sales promotion campaigns. Pawar (2014) and Owen and Humphrey (2009) suggest that a complete marketing communication mix should have eight key promotional tools. These include personal selling, word-of-mouth marketing, sales promotion, advertising, public relations (publicity), direct selling, interactive marketing, and events and experiences. Other elements to include are branding, online presence, printed materials, packaging, sponsorships, strategic trade shows, and sales presentations (Fill & Jamieson, 2014; Hasan & Khan, 2011).

Noel Leeming has well-established offline and digital marketing communications practices. The evidence for this is the existence of a marketing planning manager who administers the planning of communication activities across various paid, earned, and owned offline and online marketing communication channels (Noel Leeming, n.d). The company’s marketing communications assist in providing the latest advice, choices, ideas, and trends to customers to buttress Noel Leeming’s position in the New Zealand electronics market.

The marketing communications mix of Noel Leeming includes both offline and digital marketing initiatives and strategies. Even so, digital marketing communication is more dominant than traditional marketing communication. This is evinced by Noel Leeming’s major focus on digital marketing innovation based on customer data analytics aimed at driving marketing performance. The firm’s marketing planning manager develops media plans and recommendations that are consistent with Noel Leeming Group’s advertising and marketing strategies (Noel Leeming, n.d). Using heavy media campaign learnings and data analytics, Noel Leeming builds its capabilities in automated and customised marketing communication. This enables Noel Lemming to shift from traditional analogue marketing channels to the continuous embracement of digital marketing tools (McKenzie, 2018). Presently, its digital marketing communications are coordinated by a marketing communications executive (Green, 2014).

Noel Leeming’s Products for Consumer Segments

Noel Leeming’s product offerings to its consumer segments include a broad gamut of consumer electronic goods and their associated appliances. The consumer electronic goods offered by the company include gadgets and devices used for communications, home-keeping operations, office activities, and entertainment. Noel Leeming’s consumer electronics for communication include Android and iPhone mobile phones, home phones, GPS-enabled devices, and their respective accessories, including micro SD cards, hands-free kits, phone chargers and cables, SIM cards, dashcams, and UHF accessories for GPS. The firm’s consumer electronics for entertainment include television sets, audio stereos, digital cameras, DVD players, and projectors and their related appliances and accessories. As regards office activities, the consumer electronics offered by Noel Leeming include computers, tablets, printers, PC gaming packages, air conditioners, and other appliances and their associated accessories. Finally, Noel Leeming’s consumer electronics for home-keeping operations include washing machines, kitchen electronic appliances, vacuum cleaners, irons, heaters, and refrigerators, along with their associated accessories (Noel Leeming Group Limited, 2019).

Selection of Two Products for Consumer Segments for Marketing

The two segments of products for consumers segment that are picked for this analysis are consumer electronics for communications and consumer electronics for entertainment. The specific products for each product segment are iPhones and DVD players respectively.

Traditional Marketing of Consumer Electronics for Entertainment

The consumer segment targeted using offline marketing includes medium income earning adults. The offline marketing of DVD to to the medium income earning adults entails Noel Leeming using traditional means and tools to convey promotional messages about these items. The traditional marketing tools include TV advertisements, radio broadcasts, press releases, physical print media (newspapers and magazines), billboards, and film ads (Geraghty & Conway, 2016; Gurău, 2008; Spencer & Giles, 2001). Using traditional marketing to promote consumer electronics for entertainment has some advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are that traditional marketing reaches the target consumer segment easily, allows the keeping and recycling of promotional materials and hard copies, and has high familiarity among target audiences that makes it easy to understand. The disadvantages to Noel Leeming are that it is expensive, less engaging, and difficult to establish return on investment.

Digital Marketing of Consumer Electronics for Communications

The consumer segment targeted using online marketing are adolescents aged between 17 and 21 years. The online marketing of iPhones to these youngsters involves Noel Leeming employing digital tools, networks, and techniques to reach target consumer segments with promotional messages about these electronic items. The digital marketing tools and channels to use could include cellular phone networks, social media, the Internet, blogs, email marketing, and client-focused videoconferencing (Geraghty & Conway, 2016; Pawar, 2014). The advantages that Noel Leeming gets for using digital marketing to market these electronic products are cost-effectiveness, high levels of customer engagement, ease of measuring returns on investment, and ideal consumer segment targeting. Other advantages are that digital marketing strategies allow connection with mobile customers, can be adapted easily to optimise outcomes and enhance the company’s competitiveness (Durmaz & Efendioglu, 2016). The demerits are that digital marketing is dependent on technology, involves high maintenance costs, exposes the firm’s pricing strategies, and faces global competition due to globalization.

Comparison of Consumer Segments’ Performance

The consumer segment of adolescents targeted by digital marketing performs better than the consumer segment of medium income earning adults targeted using traditional marketing for three reasons. Firstly, the advantages of digital marketing outweigh those of traditional marketing. Secondly, using metrics to track customer buying behaviours and measure outcomes of returns of investment is easily possible in digital marketing compared to traditional digital marketing. Thirdly, many clients in the two consumer segments in New Zealand are inclined to online purchasing. This means they can be reached easily on their digital platforms than when using traditional marketing channels. Based on these comparisons, Noel Leeming should consider targeting all its consumer segments using digital marketing.

Marketing Communications

At Noel Leeming, the marketing communications mix blends both traditional and digital marketing communication. The offline formula for its marketing communications includes public relations, sales promotion, and film advertisement. Noel Leeming utilizes public relations to communicate the value its electronic products bring to the target consumer segments, hence providing a positive perception of the company. The company employs sales promotion by providing demonstrations of how to use electronic appliances to grab the attention of target consumer segments, hence generating some trade incentives. Lastly, it uses film advertisements to offer in-store advice and demonstrate the use of its consumer electronics to stimulating customers’ understanding.

The digital formula of Noel Leeming’s marketing communication mix includes company websites, social media, and content marketing. The enterprise uses its websites to post listings of product offerings, their features, and price suggestions, allowing target customers to make purchasing decisions promptly (Noel Leeming Group Limited, 2019). It employs social media to achieve high customer engagement while building robust relationships with the target consumer segments, hence augmenting its brand loyalty. Lastly, Noel Leeming’s content marketing involves generating, customizing, and distributing reliable, relevant, and valuable brand-centered content on its electronic product offerings. Such content aims at attracting and retaining its defined consumer segments in different product segments, thereby driving profitable customer action as Claesson and Jonsson (2017) suggest.

Summary

Running successful business operations at Noel Leeming depends on the effectiveness of its marketing communications. Both traditional and online marketing communications are influential in keeping the company in the lead position in its different target consumer segments. Even so, the consumer segment targeted using digital marketing communication perform better than that targeted using traditional marketing communication. This shows the need for Noel Leeming to shift its focus to an extended utilisation of digital marketing communications approaches for all consumer segments.

References

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