Introduction: As part of a collaboration between Snickers Ireland & the University of Limerick in 2016, My Applied Marketing class group, under the guidance of Dr Conor Carroll were tasked with the project of devising the (IMC) Integrated Marketing Communications Campaign for Snickers Ireland. The 30 page Campaign Report along with an accompanying 20 minute Sales Presentation (including Q&A) was evaluated by a team of Marketing Lecturers along with Mars Ireland Senior Management.
The brief: from Snickers Ireland was for us to develop a full 2017 activity plan to build engagement with consumers and drive consumption by fuelling the Irish passion for sport within a Budget of €200,000 (See Brief in Full). From a Marketing academic standpoint, we had to cover the following key areas:
Evaluation: Teaming up with a group of 4 Marketing academics called ‘Digital Marketing Consultants Limerick’ in February 2016 we devised the year round IMC campaign ‘Go NUTS for your team’ which was highly praised by the Senior management at Mars Ireland and earned us an A Grade for our Marketing Module. The campaign was selected as one of the best in the University, and ideas from it may appear in the 2017 Marketing Campaign of Snickers Ireland.
I have included the ‘Executive Summary’ of the Final Report of the Campaign below which encapsulates the main components of our Campaign and if you would like to see the campaign in full, here’s a link the the downloadable pdf: Snickers Ireland IMC Campaign.
– Executive Summary –
We at ‘Digital Marketing Consultants Limerick’ (DMCL) have undertaken an integrated communications campaign for Snickers. The year round campaign we have devised for Snickers, named ‘Go NUTS for your team’ aims to integrate Snickers into the Irish sporting culture by engaging with fans and increasing consumption through memorable promotions and events.
This contextual analysis that DMCC undertook entails a comprehensive analysis of the competitive landscape, a PEST analysis, as well as an Analysis of Snickers Ireland. In a growing market, Snickers have Ireland have a 1.7% market share. The key insights that DMCC discovered are: Irish consumers are becoming more health conscious but still feel the need to indulge & chocolate snacks are being viewed as a ‘boost’ as opposed to a ‘treat’ by the target market. DMCC have examined the key social network platforms that Snickers Ireland should utilise in relation to the consumption habits of the target market.
The overall objectives of our marketing campaign are to increase brand awareness, stimulate buyer demand, as well as enhancing the online presence of Snickers Ireland. This will be done through competitions and activities carried out online, in store and on the ground. We will run 2 interactive competitions online; “Fan Commentary” and the “Eat like a Man” challenge, as well as having a presence at selected sporting events to easily access and interact with our target market. We are also going to introduce a Point of Sale (POS) competition in stores to drive consumption in stores. These competitions will serve as a means of achieving our objectives by increasing consumer interaction with Snickers Ireland online, as well as increasing exposure of the brand through various channels.
We aim to promote these five competitions online using a variety of Digital and Social Media platforms. Online Display Advertising will be employed in the form of banner ads and cookies, and will be displayed on popular Irish sporting websites. In addition to this, we will utilise popular the social media platforms: Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat. Using these platforms, we aim to create a large amount of sharable content in order to stimulate viewer engagement with the Snickers Brand.
DMCC have established a control and evaluation system that is designed to evaluate consumer engagement and demand stimulation. The system that DMCC have developed will enable Snickers to monitor the effectiveness digital and social media activities as the year unfolds which enable the marketers to direct their marketing efforts in a way that utilizes the promotions and platforms that are proving most successful throughout the year.