Thesis Chapter 4 Sample Conclusions & Dissertations on Cathay Pacific

Introduction

 

“Public relations is a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual line of communication, understanding, acceptance and co-operation between an organization and its publics*.” (Harlow, 2003:7)

 

Cathay Pacific is an international airline registered and based in Hong Kong, offering scheduled cargo and passenger services to over 90 destinations around the world. It currently ranks as the world's third most profitable airline (net profit) and sixth largest airline by stock market value.

 

Their goal is to be the most admired airline in the world. The mission statements are as follow:

 

Ø          Ensuring safety comes first

 

Ø          Providing Service Straight From the Heart

 

Ø          Encouraging product leadership

 

Ø          Delivering superior financial returns

 

Ø          Providing rewarding career opportunities

 

 

For Cathay Pacific, there are various types of stakeholders such as governments, suppliers, contractors, business partners, employees and passengers. In this survey, we identify passengers and employees as our target groups because they not only represent the more influential stakeholders but also provide a great impact on Cathay Pacific’s daily operations and the financial profit.

 

 

* Wilcox, D.L., Cameron, G.T., Ault, P.H. and Agee, W.K. (2003) Public Relations Strategies and Tactics, 7th edition, Allyn and Bacon
             Purpose of the Survey

 

Ø          To identify the specific outcomes of Cathay Pacific’s public relations activities.

 

Ø          To focus on the linkage between the main stakeholders’ perceptions on an organization public relations, the behavior of stakeholders and the role of communication in this process.

 

Ø          To use Hazelton’s taxonomies as a guide to explore the public relations strategies used by Cathay Pacific.

 

Ø          To measure the effectiveness of Cathay Pacific’s public relations strategy and to learn from the weakness of the strategy.

 

Passenger Survey

Passenger Survey Research Questions:

The primary research applied for the survey design was used in a phenomenological way because interpretation prevails on logical explanation.

 

Methods and setting

 

The quantitative research method is predominant in the survey as it counts for 20 questions out of 23. The passengers’ profiles, their opinion about communication, community, services, safety and product leadership can be analysed in depth and it does not take a long time for completing the survey.

 

The basis of the survey is a quota sampling. The survey questionnaires are passed on to 15 participants who are frequent flyers of or used to be passengers of Cathay Pacific via email because of time constraint.

 

Survey Instrument

 

The use of Likert 1-5 scale questions helps to know passenger demographics and to quantify their attitude and opinions. The survey participants are asked to rate the importance of the statements and how well Cathay Pacific has demonstrated about the statements. The scale ranges from ‘Critical important’ to ‘Unimportant’ with a possibility of ‘Don’t know’.

 

At the end of the questionnaire, the use of open-ended questions allows people to express their thoughts on the subject freely and openly. Thus, it provides an understanding of the way people feel, which is difficult to establish from statistical analysis.  Hence, passengers could give an explanation of their previous answers or could add information they find important.

 

 

Questionnaires and Dimension Relations

 

This passenger survey is exploring the relation between Cathay Pacific and their passengers. We are seeking the opinion of the passengers in selecting Cathay Pacific rather than other airlines and how they trust the airlines. Also, we take into the consideration the passengers’ opinion about the commitment of airline in providing service and safety.

 

 

Passenger Survey Result:

 

For Passenger Survey, the questionnaires are actually distributed via e-mail to 15 participants who are frequent flyers of or used to fly with Cathay Pacific.

 

Ø          Only 12 completed the questionnaires and return to the survey team which is accounted for 80% of all the questionnaires distributed.

 

Ø          All the respondents age 26 - 45. 83% of them travel with Cathay Pacific for personal purposes while the rest, for business purposes.

 

Ø          67% live in Australia and New Zealand, 25% live in Asia and 8% live in America.

 

This questionnaire is divided into four main areas: communication, community, service and, safety and product Leadership. The respondents are asked to rate the importance or each statement as well as how well it has been performed by Cathay Pacific.

 

Ø          According to the result, service is one of the highly rated area where 100% of respondents agree that cabin crews and operation of the airline, namely, the punctuality of flight schedule is the most crucial.

 

Ø          In terms of community, 58% of the respondents perceive the promotion of Hong Kong tourism is critical important to Cathay Pacific whereas half of them think that the airline’s charity activities are ‘Average Important’ (See appendix 1, table 1 – 4).

 

For the part of performance, the majority agrees Cathay Pacific performs ‘very well’ in the area of service, especially cabin crews.

 

Ø          Safety is ranked the second, however, 100%of respondents trust the airline safety system. In competition, the price and quality of Cathay Pacific is perceived as ‘average’ by the majority of respondents and a quarter of them think its reward programs work ‘very well’ in encouraging them to fly with Cathay Pacific.

 

Ø          The communication between Cathay Pacific and the customers is perceived as ‘very well’ by 83% of respondents (See appendix 1, table 5-8).

 

From the open ended questions, the respondents comment that they experienced uncomfortable economy seats and tedious check-in line of economy class. Moreover, they recommend an improvement in the meals for economy class and airline magazine. The airlines that the respondents perceive as the best airlines other than Cathay Pacific are Qantas airline, Singapore airline, Virgin Blue and Emirates airline. The main reasons that make them the best are price, destinations and service efficiency.

 

Discussion and Conclusion:

 

Due to the very small sample size, it is difficult to indicate the exact strategy that Cathay Pacific is using. However, from the survey finding, it is implied that the airline can employ a promise and reward management together with an informative strategy. Cathay Pacific has launched many reward programs for frequent flyers such as the Marco Polo Club and Asia Miles. In addition, they offer a collection of discount for all passengers such as Yum Sing booklet or the package tours (ticket and accommodation). This is reflected in the finding where 25% of the respondents think the airline performs ‘very well’ in the area of reward program and 50% think it performs ‘well’.

 

Cathay Pacific attempts to present the latest facts and figures about their operation and service. The official website provides the information such as annual reports and traffic figures in details. Their news releases meet public interest and are relevant to the current issues as fuel charge and 2005 profit decrease. This helps to create a sense of openness and trust among the public audience.

 

They also use the web page called ‘press room’ extensively in promoting their activity news, especially for their sponsorship of community’s events, for example, Hong Kong Sevens, International Races, International Chinese New Year parade, which may enhance their corporate reputation and present an positive image to all stakeholders. Their communication makes the public, especially, Hong Kong people, feel Cathay Pacific’s efforts in commitment, involvement and investment in the community. The survey suggests that 83% feel that Cathay Pacific’s communication is reliable and useful. 75% of respondents know Cathay Pacific is awarded the Airline of the Year 2006.

 

In terms of attributes of Cathay Pacific’s customers, it is hard for the survey to point it out because the number of the respondent is too small. However, the survey implies the passengers have high issue recognition as 100% think the safety issue and the delay problem are critical importance. They have moderate degree of information seeking as 33% think e-news is average important and 17% agree that it is above average important. The degree of involvement is reflected in the interest in the airline’s award and the concern of safety while 100% think they are critical important.

Employee Survey

Employee Survey Research Questions:

 

The primary research applied for the survey design was used in a phenomenological way because interpretation prevails on logical explanation.

 

Methods and setting

 

Ø          Email – 20 emails were sent on 3rd April, however, only five of them were replied before the date of 9th April.

 

Ø          Phone – Two calls were made. One is form Taiwan on 6th April and the other is from Hong Kong on 8th April.

 

 

Survey Instrument

 

There are two sections in the employee survey. The first part includes 35 quantitative questions to assess employee opinions and perceptions about Cathay Pacific’s internal communication, working environment, existing resource and job satisfaction, we use two Likert scales to measure in two dimensions, importance and performance; the second section has three open-ended questions as a qualitative part to provide an opportunity for employees to comment on any issue.

 

Questionnaires and Dimension Relations

 

The employee survey is designed for determining:

 

Ø          What is employees’ viewpoint towards Cathay Pacific?

 

Ø          How does one employee’s individual goal fit into the mission statement of Cathay Pacific?

 

Ø          What kind of public relations strategies does Cathay Pacific use to communicate with its employees?

 

 

 

 

Employee Survey Result:

 

Based on the seven questionnaire replies, 90% are females who are ground staff and worked in customer service areas, 50% are worked 1~2 years in Cathay Pacific and 70% replies are from Asia.

 

Regarding the survey result from the perspective of employees’ work experience:

 

Ø          70 % of employees have the same opinion that Cathay Pacific did an excellent job by informing company goal and strategies to the staff. 

 

Ø          70 % of employees also agree that they are well informed and encouraged through Cathay Pacific internal communication and team work cooperation.

 

Ø          The entire employees who did the survey strongly agree that passengers’ safety is the priority concern. 

 

Ø          Around 70 – 80 % of employees rated Cathay Pacific’s salary/reward systems and the safety working environment in ‘average’ level (see appendix 2, table 9-11).

 

Regarding the survey results from the employees about how important they believe in each area:

 

Ø          All employees think that passenger’s safety, inter-communication, salary and benefits, company reputation and job satisfaction are critical important to them.

 

Ø          As well as around half of employees (43%-47%) who did the survey think that managers’ leadership and employees’ training programs are relatively average important to them.

 

Ø          90% employees think that a good balance of work and personal life is extremely important to them.

 

Ø          Only 20% of employees consider that loyalty towards the company is not important and no one thinks that personal responsibility is unimportant.

 

In general:

 

Ø          All employees agree and believe Cathay Pacific is acting upon the way to achieve the best product and service, and continually maintains its competitive position in the market.

Ø          More than half of employees think that providing the best customer service is very important, but in the actual performance, they admit that they can only perform it in the ‘average’ level (see appendix 2, table 12-14)

.

 

Employee Survey Discussion and Conclusion:

 

From the survey result, it shows that though well established and encouraged internal communication, employees can easily identify company’s goal and strategies, then properly fit into each individual’s personal goal in terms of the safely concern, the best services or products and the rewarding career opportunities.

 

Employees feel a sense of loyalty towards Cathay Pacific based on the different types of benefit providing by the company such as salary, training system and work environment. In addition, employees feel a sense of involvement by corporately making some company’s decisions. An effective leadership style from executive managers and high standard of personal satisfaction also lead to a sense of commitment for employees themselves. Furthermore, well communicated information about different issues give employees a feeling of trust within Cathay Pacific.

 

Overall, by having a good internal public relation strategy, employees now see Cathay Pacific as a high reputation company with a superior care for staff.

 

From the survey finding, we can see that Cathay Pacific uses at least 3 types of public relations strategies:

 

Ø      Informative strategy: disseminating clear information to employees about the mission, benefit and requirement of the company.

 

Ø      Corporative problem-solving strategy: Cathay Pacific encourages individual to talk about the ideas of solution whenever the issues occur. Moreover, the management leadership and communication styles promote the exchange of information.

 

Ø      Promises and rewards strategy: increasing payment (salary/ benefits/ superannuation) and promoting employees based on their performance and achievement.

 

 

Recommendations

After conducting the survey, we find that we should improve the following areas:

 

Ø          We should conduct a focus group before doing survey so that we can identify the important factors of the stakeholders which can lead to more effective questionnaire design. Moreover, focus group is the tool for environmental scanning that possibly leads the team to the new issues.

 

Ø          We need bigger sample size because too small one can cause variance of survey result. Moreover, we need more time for conducting the survey so that we can add more questionnaires and do more in-depth analysis.

Marketing Plan of Cirque Du Soliel

Marketing Plan:

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

1.      Executive Summary

Cirque Du SOLEIL has been known all over the world as an entertainment company that provides quality entertainment and artistic performances. It is said that the company is operating in different parts of the world. This time, the company wanted to please Chinese audiences.  This report provides intensive marketing and implementation plan that Cirque can be used to meet the needs and expectations of Chinese audiences. To gain management buy-in, the integrated marketing communications plan for launching the Cirque Du SOLEIL performances considered marketing approaches. Based on the analysis conducted, with Cirques talented and unique performances, they can be able to gain competitive advantage in China. This paper also tackles information about the strengths and weaknesses of the company and the marketing approach that should be considered.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Table of Contents

1.     Executive Summary.. 1

2. Introduction... 3

3.     Business Overview & Overall Marketing Plan... 4

4. Strategic Marketing Focus:. 4

·      Mission/Vision.. 5

·      Goals and Objectives. 5

·      Core Competencies. 5

§      Internal Environment 7

Strengths. 7

Weaknesses. 7

§      External Environment 8

Opportunities. 8

Threats. 8

5.     The Marketing Plan – an appraisal and analysis... 8

·      Target Market 8

·      Intended Strategies. 10

·      Conclude with a plan based on the analysis of all the above. 11

6.     Evaluation / Recommendations & Way Forward... 14

7.     Implementation Plans & Budget.. 16

·      Project Timeline with Work Breakdown Activities. 16

·      Budget Allocation.. 19

·      Monitoring and Control 20

8.     Summary / Conclusion... 21

9.     References & Bibliography.. 22

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Introduction

Each company is subject to different elements which influences the performance of the business. To be able to ensure success, the company must be able to know how to surpass different market challenges in the market environment. In order to do such, different approaches and strategies must be developed and implemented.  In this kind of condition, one of the important aspects to consider is a marketing plan.

            It can be noted that marketing plan enables a company to analyze deeply the situation of the company, its resources, and its competitive advantage. Furthermore, marketing plan also enables the company to identify their target market and the needs of the potential clients. It also served as their basis for developing new products and services (, 2007). Moreover, the marketing plan also facilitates such significant business approach by outlining the applicable strategies of promotions and sales (, 1997).

            It is said that strategic marketing plan should be noted to know the ability of the company to obtain competitive advantage. An efficient a marketing plan consists of different factors that determine the objectives of the company as well as the methods on how such objectives will be achieved.  Primarily, the main objective of this paper is to discuss a marketing plan for CIRQUE DU SOLEIL. This paper will analyse how the company can enter the Chinese audiences.  Herein, a comprehensive marketing plan for the company follows.

3.      Business Overview & Overall Marketing Plan           

Cirque Du SOLEIL which is also known as Circus of the Sun is an entertainment industry which is base in Montreal, Quebec Canada and located in the inner-city region of Saint-Michel. The company was founded by  and in 1984 in Baei-Saint-Paul.  The company started as a performing group and through the grant provided by the government, the company has surpassed the challenge in terms of financial aspects.

Each of the performance of the company is a synthesis of circus approach from different parts of the world with their own central theme and storyline.  The company expanded through 1990s and 2000, going from one show with only 73 employees to having more than 3,500 employees across 40 nations and produces shows in every continent except for Africa.

With their plans to entertain people from different parts of the world, the company is now aiming to expand their performances at Chinese audiences.

4. Strategic Marketing Focus:    

In order for the company to have efficient expansion approach, it is essential that the management of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL should create first a comprehensive and complete marketing opportunity plan to determine their capabilities of the company in the marketplace where the company wishes to expand (, 2004).  One of the factors to consider is the situational analysis of the marketplace.

·        Mission/Vision

Cirque Du SOLEIL is an international company which is dedicated to the generation, production, and performance of entertaining and artistic works, with the mission of invoking the imagination, the senses, and the emotions of the audiences all over the world. The vision of the company is to produce new shows annually to meet audience expectations.

·        Goals and Objectives

The main goal of the company is to be able to produce high-quality artistic entertainment to audiences on different parts of the globe with different cultures. Their aim is to be the number one entertainment provider with over 3,500 employees who are professional in their fields.

·        Core Competencies

Based on the given case, it ca be said that the core competencies of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL includes the management and their employees and staffs. Their main competencies are the ability of the management to determine the possible demands of their target audiences in terms artistic entertainment. Ensuring the quality of their performances shown for their target audiences is another core competency of the company over their rival companies.

In addition, the ability of the company to efficiently control all its resources from their human, physical, and financial resources is another core competency that can be attributed to the management of CIRQUE.  The employees and staffs who are highly motivated and devoted to perform well during their performances are other important aspects for assuring the success of the company to enter Chinese audiences.  The highly trained performers are also a leap against their competitors. In this regard, the company has been able to gain loyal audiences from different parts of the world.  In addition, the marketing personnel of the CIRQUE have the ability to think of the most effective ways to market and promote their shows.

From the core competence aspects, one of the strengths of the company is their fast and intensive transfer of operational capabilities across the expanded markets, which allow the company to benefit from learning curve, operational and other cost reduction benefits. In addition, the company also has the ability to develop new innovative solutions to meet changing demand of the audiences at different parts of the world. From the portfolio perspective, the core competencies of the company are its experience of international operations.

 

·        Internal/External Environment and Competitors analysis

 

Marketing audit is known as a preliminary tool or process which enables companies to have a glimpse of their ministrations, patrons, and products in line with its modern and advanced external influences. Accordingly, an efficient marketing audit will not only help in the assessment of the current operations but it is also helps in furnishing the company a model for continuous decision making appraisal as well as long term decision (195). To audit the market, SWOT analysis will be used. For analyzing the internal environment, the strengths and weaknesses of the product will be considered:

§         Internal Environment Strengths

As compared to the industry competitors of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, the company has been able to preserve their artistic tradition and promote their talents and performances to international market. Having talented employees are the major strength of the company against their competitors. Hence, CIRQUE will have the assurance of gaining customer loyalty and have a good reputation.

Weaknesses

Entertainment industry today has been able to gain competitive position in the business market. However, the problem with this kind of business is that the emergence of competitors has immediate effect to the performance.

 However, the problem with this is that the emergence of competitors has an effect to the performance of the company. In line with CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, the company is facing some weaknesses, and one of their weaknesses is in terms of their story. Accordingly, the intensity as well as the beauty of the performances of the talents of Cirque overshadows any other stories and some audiences may view this as nonsense (, 2008). This may affect the competitive position of the company in the Chinese audiences or any international market. In addition, another weakness is their inability to manage and promote their business in any other medium of advertisements.

§         External Environment

In this part, the external environment will be audited. Herein, the problems and opportunities will be analyzed:

Opportunities

Since CIRQUE DU SOLEIL is not that familiar with the local Chinese audiences, conceptualizations of the value propositions of their performances and entertainment are highly in synch with the traditional culture and entertainment in the Chinese audiences. In this regard, marketing approach come relatively easier to CIRQUE DU SOLEIL management to enter Chinese audiences to reach their target market easily. Such market situation should be taken advantage by the management to gain competitive edge against other entertainment industries, which are performing in China.    

Threats

In terms of the threats, one of the threats facing Cirque is with regards to the expenses and the inability to provide enough financial resources for each performance to be made within the specific market place. Aside from these, the threat of the exiting entertainment company may also affect the market entrants of Cirque at Chinese audiences.

5.      The Marketing Plan – an appraisal and analysis                   ·        Target Market

 

Of all the elements of the marketing plan, perhaps one of the most overlooked but most critical element is the target market definition. Accordingly, target market is a homogenous group of individuals or organization in which the company wishes to appeal to. There are two basic targets for specific products or services, or in this case, entertainment audience: the user and the non-user segments. Hence, there are also two business and marketing decisions that a firm must considered in light of their basis targets.

For CIRQUE DU SOLEIL, their market can be segmented into three target populations:

• Individuals: people who are a fan of entertainment and artistic shows.
• Families: a group of people, either friends or a group of nuclear relatives who are fond of watching entertainment and artistic shows together.
• Tourists: those travelers who wish to see some entertaining and quality shows and performances.

            The Cirque's audiences include those individuals who want to be entertained and who want to see some spectacular shows with excellent artistry. Age is not the most defined demographic for these target audiences; all age groups may enjoy artistic and entertaining shows. For this company, the most defined client base is their income. Cirque has been very successful in mixed-use and high rent urban areas.  Such areas have a large day and night population which consists of business people and families and also some tourists. Integrating several key demographic aspects, Cirque arrives at a profile of the primary target market as follows:

      Sophisticated families who live nearby.

      Professionals who work close to the location.

      Tourists who wants to be entertained.

·        Intended Strategies

The main goal of the company is to provide superior quality entertainment and artistic performance for the customers and communities through their innovation, leadership, as well as partnership. The company exists to attract and retain their target market.  The objectives of the company are to maintain steady, positive, and growth each month in the Chinese audiences. In addition, the company also aims to generate more sales for their performances and experience an increase in new clients who are turned into long-term clients. In addition, the company’s financial objective is to have a double-digit growth rate for their entertainment and products show starting in 2008 and continue to decrease variable costs linked with their performances.

It can be noted that the marketing context has been defined as the vital aspects to achieve organizational and company objectives and it rests on customer orientation, marketing context, coordinated marketing, and profitability.  In a company like Cirque, the firm has to try to attain this level of marketing position as a way of staying and maintaining sustainable competitive advantage.  In this regard, the company must be able to determine an efficient and effective marketing approach to be successful in the Chinese audiences.

In addition, one of the objectives of the intended strategies of Cirque Du SOLEIL is to improve their means of promoting their artistic performances.  This strategy will help overcome competition as well as increase profit margins. For this purpose, this intended strategy attempt to focus on their existing promotional aspects.

            Service delivery is an interactive and dynamic process that from the consumer's point of view is much more than a passive exchange of money for a particular service. Characteristics of services (e.g., intangibility, heterogeneity, simultaneity, and perish ability) often require customers to be actively involved in helping to create the service value -- either by serving themselves or by cooperating and often working collaboratively with service personnel. In high-contact systems customers can influence the time of demand, the exact nature of the service, and the quality of service ( 1998). If consumers somehow become better customers -- that is, more knowledgeable, participative, or productive -- the quality of the service experience will likely be enhanced for the customer and the organization ( 1990). In this regard, the company needs to strengthen relationship with their customers and increase market share. This effort will result to parallel business interests that will contribute to the company as well as their business objectives of providing high quality performance and entertainment with their clients.

·        Conclude with a plan based on the analysis of all the above                   

Based on the analysis, the company is in need of a comprehensive marketing strategy to ensure market success in the Chinese audiences. For this strategic development plan, it is recommended that the management of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL should focus on managing all their employees and talents of the company.  In addition, to be able to maximize their advantage in entering the Chinese audiences, the management should be able to manage this strategically. In line with the marketing development, the company should maximize the use of their financial resources in the latest trends in the market environment.  They also need financial resources, to sustain their strategic development in considering employee trainings to ensure that the changes in line with their interactive media planning sill be successful.

There are various factors that affect the success of the company market entry strategy. One of these is the context of organizational culture. Accordingly, with an enhanced organizational culture, and change, both the management and the employees are extremely involved in a constant joint effort to enhance the quality of the firm’s products or services at every level through strategic renewal. This then involves an impact similar to that of a chain reaction in which, the united goal of the organization to improve its services will eventually enhance their customers’ satisfaction and minimize the firm’s total costs. Another factor includes the leadership ability of the management (1998). The role of the leaders for example, is significant in developing organizational efficiency to successfully implement strategic changes. According to  (2002), efficient leaders have the ability to view the future. They are equipped with compelling abilities to visualize where things will naturally end or lead to. Unlike other people, individuals with leadership abilities see things that are not noticeable or obvious to others. In addition, leaders have the ability to build and establish confidence to others (2002).

It can also be said that the resources, capabilities, and business environment of an organisation or industry can all contribute to the efficacy or success of implementing this strategic changes for Cirque Du SOLEIL. The company should then design a project plan for this strategy. Important resources that will serve as the strategy’s framework should be prepared. It is also suggested that the company develop a monitoring system, which will regularly evaluate the strategy’s progress. This will be helpful for detecting problems ahead of time as well as in implementing strategy changes or improvements.

In this strategic development, it can be said that the commonness of the two is the initiation of the strategic planning. Accordingly, strategic Planning is part of the strategic development wherein the management team identifies ways and techniques to initiate the development or execute their objectives.  Strategic planning can be utilized when an organisation intends to instigate or initiate a certain project, in this case the CIRQUE DU SOLEIL information technology development and interactive media development and the marketing strategy development that will enhance the competitiveness of the organisation (, 1998).

The strategic plan for each development, specifically in terms of their resource planning, assures that the company only utilized a strategic planning approach that will benefit the company to achieve its goal. In this manner, the management of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL should be able to incorporate strategic planning and implementation in line with its resources for both strategic developments.

6.      Evaluation / Recommendations & Way Forward      

The analysis shows, that although there are some risks to consider by the management of Cirque Du SOLEIL, it can be said that they have a potential market in China. This is because Chinese people are entertainment and artistry enthusiasts. In this regard, the management should be able to consider a comprehensive marketing approach. For this it is recommended that the company should consider in their marketing approach the four types of resources which the company can use to achieve its objectives: financial, tangible, human, and technological resources (, 2003).

In addition, the company should also consider the context of integrated marketing communication approach for effective marketing. All types of communication are involved in marketing communications, including literature, training, advertising, mail, telephone, product promotions, and other contact relevant to marketing communication. Among the channel members, even follow-up on complaints as well as customer billing may be included within the communication loop. In order to effectively serve the marketing channel, correct timing, and accuracy in communications is essential. Moreover, it is important for the company to recognize that all members of the channel have an obligation or important role in maintaining the efficacy of marketing communications. The management initiated product development strategies by marketing their existing entertainment and artistic production.

Due to the notion that the direct or primary market of the CIRQUE DU SOLEIL includes professionals and individuals who are interested in entertainment and artistic performances, the marketing strategy of the company includes pricing strategy based on the needs of the Chinese audiences. This is because of the idea that Chinese audiences can be considered as price sensitive. In this regard, the price of the tickets to be offered in the Chinese audiences can directly affect their buying behaviour. In addition, it is also considered that most of the Chinese audiences are spending on worthy shows. Hence, the price of the products will be based on the demand, but will meet the expenses of the target audiences.

            As part of the marketing plan, another important factor to consider in the marketing mix is the promotion strategy. The goal of this promotion strategy is to give emphasis on the entire relationship to be built by the show of CIRQUE DU SOLEIL to the target market (Chinese audiences). In this regard, the approach that will be implemented as part of this marketing plan is the integrated marketing communication approach. The integrated marketing approach is known to be an efficient approach for coordinating the message and media used by the company to collectively make or generate an impact to its product value (2007).

            In addition, it can be used for creating and sustaining close relationship with the target customers by controlling effectively all the information as well as message sent to them by the objectively encouraging two-way conversation with the audience. Hence, the aim of the integrated marketing communication is to promote the CIRQUE DU SOLEIL through various promotions tolls and the marketing approach to communicate or imply the message of promoting the products to the clients who will avail the products.

            In this manner, the advertisement will be generated to position CIRQUE DU SOLEIL by different video and visits different shopping malls for free tasting for Chinese audiences and this will happen via direct relationship. In addition, another approach is to use print advertisements through newspapers and magazines related to food and beverage industries.  And lastly, the use of the internet will be considered as the best way to communicate and reach more Chinese audiences through their website.

7.      Implementation Plans & Budget           

This part will provide the implementation plan of the strategic approach of having comprehensive integrated marketing communication to promote Cirque Du SOLEIL in Chinese audiences.

·        Project Timeline with Work Breakdown Activities

Recommendations as to how the company will conduct its marketing communications plans is governed by the assumptions that using the right mix of advertising tools (TV, Internet, print and radio) will allow the company to get the best of online and offline advertising. Following is the six-month communications plan for the launching of the company.

 

June – July 2008. This is when initial collaboration with prospective advertising partners should be done. They should be selected by virtue of their reputation and performance in handling advertising tasks. The company will contact partners that will cater to its need to be publicized online and offline. Specifically, the company will employ extensive new media, TV, radio, and print campaign. Each would-be partner will be given the chance to present their marketing plans for the company. There will intensive negotiations between suppliers, assessment of artworks, and evaluation whether such marketing strategies are designed following the company’s objective. The activities will include the following:

·        Complete a detailed situation analysis to examine the context of the environment and to determine the need for the project.

·        Involve the stakeholders of the project so as to consider their needs and preferences.

·        Identify alternative options of the organization so as to exhaust the available alternatives.

·        Set the assumptions and objectives of the project to distinguish the direction as well as the standards for project assessment.

 

August – September 2008. Once the right mix and budget communications were decided, it is expected that at this time of the year, all the advertising outputs will be ready for their launching nationwide. The advertising efforts will be completed by criteria to measure its effectiveness. Intensive researches will be implemented to determine the success of each campaign tool. Advertising media could be in the form of brochure, newsletter, printed materials, the Internet, newspapers, radio, and television. The communications department of the company will be directly responsible on monitoring the content design, layout, dissemination, and communication training and development for employees and executives. Furthermore, the department is also expected to supervise all the market and attitudinal research. The activities will include the following:

·        Determine project size in order to limit the concerns of the project, identify the necessary resources, and evaluate its feasibility.

·        Examine the available resources whether material or human that should be acquired to meet the goals of the project.

·        Analyze the risks, benefits, and costs of the project so as to ascertain the project's financial return that will assist to the long-term goals of the organization.

·        Develop a master plan that details the focus and concerns of the project's goals.

 

            October – December 2008. The last period of advertising campaign will focus on the maintenance and management of media relationships. Research findings must guide the company on appraising its marketing approaches. All the steps that will be taken must be geared towards the determination, development, and design of the organization image, presence, and reputation. The activities will include the following:

      Document all the development and changes of undertaking the project at all its stages.

      Coordinate planning and project efforts between all of the project participants.

      Effectively and efficiently manage information, technology, and people.

·        Budget Allocation

Companies employ marketing communications in order to gain several benefits such as increased profits and enhanced customer relations. The application of strategies directed towards the achievement of these objectives naturally requires the allocation of financial resources. However, while the company is capable of providing a budget for marketing communications, the outcomes should be able to recover these allocations. Hence, in order to prevent capital losses, the company should employ strategies and create objectives that are compatible to the capacity of the company and what it intends to achieve.

The advertisement and promotion strategy of the products focuses on TV, Newspaper ads, flyers as well as the Internet. Each TV advertisement causes $500 dollars per 30 second ad per station. The newspaper ads cost $500 per advertisement; furthermore, the flyers cost $100, where in $0.10 each (2008).

Table 1

Estimated Marketing Budget

Communication

Estimated Quantity

Estimated Cost Per Unit

Estimated Subtotal

Flyers

5,000

$0.10

$500

Television

10

$500

$50000

Website

1

$350

$350

Sponsorship

3

$300

$900

Total

 

 

$51750

 

            This communication and marketing budget will focus on the relationship of the organization towards the Chinese audiences. 

·        Monitoring and Control

The art of planning for the future has always been a human trait as humans are thinking individuals.  In essence a project can simply be captured on paper with a few simple elements: a start date, an end date, the tasks that have to be carried out and when they should be finished, and some idea of the resources (people, machines etc) that will be needed during the course of the project.  When the plan has been able to involve different things happening at various times, some of which are interconnected on each other, plus resources needed at varying times and in different quantities and perhaps working at different rates; monitoring and control of the project is required for its successful and timely completion.  The following activities will be initiated during the entire monitoring and control of the marketing campaign:

      Detail the activities undertaken to close the project.

      Outline outstanding issues, risks, operational matters, and recommendations.

      Determine if the objectives of the projects were met. 

      Deliver all the outputs generated by the project.

       Enumerate the significance and benefits to justify the cause and rationale of undertaking the project.

      Prepare a report or presentation that will detail the accomplishment of the project.

      Monitor and regularly evaluate the development to ensure the timely completion of the project.

      Ensure a logical intervention strategy to minimize the unnecessary impact of undertaking the project.

      Identify cross-cutting objectives to be able to work on the project based on the assumptions considered.

      Prepare back-up plans to supply assist for the possibility of unforeseen difficulty during the course of the project.

      Plan for capacity development and sustainability to ensure the continuous implementation, control, and evaluation of the project.                                

8.      Summary / Conclusion                

The report has been able to show the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the company to enter the Chinese market as part of their expansion and international production.  In addition, this report also provide recommendation on the best marketing approach that Cirque Du SOLEIL can use to enter the market and provide entertainment among Chinese audiences. Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that Cirque Du SOLEIL has a great potential in the Chinese audiences if the company would be able to have strategic marketing plan for the product. Analysis have shown that there are many potential clients for the product and through the use of integrated marketing communication as promotion approach, the product will be able to gain good reputation and marketability in Chinese market.