I feel it would be beneficial for Foley to advertise on more than one social media platform in order to promote brand awareness through an integrated marketing communications plan. However, due to the costs of advertising through the suggested media Foley’s management would have to consider a rethink of UnME’s media plan for 2008. I would recommend cutting the budgets for traditional media such as television, print and radio by an average of 5% in order to fund a cross-media advertising campaign which incorporated two of the social media platforms outlined by the agency. This 5% estimate would cover the costs of two of the three social media plans outlined in the case and is quite conservative in comparison to measures taken by other companies such as such as Johnson and Johnson mentioned in the case.
There are benefits to each social media platform so further analysis will be needed to find which is best suited to Foley, taking into consideration the three main issues which Foley herself considered: Which media outlet would be most receptive to her brand story and discussions about the story? Which programs would most seamlessly integrate and support her existing media plan? And most importantly which would have the most positive impact on sales?
Zwinktopia:
The main benefit of using the Zwinktopia plan is that its target market (13-24 year old girls) is very closely matched with that of UnME jeans. Similarly one of the site’s main focuses, fashion, makes it a seemingly perfect fit with the UnME Jeans brand. The site is also receptive to the UnME Jeans brand story in that in that a rejection of conformity and peer pressure is promoted in the virtual world as users may be encouraged to try new fashion products with their digital avatar before actually making the physical purchase. (Barnes, 2007)
Foley wondered whether each social media plan would be in keeping with her current plan to
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