Hanes Case Study

Integrated Marketing Communications is defined as “a management concept that is designed to make all aspects of marketing communication such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing work together as a unified force, rather than permitting each to work in isolation” (Lake 2011). This is critical for Hanes, given that Hanes occupies the frequently dangerous mid-market area of the undergarment market. It is not a high-end retailer that sells clothing primarily upon its image, such as Calvin Klein but there are also cheaper no-brand alternatives competing for consumer attention in drug stores and discount stores. An integrated image for Hanes is demanded which conveys what is uniquely beneficial about the product.

The image cannot be too ‘high end’ which would suggest it is copying Calvin Klein, but an IMC strategy must distinguish Hanes as a company that provides quality as well as value. IMC is founded upon the principle that “the most important element remains that customers want and expect a consistent experience across all of their touch points with companies and products” (Wilms 2012: 2). Q2. What types of message evaluation techniques should Hanes and the advertising agency use when developing the next set of commercials for television and print (magazines)? Evaluative techniques tend to fall under two categories—that of quantitative evaluations and qualitative evaluations (Weinreich 2012).

Data-driven quantitative analysis in the form of surveys can be useful, because of their ability to gain information about a wide range of users that can be compared (such as the perceptions of men living in different regions and with different income levels). However, qualitative evaluations such as focus groups can be important because they can yield more detailed results and unexpected insights. But they require more resources to conduct, and are less comprehensive than quantitative methodologies. Ideally, creating the ads should first involve using small, in-house focus groups of members of the target demographic. This can be followed by conducting a quantitative analysis through online surveys of a ‘test group’ of viewers.

Responsiveness to the ads within specific demographics can enable Hanes to refine the marketing campaign, and select which magazines and print advertisements have readership which are most responsive to the campaign. With both techniques, persuasion analysis, attitude and opinion tests and recognition of brand awareness are must be evaluated—viewers must receive the correct impression of the product’s desired image, be persuaded to buy the product, and also recognize Hanes (versus a competitor) when going shopping (Chapter 15, 2012, 15-6). Combining “traditional offline marketing opportunities” with marketing opportunities online is another fundamental building block of IMC (Wilms 2012: 2). Q3. Are there any online evaluation metrics that would be valuable to Kelsey’s efforts?

Online metrics frequently used to measure consumer behavior include click throughs; length of engagement on the website overall; the dwell rate and time online; response rates; overall sales; and web ‘chatter’ such as sharing the link through Facebook (Chapter 15, 2012, 15-21). For example, Hanes can keep track of how many people watch its new advertisements online via their website and YouTube in terms of ‘click-throughs’ and repeat viewers and sharers, as well as the degree to which their sales increase as a result of the new campaign. Q4. What types of respondent behavior evaluations should Hanes and the advertising agency employ for the next set of commercials?

Online evaluations of advertisements are more cost-effective even than paper surveys (and consumers can be sent links to the filmed advertisements and/or print images, ensuring that they evaluate the ads immediately after seeing them) (Chapter 15, 2012, 15-9). Consumers can be surveyed in terms of brand perception, whether they would buy the brand, and also their ability to recall what specific products and brand they saw when watching the advertisements. Consumers can be surveyed regarding their brand recall based upon their demographics, specific aspects of the advertisement (such as their feelings about the theme music and tagline), and through follow-up emails how much they recall about the advertisement a day later and a week later, versus immediately (Chapter 15, 2012, 15-12-14). Q5. Which consumer promotions should Hanes use?

How should they be evaluated? One recent campaign for Hanes involved a team of scantily-dressed women encouraging men to ‘change their underwear.’ The women stopped at various sporting events and male-oriented rock concerts and encouraged men to experience the product firsthand through free samples the men could change into during the event (Hanes asks guys to change their underwear, 2007, Promo). This type of provocative stunt was designed to improve the brand’s positive associations among young men and encourage men not to merely see Hanes as just another brand of underwear. A similar campaign that reinforces the messages of the advertisements is one way to create a personalized experience for consumers in the manner in which they interact with the brand. Q6. What long-term IMC criteria should be assess the Hanes men’s underwear brand?

Ways to evaluate IMCs include sales, customer responses, and redemption of special promotional offers (Chapter 15, 2012, 15-26). Customer surveys should assess the brand association with the Hanes name overall, to see if the ‘integrated’ intention of the marketing campaign has been realized.

References

Chapter 15: Evaluating an IMC program. (2012). PowerPoint. Retrieved: www.cob.sjsu.edu/vitale_r/clow_imc5_Ch_15RPV.pptx

Hanes asks guys to change their underwear. (2007). Promo. Retrieved:
http://chiefmarketer.com/eventmarketing/hanes_guys_change_underwear_072707

Lake, Laura. (2012). IMC. About.com. Retrieved:
http://marketing.about.com/od/marketingglossary/g/imcdef.htm Weinreich, Nedra Kline. (2012). Integrating quantitative and qualitative methods in social marketing research. Social Marketing. Retrieved:

http://www.social-marketing.com/research.html
Wilms, Todd. (2012). Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC): Then and now. Forbes. Retrieved. http://www.forbes.com/sites/marketshare/2012/05/31/integrated-marketing-communications-then-now/