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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN
AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY:
INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
Victoria Hill

USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

Victoria Hill

Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 3
2. Identification of the Problem ............................................................................................................... 3
3. SWOT Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 4
3. 1. Strengths ..................................................................................................................................... 4
Strength 1. Highly innovative newspaper company that has been a leader in news development .... 4
Strength 2 – Gannett is currently the largest newspaper distributor in terms of circulation ............. 4
Strength 3 – Strong portfolio with multiple Brand Extensions and Partnerships ............................... 4
Strength 4 – Excellent presence and distribution in the digital environment .................................... 4
3.2. Weaknesses .................................................................................................................................. 6
Weakness 1 – Relatively small amount of digital subscribers ........................................................... 6
Weakness 2 – Overall revenue and profit is decreasing in their print distribution ............................ 6
Weakness 3 – Majority of USA Today’s circulation is confined in the United States .......................... 6
3.3. Opportunities ............................................................................................................................... 7 leading to a lush environment in digital media................................................................................. 7
Opportunity 2 – Overall global opportunity to expand in digital media ............................................ 7
Opportunity 3 – Interest in mobile applications and gaming continues to gain popularityOpportunity 4 – Social Media continues to grow and gain in popularity with consumers for news ......................................................................................................................................... 7 distribution...................................................................................................................................... 7

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
3.4. Threats ....................................................................................................................................... 10
Threat 1 – High cost in print distribution and print media .............................................................. 10
Threat 2- Strong competition from other media competitors......................................................... 10
Threat 3 – Consumers desire information that is distributed freely online, leading to fewer purchases in print media ............................................................................................................... 10
Threat 4 – Decreased popularity in Classified AdvertisingThreat 5 – Top competitors Wall Street
Journal and The New York Times, continue to have far more ........................................................ 10 success in digital subscriptions ...................................................................................................... 10
4. Organizational Objectives .................................................................................................................. 11
5. Analysis of Alternatives ..................................................................................................................... 12
5.1. Development of complete Social Media integration with news stories, mobile gaming, and mobile applications ....................................................................................................................................... 12
5.2. Increased presence in digital global market and decreased presence in foreign print .................. 13
6. Recommendation .............................................................................................................................. 14
Reasons Why ................................................................................................................................. 14
7. Implementation Plan ......................................................................................................................... 14
7.1. Short Term Plan (1-3 Months) ..................................................................................................... 14
7.2. Long Term Plan (3 Months +) ...................................................................................................... 15
Works Cited .......................................................................................................................................... 16

Opportunity 1 – Consumers continue to desire information on demand and on mobile devices,

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

1. Executive Summary
USA Today is the largest circulated American newspaper with over 1.8 million subscriptions. However,
USA Today is facing large losses in print and digital revenue, causing them to have lower profit gains.
This is due to the rising cost of print publication and distribution, too much focus on the American market, loss of subscribers to their major competitors The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, stiff competition from other news mediums, consumers expecting free internet news, and finally overall decrease in Classified Advertising.
To combat this, USA Today must take advantage of the consumers desire to reach more information through mobile platforms, recognize their opportunity to grow in the global digital market, take advantage of the growing popularity in mobile application and gaming platforms, and unify social media across all mobile touch points.
If USA Today wishes to grow in the dynamic news distribution environment, they must develop a way to integrate their Social Media platforms with news stories, mobile gaming, and mobile applications.

2. Identification of the Problem
USA Today is the most circulated print newspaper in the United States. They also have a strong digital presence where they have up to 24 million unique internet visitors each month.
Although the above is true, they’re having strong economic trouble over the past few years. USA
Today’s problem is that they’re losing overall print and digital revenue, causing them to have lower profit gains.
Symptoms include:




Rising cost of print publication and distribution
Too much dependence on the United States news media industry
Losing overall digital subscriptions to their competitors which include The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times





Fierce competition in distributing news information from other media competitors
Consumers adapting to free internet news, leading to fewer purchases in print and digital media
An overall decrease in Classified Advertising as businesses turn to Craigslist and Kijiji to access their consumers.

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

3. SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Strength 1 – Highly innovative newspaper company that has been a leader in news development Strength 2 – Gannett is currently the largest newspaper distributor in terms of circulation.
Strength 3 – Strong portfolio with multiple
Brand Extensions and Partnerships. Strength
4 – Excellent presence and distribution in the digital environment.
Opportunities
Opportunity 1 – Consumers continue to desire information on demand and on mobile devices, leading to a lush environment in digital media.
Opportunity 2 – Overall global opportunity to expand in digital media.
Opportunity 3 – Interest in mobile applications and gaming continues to gain popularity. Opportunity 4 – Social Media continues to grow and gain in popularity with consumers for news distribution.

Weaknesses
Weakness 1 – Relatively small amount of digital subscribers.
Weakness 2 – Overall sales revenue and profit is decreasing in their print distribution.
Weakness 3 – Majority of USA Today’s circulation is confined in the United States.

Threats
Threat 1 – High cost in print distribution and print media.
Threat 2- Strong competition from other media competitors.
Threat 3 – Consumers desire information that is distributed freely online, leading to fewer purchases in print media.
Threat 4 – Decreased popularity in Classified
Advertising.
Threat 5 – Top competitors Wall Street
Journal and The New York Times, continue to have far more success in digital subscriptions.

3. 1. Strengths
Strength 1 – Highly innovative newspaper company that has been a leader in news development
Strength 2 – Gannett is currently the largest newspaper distributor in terms of circulation.
Strength 3 – Strong portfolio with multiple Brand Extensions and Partnerships.
Strength 4 – Excellent presence and distribution in the digital environment.

Strength 1. Highly innovative newspaper company that has been a leader in news development
USA Today has built a strong foundation with its consumer base as a newspaper determined to deliver the most up-to-date news in the most convenient way possible. They started their trend in innovation as early as 1982 where they used highly colourful photos, graphs, and charts to attract the soundbyte generation (Ferrell, 314). This would continue this trend of innovation by having their stories delayed 4 hours ahead of their competitors (Ferrell, 317), and reducing newspaper width from 54” to 50” in response to customer feedback (Ferrell, 316). USA Today to this date continues to innovate, keeping in
VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY line with their competition by providing on-demand information through both digital, and mobile devices (Ferrell, 318).

Strength 2 – Gannett is currently the largest newspaper distributor in terms of circulation.
Gannett currently boasts the largest audience in the United States with a commanding “11.6 million readers every weekday and 12 million readers every Sunday” (Ferrell, 313). Also, USA Today remains the most circulated print newspaper in the United States with “1.8 million daily papers in circulation”
(Ferrell, 313).

Strength 3 – Strong portfolio with multiple Brand Extensions and Partnerships.
USA Today currently owns multiple retail outlets in airport terminals labelled as USA Today Travel Zone
(Ferrell, 319). They also own the following brands:




USA Today Live
Reviewed.com
AutoPilot App

And Partnerships with:









Fuse
Versus
MOJO HD
Learning.com
MLB (Major League Baseball)
Doritos
Seat Geek
National Geographic

Strength 4 – Excellent presence and distribution in the digital environment.
USA Today’s presence and distribution in the digital environment include the following:


Website (USAToday.com) o News that is updated 24/7 o High quality video, audio that meet their consumers ever growing demands



On-Demand Information o Developed online stories for mobile devices o Helps fight against rising print costs o Increases overall readership, reduces distribution and print expenses o Blogs, RSS,
Podcasts can be accessed through mobile devices (ease of accessibility)



Innovative Categorization Technology o Stories are categorized by topic



PointRoll o Innovative ad technology that allows “mouse roll-over” to reveal more information with ads. This successfully engages customers with local merchants and retailers.



Network Journalism o Consumer enriched content (Instant Messaging, News Alerts,
Recommendations, Search Functions)

VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

3.2. Weaknesses
Weakness 1 – Relatively small amount of digital subscribers.
Weakness 2 – Overall sales revenue and profit is decreasing in their print distribution.
Weakness 3 – Majority of USA Today’s circulation is confined in the United States.

Weakness 1 – Relatively small amount of digital subscribers.
Although USA Today boasts at having 24 million visitors per month, they have a rather small amount of subscribers in comparison (116,000) (Ferrell, 320).

Weakness 2 – Overall revenue and profit is decreasing in their print distribution.
Gannett is seeing overall loss in their revenue from poor performing sales in print distribution. From their FY (Fiscal Year) in 2012 to their FY 2013, Gannett saw a loss of 4% in total revenue (“Gannet CO.
Inc.”).
Fig.1.

Revenue - Print Media Distribution 2012 - 2013

3750
3700
3650
3600
3550
3500
3450

3700.112

3557.8

Sum of 2012
Sum of 2013

Gannett CO. Inc.

Print Publising Company

Fig. 1. Revenue – Print Media Distribution 2012 - 2013 "Weaknesses" marketline. Nov 2014. Web. 22 Feb
2014.

Weakness 3 – Majority of USA Today’s circulation is confined in the United States.
VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
Gannett’s domestic circulation revenue in print media accounts for 90% of its total revenue comparatively to its foreign circulation revenue which accounts for 10% (Gannett CO. Inc.).
Fig. 2.

Print Media - Revenue by Geographic Segmentation
- 2013

6000

4645.2

4000

Sum of Domestic
516.1

2000

Sum of Foreign

0
Garnett CO. Inc.
Print Publishing Company
Fig. 2. Print Media– Revenue by Geographic Segmentation 2013 "Revenue Analysis" marketline. Nov
2014. Web. 22 Feb 2014.

3.3. Opportunities
Opportunity 1 – Consumers continue to desire information on demand and on mobile devices, leading to a lush environment in digital media.
Opportunity 2 – Overall global opportunity to expand in digital media.
Opportunity 3 – Interest in mobile applications and gaming continues to gain popularity. Opportunity 4 –
Social Media continues to grow and gain in popularity with consumers for news distribution. Opportunity 1 – Consumers continue to desire information on demand and on mobile devices, leading to a lush environment in digital media.
Consumers continue to desire information on demand in both the United States and in Canada. Mobile devices and digital print media are driving demand and compromise for up to 35% market growth since
2006 (“News Agencies in Canada” 1).

Opportunity 2 – Overall global opportunity to expand in digital media.
There is a large portion of people who surf the internet on mobile devices as well as desktop computers.
The number of people who have access to the internet now comprises of over 1 billion people (Ferrell,
322). Canada appears to be a thriving market for digital media, as the amount of people who have access to the internet in the country sits at 68% (“News Agencies in Canada” 1). Furthermore, there is a high level of public interest in international news as imported International News saw revenue of $113.7
VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY million, an increase of 43% since 2006 (“News Agencies in Canada” 1). Only 7% of those agencies are satisfying Canadian local demand (“News Agencies in Canada” 1), leaving plenty of growth opportunities in the digital environment for USA Today.

Opportunity 3 – Interest in mobile applications and gaming continues to gain popularity.
As people continue to live life in society that has become an information hub, USA Today has been quick to adapt. They’ve formed multiple information sources that include mobile applications such as
Autopilot, which helped increase mobile traffic by 154% in 2011 (Ferrell, 324). To add to this, USA Today is also invested in mobile gaming, developing trivia based games for their target audience. Mobile gaming in the United States has increased drastically in popularity over the last few years. Android and
IOS games are continuously seeing increases with popular games such as “Clash of Clans” (“Video Games in the U.S” 1). To add to this, mobile gaming alone has seen an overall increase of 287% since 2008
(“Video Games in the U.S” 1). Adding more options to mobile gaming through their website and developing ways for consumers to update their gaming status to social media, leaves plenty of opportunity for growth.
Fig.3.

Sales of Video Games by Category - 2008 - 2013
287 %

300%
250%
200%
150%

Sum of 2012/2013

102%

Sum of 2008-13 CAGR

100%
50%

3% 15%

7%

31%

Sum of 2008/13 Total

0%
Digital Gaming
Mobile Gaming
Gaming Plaform
Fig. 3. Sales of Video Games by Category 2008 – 2013 "Trends" euromonitorinternational. Sept 2014.
Web. 22 Feb 2014.

Opportunity 4 – Social Media continues to grow and gain in popularity with consumers for news distribution. VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
Social Media continues to see grow and gain popularity among mobile and digital consumers. The top 3
Social Media outlets are: Facebook, Qzone, and Sina Weibo, each one with over 500 million unique monthly visitors ("Top 3 Trends in Social Media for 2014: Privacy, Publishing and Pictures." 1) Fig.4.

Fig. 4. Biggest Social Networks in the World: March 2014 "Top 3 Trends in Social Media for 2014: Privacy,
Publishing and Pictures" euromonitorinternational. Apr 2014. Web. 22 Feb 2014.
With all those unique monthly visitors, comes the opportunity to distribute and publish information digitally across social network platforms. “Functioning as something akin to a newsletter, publishing analysis, data and PR releases to industry contacts and public subscribers offers an opportunity to explain businesses practices and deliver the corporate message, with the ultimate goal of attracting more contacts, clients, keyword hits on search engines and click-troughs to homepages” ("Top 3 Trends in Social Media for 2014: Privacy, Publishing and Pictures." 1). LinkedIn for instance, set the standard for publishing stories with over 250 million unique monthly views and providing opportunities for their consumers to reach out beyond their website ("Top 3 Trends in Social Media for 2014: Privacy,
Publishing and Pictures." 1). As USA Today is already involved in social media, publishing their stories to social media and linking them to other social media outlets as well as their website, could help create awareness for their brand.

VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

3.4. Threats
Threat 1 – High cost in print distribution and print media.
Threat 2- Strong competition from other media competitors.
Threat 3 – Consumers desire information that is distributed freely online, leading to fewer purchases in print media.
Threat 4 – Decreased popularity in Classified Advertising. Threat 5 – Top competitors Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, continue to have far more success in digital subscriptions.

Threat 1 – High cost in print distribution and print media.
The high cost of print media continues to increase, making it difficult for publishing firms to gain more profit. For instance, cost per ton of news print increased by 13% in 2011 (Ferrell, 323). That increase shows no sign in slowing down, forcing the majority of news agencies to find new innovative ways of releasing their news stories across different mediums.

Threat 2- Strong competition from other media competitors.
Fig. 5.
Source of News

Use All the Time or
Occasionally
76%

Use Rarely or Never

Network TV News

66%

32%

Cable TV News

60%

38%

Local Newspapers

69%

30%

National Newspaper

25%

73%

Weekly News Magazine

25%

72%

Online News Aggregators

49%

48%

Cable TV Websites

36%

61%

National Newspaper Websites

36%

61%

Local TV News

23%

Fig. 5. Sources of News for U.S. Audits "PART 5: Cases: Case #1: USA
Today" euromonitorinternational. Sept 2014. Print. 22 Feb 2014
USA Today continues to face fierce competition in distributing its information to their consumers. As shown above in Fig.5, USA Today has to compete with other mediums to deliver the news which include:
Television, Digital, Local, and Podcasts. For some consumers they just prefer other forms of methods to receive their information.
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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

Threat 3 – Consumers desire information that is distributed freely online, leading to fewer purchases in print media.
Consumers wish to have news information distributed to them freely versus a pay model. The three top
U.S. News distributors The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and USA Today, have been incorporating pay walls. These pay walls limit readers to 5-15 free stories, before they’re asked to purchase digital access (Ferrell, 324). To add to this, 41% of consumers find their news stories off the internet comparatively to 31% who cite from newspapers (Ferrell, 325).

Threat 4 – Decreased popularity in Classified Advertising.
Classified Advertising continues to take massive hits, due to the success of free Classified Advertising sites such as Craigslist and Kijiji. This has led to USA Today’s print advertising revenue seeing a decrease of 51% since 2005 (Ferrell, 322). This trend doesn’t just affect USA Today, but it has been felt all across the publishing print sector classified advertising has decreased by 71% in just six years (Ferrell, 322).

Threat 5 – Top competitors Wall Street Journal and The New York Times, continue to have far more success in digital subscriptions.
Although USA Today has 24 million unique monthly visitors, they’ve failed to actually draw in a significant amount of digital subscribers. Compared to their biggest competitors, USA Today falls way behind in terms of digital subscriptions (Ferrell, 320).
Newspaper

Total Digital Subscribers

USA Today

116,000

Wall Street Journal

552,000

New York Times

807,000

4. Organizational Objectives
USA Today


To increase overall profit of digital media by 10% and decrease expenses of print media by 15% by 2016



Increase awareness of digital social media presence and news circulation by 10% by 2016
Develop and introduce more mobile applications and games for consumers by 2016.
Integrate and connect all mobile applications/games/news interfaces to social media networks that USA Today is involved with by 2016



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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

5. Analysis of Alternatives
5.1. Development of complete Social Media integration with news stories, mobile gaming, and mobile applications.
Social media has grown incredibly popular across digital media and mobile devices. Facebook, receives up to 900 million unique visitors monthly, Twitter 300 million, and LinkedIn 250 million ("Top 3 Trends in
Social Media for 2014: Privacy, Publishing and Pictures." 1). Based on this, consumers have a longing desire to obtain convenient information that can be accessed through their mobile devices on the go.
Mobile gaming has seen an increase of 287% in the United States over the last six years (“Video Games in the U.S” 1) and mobile applications continue to gain popularity statewide. With this increase in popularity comes the opportunity for USA Today to continue purchasing applications and mobile games for their target audience.
The important aspect to consider is not the games and applications themselves, but how exactly they will be integrated into USA Today’s social media and news platforms. By purchasing the rights to games, or contracting for development of one ($100,000 for IOS) (Crew) they could then integrate it onto social media leaderboards (where consumers can see their progress comparatively to other consumers) and link that leaderboard back to their website. Furthermore, they could add communities, discussion boards, and forum groups where individuals involved with the game could interact with one another.
Also providing the opportunity for feedback, and connecting it across all their mobile social touch points opens up potential for an incredibly large community.


5% of those 24 million unique individuals that visit the site each month, are potential video gamers, who can then share the game with their friends to other social media platforms through word of mouth. This effectively increases brand awareness of USA Today, while providing potential profit on purchase of each mobile game (average mobile game = $2.00).

Allowing for access to mobile applications through the same method, would allow more potential for brand growth and digital circulation of USA Today. Finally, all social media interfaces should be connected to USA Today’s website, with the option of communicating across all social media touch points. VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
Advantages



Consumers are engaged with the brand through their mobile devices
Consumers share their passion of the product (application, game) and share it with individuals across their mobile platforms through digital word of mouth.




Integration and linking to social media cost is relatively low
Potential for digital advertising through mobile applications and mobile gaming

Disadvantages



Connecting communities through all social media platforms could prove to be challenging
Online communities, discussion boards, and forums might become confused if interface is not simplistic •

Games and applications can prove to be difficult matching consumer expectations

5.2. Increased presence in digital global market and decreased presence in foreign print.
USA Today has already been involved in a stronger digital media presence. Their focus by direction of
CEO Larry Kramer, is for online, tablet, and mobile devices (Ferrell, 323). They’ve restructured their organization, laying off many individuals and hiring key executives. Also, they’ve cut back on newspaper print and distribution in the United States by a third and increased profit by over $100 million (Ferrell,
323).
While they have applied this application to the United States, USA Today has missed out on opportunities outside the United States. Canada is a lucrative market that is hungry for international business news, it has seen an increase in international imported news by 43%, and current importers are only providing 7% satisfaction for Canadians (“News Agencies in Canada” 1).
USA Today should focus on providing Canadians and the global market with mobile friendly access to their digital news print, while cutting back on expenses to print distribution globally. They should still continue to distribute print, as baby boomers still hold interest in printed newspaper versus the complex structure of digital devices.
Advantages




Enhanced exposure to the digital global environment, increasing awareness
Cutting back on expenditures through print media, in the process increasing profit
Canada holds a lucrative opportunity for international news vendors (current importers are only providing 7% satisfaction for Canadians)

Disadvantages


Market penetration has to be careful, as some countries culture don’t mingle well with the
United States



Cutting back in print in some countries could prove to be difficult as not all communities are connected to the digital environment (such as 3rd world countries).



Not all countries have internet access for the majority of their population

VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

6. Recommendation
Out of both alternatives, the most appealing one for USA Today to pursue would be Development of complete Social Media integration with news stories, mobile gaming, and mobile applications.

Reasons Why


U.S. Newspapers have not taken the advantage of linking mobile applications and mobile games to their websites, providing USA Today a unique competitive advantage.



U.S. Newspapers provide a simplistic approach to broadcasting their stories through social media, but haven’t unified and integrated all their mobile touch points for their consumers.



Communities, forums, and discussion boards, would be linked to other community members across all social media platforms creating a hub for all gamers, news junkies, and app users to communicate freely from.




USA Today’s appeal will be increased through social media’s word of mouth
Social media, mobile applications, and mobile gaming are cost-effective (relatively cheap and easy to integrate compared to print media).

7. Implementation Plan
7.1. Short Term Plan (1-3 Months)
1ST Month

Meeting with top key executives to discuss implementation of overall plan

2nd Month

Have a companywide news announcement from the president, labelling details and changes that are about to occur in distribution and corporate environments Meeting with industry app and mobile gaming developers to discuss strategy and tactics in developing games and apps for specific target markets
Meeting with Social Media/IMC Teams to discuss integration and unification of social media platforms to USAToday.com. IMC Teams to discuss how a unique message will be delivered to capture our target market.
Development of apps and games in final stages

VICTORIA HILL

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USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY
Working with IMC teams to finalize approach to target market

3rd Month

Preparing finalized implementation of new social media platforms onto website. Games and apps finalized and implemented onto website
Debugging and performance check of unified integrated social media platforms to website
Meeting with executives to inform them of final stages of plans
IMC activities launched towards the general public to build up anticipation of the new social media/mobile interface directive.

7.2. Long Term Plan (3 Months +)
4th Month

Launch of new service and test market in the United States
Polls and feedback as well as live service for consumers having difficulty

5 Months +

Evaluate overall performance of new service
Provide feedback to key executives on performance of new service
Provide feedback to consumers and make repairs to site as needed

6 Months+

VICTORIA HILL

Evaluate overall performance, launch into new digital markets if service is successful. 15

USA TODAY – INNOVATION IN AN EVOLVING INDUSTRY: INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY

Works Cited
Crew "How Much to Make an App" Feb 2015 Crew. howmuchtomakeanapp.com. Web. 22 Feb 2014.
"Gannett CO. Inc." MarketLine Nov 2014: 1-20. MarketLine Advantage. Web. 22 Feb 2015
Hartline, Ferrelll. Marketing Strategy: Text and Cases. 6th edition. Mason: Ceneage, 2014. Print.
"News Agencies in Canada." Euromonitor International. Apr 2013: 1-25. Passport GMID. Web. 22 Feb
2015
"Top 3 Trends in Social Media for 2014: Privacy, Publishing and Pictures." Euromonitor International. Apr
2014: 1-2. Passport GMID. Web. 22 Feb 2015
"Video Games in the US." Euromonitor International. Sept 2014: 1-23. Passport GMID. Web. 22 Feb 2015

VICTORIA HILL

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...Omar Rochell Marketing MKT/421 April 7, 2011 Nikki Jackson Introduction Marketing is exposed to someone every day, even when they do not seem realize it. Driving down the roads you see billboards everywhere and that is part of marketing. Logos people were on their shirts and signs in the middle or on the sign of football fields are all part of marketing. Even when a child is marketing themselves to their parents to borrow the car or go to a party they are marketing themselves to their parents in exchange for the car or the party. A set of activities that will benefit both parties’ objectives is my own personal definition of marketing. This paper will be defining marketing in different perspectives. Discussing the importance of marketing in a organizational success will also be discussed with examples included from different organizations. As an organization it is important to know what marketing is and how to establish success. What is Marketing “Marketing is defined as the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that will have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large.”(American Marketing Association, 2011) Marketing is a process that helps links the consumer, customer, and public to information that will help identify and market opportunities. Marketing research will generate, and evaluate different types of market actions, monitor marketing performance, and help improve...

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...focus inward on the organization’s needs instead of outward (the customer’s needs). • Product is aimed at everyone. • Firms want to profit through maximizing sales volume. • Promotion to achieve goals. 2. Describe some of the characteristics of a firm that would follow a marketing orientation. Marketing orientation is “a philosophy that assumes that a sale does not depend on an aggressive sales force but rather than on a customer’s decision to purchase a product; it is synonymous with the marketing concept.” • Unlike sales orientation, a firm would focus outward on the customers wants and needs. • The goal of a firm is to satisfy customers wants and needs and delivering superior value. • The target is specific groups of people. • Where sales orientation profits by sales volume, marketing orientation firms profit with good feedback from customers or customer satisfaction. • It’s more about marketing and less about selling (less persuasion). • Firms identify what customers want and have businesses give them what they want efficiently. 3. In what ways does McDonald's embody both a marketing and a societal marketing orientation? Do some internet research if necessary. McDonald’s embodies a marketing orientation...

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...customer-focused and heavily committed to marketing. These companies share a passion for understanding and satisfying customer needs in well-defined target markets. They motivate everyone in the organization to help build lasting customer relationships based on creating value. Marketing is just as important for non-profit-making organizations as it is for profit-making ones. It is very important to realize that at the heart of marketing is the customer. It is the management process responsible for identifying, anticipating and satisfying consumer requirements profitability. Background The term ‘‘marketing’’ is derived from the word ‘‘market’’, which refers to a group of sellers and buyers that cooperate to exchange goods and services. The modern concept of marketing evolved during and after the revolution in the 19th and 20th centuries. During that period, the proliferation of goods and services, increased worker specialization and technological advances in transportation, refrigeration and other factors that facilitate the transfer of goods over long distances resulted in the need for more advance market mechanisms and selling techniques. But it was not until the 1930s that companies began to place a greater emphasis on advertising and promoting their products and began striving to tailor their goods to specific consumer needs. By the 1950s, many larger companies were sporting entire marketing departments charged with devising and implementing marketing strategies that would complement...

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...MARKETING PLAN RESEARCH DEFINITION: A marketing plan is a business document written for the purpose of describing the current market position of a business and its marketing strategy for the period covered by the marketing plan. Marketing plans usually have a life of from one to five years. PURPOSE: The purpose of creating a marketing plan is to clearly show what steps will be undertaken to achieve the business' marketing objectives. CONTENT OF MARKETING: A marketing plan for a small business typically includes Small Business Administration Description of competitors, including the level of demand for the product or service and the strengths and weaknesses of competitors. 1. Description of the product or service, including special features 2. Marketing budget, including the advertising and promotional plan 3. Description of the business location, including advantages and disadvantages for marketing 4. Pricing strategy 5. Market Segmentation The main contents in marketing plan are: * Executive Summary Brief statement of goals and recommendations based on hard data. * Environmental Analysis Presents data on the market, product, competition, distribution, macro-environment. (Product fact book) S.P.I.N.S. Situation “Where am I”, Problem identification/Implications “What is happening”, Needs Assessment “Why is it happening”, Solutions “What can I do about it” Market Situation: Data on target market, size and growth for past years...

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...Marketing MKT 421 Marketing According to “American Marketing Association” (2013), “Marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that have value for customer, clients, partners, and society at large.” The American Marketing Society has grown to be the largest marketing associations in the world. The members work, teach, and study in the field of marketing across the globe. Another definition of marketing is according to “About.com Investors” (2013), “Marketing is an activity. Marketing activities and strategies result in making products available that satisfy customers while making profits for the companies that offer those products.” Organizations success lies in marketing and it is the heart of the success. The marketing introduces a product or service to potential customers. An organization can offer the best service or product in the industry but the potential customers would not know about it without marketing. Sales could crash and organizations may close without marketing. For a business to succeed the product or service that is provided needs to be known to the potential buyers. Getting the word out is important part of marketing in any organizational success. Product or service awareness is created by marketing strategies. If marketing is not used the potential customers will never be aware of the organizational offerings and the organization will not have the opportunity to succeed...

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...chapter 1 Marketing’s Role in the Global Economy When You Finish This Chapter, You Should 1. Know what marketing is and why you should learn about it. 2. Understand the difference between micro-marketing and macro-marketing. 3. Know why and how macromarketing systems develop. 4. Understand why marketing is crucial to economic development and our global economy. 5. Know why marketing special— ists—including middlemen and — facilitators—develop. 6. Know the marketing functions and who performs them. 7. Understand the important new terms (shown in red). www.mhhe. When it’s time to roll out of bed in the morning, does your General Electric alarm wake you with a buzzer—or by playing your favorite radio station? Is the station playing rock, classical, or country music—or perhaps a Red Cross ad asking you to contribute blood? Will you slip into your Levi’s jeans, your shirt from L. L. Bean, and your Reeboks, or does the day call for your Brooks Brothers interviewing suit? Will breakfast be Lender’s Bagels with cream cheese or Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes—made with grain from America’s heartland—or some extra large eggs and Oscar Mayer bacon cooked in a Panasonic microwave oven imported from Japan? Will you drink decaffeinated Maxwell House coffee—grown in Colombia—or some Tang instant juice? Will you eat at home or is this a day to meet a friend at the Marriott-run cafeteria—where you’ll pay someone else to serve your breakfast? After breakfast, will you head off to school...

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...Abstract In the world of today with rude competition everywhere, customers’ expectations have become higher than ever. It is not the customers who come towards the products but it is the products which should make their way to the customers. And for this, only competitive businesses that are able to stimulate customers’ interests survive in the market. Therefore firms need to increase customers’ awareness about their products or services to be able to pull and encourage them to engage in purchase of their products. And as such, the promotional mix used by a company is really important for this task. The promotional mix in itself is very broad, consisting of various tools, like advertising, personal selling, direct marketing, public relation and sales promotion. To make the optimum use of these tools, marketers usually select them, depending on their budget and objectives, as well as the sector in which they operate (Kotler & Armstrong 1997). As such, research has been conducted on the use of promotional mix and research questions and objectives have been set. The methodology which will be used has been devised. We shall be doing a descriptive study through a survey questionnaire, in which there will be open as well as close ended questions and the questionnaire will be administered through personal interview that is direct, face-to-face. The sample size will be 100 persons and will all be customers of J Kalachand & Co Ltd. After the research, we will be...

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...Marketing is the process of communicating the value of a product or service to customers, for the purpose of selling that product or service. Marketing can be looked at as an organizational function and a set of processes for creating, delivering and communicating value to customers, and customer relationship management that also benefits the organization. Marketing is the science of choosing target markets through market analysis and market segmentation, as well as understanding consumer behavior and providing superior customer value. From a societal point of view, marketing is the link between a society’s material requirements and its economic patterns of response. Marketing satisfies these needs and wants through exchange processes and building long term relationships. Organizations may choose to operate a business under five competing concepts: the production concept, the product concept, the selling concept, the marketing concept, and the holistic marketing concept.[1] The four components of holistic marketing are relationship marketing, internal marketing, integrated marketing, and socially responsive marketing. The set of engagements necessary for successful marketing management includes capturing marketing insights, connecting with customers, building strong brands, shaping the market offerings, delivering and communicating value, creating long-term growth, and developing marketing strategies and plans.[2] Marketing may be defined in several ways, depending on...

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...oriented philosophy is so important. The phrase market-oriented is used in marketing conversations as an adjective describing a company with a marketing orientation. Market orientation more describes the company's approach to doing business. Market-oriented defines the company itself. If a company is market-oriented, its board and executive leadership believe that the best way to succeed is to prioritize the marketplace above products. This usually goes over well with customers, but the company also must have adequate research and development to provide what the market wants. Hence, a market-oriented organization is one whose actions are consistent with the marketing concept. Difference Between Marketing Orientation & Market Oriented by Neil Kokemuller, Demand Media http://smallbusiness.chron.com/difference-between-marketing-orientation-market-oriented-14387.html Marketing is a management process and management support for marketing concept is very important element in success. If a company wants to be successful then it is market oriented. Marketing involves identifying the customer requirements and estimate the customer requirements in future. It requires planning which is very important process of marketing. To satisfy the needs the business should provide benefits – offering right marketing at right time at right place. Generally market based companies adopt strategic level marketing that defines the mission and long term objectives of the company. Market oriented...

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