Balancing IMC and Brand Orientation: Nikon

Welcome back, brand enthusiasts!

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) and brand orientation are two important concepts to ensure that a brand message gets communicated widely, consistently and effectively. In this post, let us look at how these two concepts are interrelated through the case example of Nikon, a camera brand from Japan that has global presence.

IMC and Brand Orientation

An advertisement, press release or a social media post are some output channels of Marketing Communications. IMC means a strategic network of communication across the entire marketing mix involving the 7Ps (Product, Place, Price, Promotion, People, Physical Environment and Process). 

IMC can be seen as the combined effort of a brand-oriented organisation that communicates the brand message from internal to external stakeholders. According to Bridson & Evans (2004: 403-411), 'Brand Orientation' refers to the degree to which the organisation values brands and its practices are oriented towards building brand capabilities. An organisation that is brand-oriented would build internal capabilities that support the establishment of IMC. On the other hand, I would say the opposite of that is companies that are product-oriented; they typically do not have an IMC structure and instead, carry out what I term as the 'disintegrated marketing communications' on an adhoc basis on individual/standalone platforms.

In today's context, a brand-oriented organisation would have higher brand value that in turn brings upon higher consumer acceptance. I would say Nikon is brand-oriented with its global branding campaigns as it places less emphasis on the technical aspects of the product and more of its brand messaging.

Communicating a Brand's Unique Value Proposition

When we talk about about a brand's unique value proposition (UVP), it is common that we make the following misconceptions:

1. The UVP of a brand never changes
2. The UVP comes from a tangible feature of the product i.e one of the (7Ps)

In my opinion, both are untrue. A brand may set out to make something its UVP. For example, Nikon might be the first to launch a camera with a certain lens with the highest sensitivity. But the next moment when a competitor does the same with even a higher sensitivity, that UVP will immediately become obsolete. In order to remain competitive in the market, brands should constantly re-evaluate its UVP to make sure it stays 'unique'.

From a brand-oriented perspective, the UVP can come from a combination of effective IMC that creates a high brand resonance through a campaign, or a special emotional connection with its audience that is irreplaceable by another brand. For instance, Nikon advocates 'Capture Tomorrow'. It does not focus on boasting any particular function or model of its products but rather, the 'future-oriented' concept of focusing on "the brand’s energy in driving excellence and reshaping the future of photography to explore limitless possibilities”. 

Emotion & Responses -> Brand Resonance

With a good IMC strategy, we can expect to see impactful campaigns that build brand resonance among its target audience by evoking positive emotions and responses.

For example, one of Nikon's past campaigns was on capturing 'Hope'. A series of IMC activities integrating PR campaigns, advertising and social media efforts were made to highlight this brand message. The video features ordinary people living an earnest life in different parts of the world through the 'eyes' (lens) of Nikon. "Although life is tough, we always find hope in something." This is something that common audience can relate themselves to the brand.

At the same time, there might be occasions where the campaign is not well-delivered if the internal values are not aligned. In one of Nikon's past PR campaigns, the brand invited 32 photographers across Asia and Africa to test-drive their new product; it was brought into scrutiny that no female photographer was in it. This resulted in a backlash from public questioning if Nikon's cameras are made for men. People were also quick to do a check on Nikon's workforce revealing that only 11% of its workforce was female that year. This shows a poorly executed IMC would cause negative emotions towards not only the brand but also the products.

Hence we can see a clear link among the three factors;

+Emotion & + Responses -> Brand Resonance

-Emotion & - Responses -> Brand Dissonance

Social Branding 

With the fast advancement of internet and technology, organisations start to realise digital and social media platforms are more cost-effective in terms of the wide reaches they can garner. The following are some channels that can be used for social branding.

Digital platforms: Website, google ads
Social media platforms (owned channels & paid ads): Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, Linkedin

For Nikon, it has a website, facebook page and instagram page for the Singapore market. It is important to note that there is a need to adapt a different scheme of IMC according to regions because the target audience may be more well-versed in some digital/social media platforms than others. The brand messaging may be required to alter in order to achieve the desired effect in its outreach in each region.

Hope this post gives you better insight on how brand orientation impacts integrated marketing communications which gives rise to building a better brand!


References:
https://www.thedrum.com/news/2018/11/08/nikon-unveils-global-campaign-position-itself-future-orientated
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/sep/15/nikon-photography-camera-women