An Integrated Marketing Strategy for Athleta
The Final Paper should demonstrate understanding of the reading assignments as well as the discussion points. The purpose of this assignment is to integrate the concepts studied in this course into a cohesive and comprehensive paper.
The Final Paper will be titled “An Integrated Marketing Strategy for ____.” You will fill in the blank with an existing or a new brand name of your choice. The goal of the paper is to integrate theories and concepts from the textbook and readings into your own ideas to create specific marketing ideas to promote the brand (good or service) with a particular target market. Refer to the previous assignments completed in this course for insight on how to develop your Final Paper. You must
Provide an Overview/Executive Summary of the marketing strategy.
Describe the good or service and desired brand image.
Describe the target market, including buyer motivations, demographics, and psychographics.
Describe the overall marketing strategy, including positioning strategy versus competitors.
Describe a promotions and advertising campaign that includes a description of one advertisement.
Recommend and describe a Public Relations campaign.
Describe the use of an Internet marketing campaign, including web site and use of email.
Describe a direct marketing campaign, including Customer Relationship Management.
The An Integrated Marketing Strategy Final Paper
Must be six to eight double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style as outlined in the University of Arizona Global Campus Writing Center Links to an external site..
Must include a separate title page with the following:
Title of paper
Student’s name
Course name and number
Instructor’s name
Date submitted
Must begin with an introductory paragraph that has a succinct thesis statement.
Must address the topic of the paper with critical thought.
Must end with a conclusion that reaffirms your thesis.
Text
Ogden, J. R., & Ogden, D. T. (2014). Integrated marketing communications: Advertising, public relations, and more. Zovio.
Chapter 7: Public Relations
Chapter 12: Trends in IMC
Articles
Breaking (some of) the rules during a crisis. (2006). PR News, 62(34), 1. Retrieved from the ProQuest database
How to...pitch a blog. (2006). PR News, 62(34), 1. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
Ovaitt, F. & Jeffries-Fox, B. (2006). Tip sheet: In an eventful time, what's the sponsor's ROI? PR News, 62(36), 1. Retrieved from the ProQuest database.
Rampton, J. (2016, October 2). 5 key components to a successful content marketing campaign Links to an external site.. Retrieved https://www(dot)forbes(dot)com/sites/johnrampton/2016/10/02/5-key-components-to-a-successful-content-marketing-campaign/
An Integrated Marketing Strategy for Athleta
Student’s Name
Institution
Course Number and Name
Instructor’s Name
Date
Executive Summary
Companies operate in a diverse and competitive environment, so they must employ powerful marketing communication strategies to strengthen their brands. Athleta is an American activewear brand that prides itself on being an all-women-inclusive brand that creates a community of active women. It requires an integrated marketing strategy to convey a consistent message to diverse customers across multiple channels. The proposed strategy, “Made Possible by Women," will remind women of their power and all the great things they can achieve when they support and empower each other. The strategy will incorporate advertising, public relations, internet marketing, and direct marketing campaigns to create a positive brand representing women's empowerment.
An Integrated Marketing Strategy for Athleta
Companies must strategize to strengthen their brands and remain competitive in a diverse and highly competitive business environment. This is especially important in this digital era, where brands advertise and market their products and services across multiple channels. Integrated marketing communication allows brands to send a unified message to existing and potential customers across various channels. According to Pluta-Olearnik (2018), integrated marketing ensures that brands can send messages efficiently and maintain relations with stakeholders. Athleta can use an integrated marketing strategy to present a consistent message and create a positive brand image. The strategy will include a marketing mix of advertising, public relations, internet marketing, and direct marketing to create a positive brand that embodies female empowerment.
Product Description and Desired Image
Athleta is an American brand specializing in clothing for active girls and women. Its mission is to ignite the limitless potential of every woman and girl (Athleta, n.d.). To this end, the brand designs activewear apparel to inspire a community of active women of all ages. Its clothing integrates performance, style, comfort, and function to ensure that women embrace fitness as a lifestyle. Its product catalog includes leggings, sweatshirts and pants, swimwear, joggers, jackets, dresses, and bras.
Athleta wants to create a brand that embodies female empowerment and diversity. It designs activewear for young girls and women of all ages. Rather than focusing on being an exclusive brand, Athleta wants to be an inclusive brand that caters to all women regardless of body type and age. To achieve this desired brand image, Athleta must position itself in a way that aligns with its mission and values to disseminate a common message across all its communication channels and to its diverse customers.
Athleta’s Target Market
Athleta specifically targets women. Its products are designed for mothers, sisters, daughters, and female friends of all ages, regardless of their race, body type, and occupation. However, its core target market is women in their thirties to women in their fifties. According to Lieber (2017), Athleta’s core customer demographic is women aged 35 to 55 years, who have been considered too old for athleisure by other brands. Athleta’s ability to include older women in its target audience has contributed to its success. According to Holtgraves (2021), athleisure wear is more common among consumers aged 18 to 24 years, but Athleta has managed to attract both young and middle-aged women through its inclusivity.
In addition, Athleta focuses on a psychographic that includes busy women. These women are motivated by aspirations, achievements, and a desire to empower each other to reach their potential. Aspiring consumers want to be more active, although their engagement in fitness is irregular. The achieving consumers are professional and engage in fitness activities at a more professional and competitive level. Others just want active wear for leisure and comfort. Also, these women have an active lifestyle, but this lifestyle is just one component of their everyday lives. In addition to fitness, these women are also environmentally conscious, which is why Athleta engages in sustainable practices in the design and production of its clothing (Milnes, 2019).
Overall Marketing Strategy
Athleta has become one of the strongest activewear brands in the US and beyond. Some of its success can be attributed to its current marketing strategy. Athleta has utilized marketing campaigns such as the “Power of She” to reach its target audience and strengthen its brand (Athleta, 2021). To strengthen the brand further and reach a wider audience, Athleta needs to develop a marketing campaign that differentiates it from its key competitors, such as Lululemon. This paper suggests launching a marketing campaign titled "Made Possible by Women." This campaign will remind women of the power they hold and all the great things they can achieve when they support and empower each other. As such, the proposed marketing strategy will lean on symbolic orientation, which, according to Egan (2023), appeals to consumers' emotional needs to elicit positive feelings toward a brand. Women of all ages want to feel supported and empowered, and these are the needs that the marketing strategy will meet.
This strategy will give Athleta a unique selling proposition that reflects what the brand stands for and how its target audience views it. The strategy will position Athleta as a female-empowering-other-females activewear brand and give it a powerful positioning statement. According to Egan (2023), a positioning statement demonstrates the features that make a brand stand out from its competitors ...