Part Three
Based on the knowledge of consumer behaviour uncovered in part two, a marketing communication plan to launch UnTouch is proposed. This is focused on McCarthy’s (1960) promotion utilising social media and influencer marketing.
Social Media Marketing (SMM)
Social media is an integral part of consumers’ daily lives (Alalwan et al., 2017), with Millennials spending over 2 hours on the networks daily (Global Web Index, 2021). Social media allows consumers to have multiple carefully managed and cultivated selves controlling how they want to be seen (Limkangvanmongkol, 2015), facilitating the achievement of the ideal self. Consumers can identify with groups which satisfy belongingness needs (Gruss, Kim, & Abrahams, 2020). This, therefore, implies that if UnTouch is not present on social media it would be disadvantaged. Being highly active on social media is the key to success so it is difficult to be present on every platform (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2010). Tiago and Veríssimo (2014) recommend that brands should be present on platforms where their consumers are. This is because different consumers prefer different platforms as each social media network aligns with a specific user need (Zhu & Chen, 2015). Amongst German millennials YouTube (69%), Facebook (63%), Instagram (41%) are most popular (Statista, 2020),implying that these are the most suitable social networks for UnTouch to utilise but Facebook and Instagram will be focused on for the purpose of this report.
Applying Zhu and Chen’s (2015) Social Media Matrix (Figure 3), Facebook is in the Relationship quadrant with a purpose to create relationships with consumers by aligning the brand in a way that is relevant to consumers, thus encouraging them to interact with the brand (Zhu & Chen, 2015). UnTouch will achieve this by building into the concept where consumers want to control their presentation of how they are seen (Limkangvanmongkol, 2015). Facebook also may also fulfil Belonging needs. If Fitness Fanatic Millennials’ social group expects them to be passionate about health and fitness, then publicly engaging with content associated with that, such as UnTouch’s content, may facilitate their acceptance to that group, as section 1.3 explains. This may help achieve consumers’ ideal selves as they may not be in to fitness but aspire to be, therefore engaging with the content portrays to others that they are.
Operational Strategy
Fitness Fanatic Millennials need to portray themselves as healthy (Statista, 2015) and have a desire for achievement (Rowe, 2017). UnTouch could, therefore, set a challenge where consumers have to share fitness related videos on Facebook, such as gym workouts or runs, with the hashtag #iamuntouch to facilitate the consumer’s self-presentation needs. This allows consumers to become a part of the brand, particularly the use of the hashtag which states, ‘I am UnTouch’, meaning ‘I am the brand’, thus establishing a customer-brand relationship. To further encourage consumers to interact with brand, UnTouch could post content with workout and nutrition advice that helps Fitness Fanatic Millennials with their personal growth thus appealing to their Self-Actualisation need, causing them to engage with the content.
Instagram and Influencer Marketing
Positioned in the Creative Outlet quadrant of the Social Media Matrix (Figure 3), Instagram’s purpose is for users to share creative content and connect to others with similar interests (Zhu & Chen, 2015). To exercise this, UnTouch will utilise influencers to create and share brand-related content to their Instagram followers with similar interests. This is particularly relevant as Fitness Fanatic Millennials are influenced by fitness influencers (Mooney, 2018). Furthermore, influencer marketing generates better return on investment than other marketing channels (Mediakix, 2019) with 82% of their followers succumbing to their influence (Lim et al., 2017). To leverage the benefits of influencer marketing, appropriate social media influencers (SMIs) for the brand and target consumer need to be identified (Djafarova & Rushworth, 2017), as discussed below.
Azo Petrovic (@azopetro.vic on Instagram) is a German fitness influencer who has previously worked with Dextro Energy and Chiefs, two health supplement brands, to promote their products on his Instagram page with 69.9 thousand followers (Instagram, 2022). Although the number of followers can be used to identify a suitable SMI (Veirman, Cauberghe, & Hudders, 2017), Azo is chosen based on his influence on consumer attitudes using Lim et al.’s (2017) framework. He is considered credible because he is a personal trainer (Azo Petrovic, 2022), implying to the consumer that he is a fitness expert and thereby a credible source of information. This also suggests a strong association with UnTouch because the product is designed for people who are passionate about fitness like Azo. Additionally, attractiveness directly impacts purchasing intention and increases the likelihood of capturing consumers’ attention (Lim et al., 2017). Azo is a model (Azo Petrovic, 2022), so could be perceived as attractive as models are typically chosen based on this. Furthermore, Azo has talked about other products in an effective way, demonstrating his ability to successfully promote UnTouch. To further generate sales, Azo is chosen based on how his muscular physique aligns (Appendix 1) with male Fitness Fanatic Millennials’ ideal self to trigger social comparisons. This highlights the gap between the consumer’s actual and ideal physical appearance (Solomon et al., 2019). As UnTouch is marketed to bring consumers closer to realising the ideal vision of themselves (Malar et al., 2011), it results in consumers purchasing it. It could, however, be argued that female consumers would be unable to visualise their ideal self from a male influencer suggesting a female should also be used.
Melanie (@fit_schneewittchen on Instagram) is a female German fitness influencer who consistently promotes Prozis, a sports nutrition brand, on her Instagram page with 75.4 thousand followers (Instagram, 2022). Lim et al.’s (2017) framework is also applied for Melanie. She is a licenced personal trainer (Instagram, 2022), suggesting that she is credible to the target consumer and thus aligning her with UnTouch for a successful product match up. Although she is not a model like Azo, it could still be argued that she is attractive (Appendix 2) and therefore influential to consumers. Similarly, to Azo, she also has prior experience from promoting other brands and thus able to effectively rely information to consumers. Finally, her toned physique (Appendix 2) aligns with female Fitness Fanatic Millennials’ ideal self, thus triggering social comparisons and encouraging sales. Melanie, therefore, fulfils the consumer’s desire to seek out someone who has traits that they believe they lack but want to have (Karp, Jackson, & Lester, 1970). Furthermore, both Melanie and Azo can be perceived as role models to the consumer, inspiring them to adapt their behaviours to match the SMI (Ruvio, Gavish, & Shoham, 2013) to support their self-improvement (Lockwood & Kunda, 1999).
Operational Strategy
Fitness Fanatic Millennials’ desire to achieve their ideal self can be fulfilled when SMIs post aesthetically pleasing content (Ki et al., 2020). This is because aesthetic experiences enrich the consumer’s imagination, thus meeting their self-improvement needs (Leder & Nadal, 2014). Subsequently, when they consume this aesthetic content, it encourages them to improve their self-image (Ki et al., 2020). Video content in particular is growing, with consumers spending more time on apps that offer this type of content (Statista, 2022). Furthermore, consumers are drawn to entertaining and informative videos (Araujo et al., 2022). Azo and Melanie will, therefore, create a range of aesthetic video content for the launch of UnTouch. For instance, healthy recipe videos using UnTouch chocolate like the ones Figure 4 depicts, which will be posted on the SMI and UnTouch’s Instagram pages. Each SMI will make 3 different short-form videos demonstrating the ingredients, method and macronutrient content.
Conclusion
Fitness Fanatic Millennials are driven by their ideal and aspirational selves, buying into products that can help to achieve them. As these consumers have high fitness goals and want to build muscle, UnTouch offers the suitable solution to align their actual self with their ideal self because the added protein contributes to muscle growth and repair, resulting in bigger muscles. This, therefore, aligns with their ideal selves as they believe in the brand’s values and that it reflects their desired lifestyle and ultimately, they believe that the protein will help them achieve their goal of bigger muscles. SMIs help consumers to visualise their ideal selves and leads to social comparisons where consumers buy into the products the SMIs use in attempt to attain their physique. UnTouch’s social media strategy also allows consumers to display their personalities, fulfilling self-actualisation needs.
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