You are required to take on the role of the strategy planner in the marketing communication agency by designing and developing an integrated marketing communication plan (IMC) for the case study company Global UGG or an organisation you are familiar with.

Key staff

Marketing Communication agency staff Global Ugg staff

Samantha (you) Strategy planner Tammy Marketing manager

Global Ugg is a respected Australian manufacturer and supplier of ugg boots and others sheepskin products and owner of the brand 'Global Ugg'. Global Ugg is a boutique brand that promises to deliver its customers 'handcrafted' authenticity, luxury, style, and comfort at a competitive price point as well as the most fashion-focused ugg boot range in Australia.

The overarching mission of Global Ugg is to deliver comfortable, stylish sheepskin footwear to men, women and children globally. They have created different types of footwear, from sandals and slippers to boots in a variety of colours; but ugg boots are their predominant product.

Global Uggs' goals for the current year are:

1. Maintain positive, steady growth each quarter.

2. Experience a growth in new customers who are turned into long-term customers.

3. Be recognised as the premier Australian-owned high-end ugg boot provider.

A strong emphasis is placed on the quality creation of their products, and Global Ugg is therefore dedicated to providing the highest quality footwear available, and does so by utilising only the highest quality of leathers, suede and sheepskin.

In communications to date, a strong emphasis has been placed on its 100% Australian made/authenticity positioning as the highest quality ugg boots available. 'Every pair of

Global Ugg boots are meticulously crafted from a selection of premium components at a manufacturing facility in Sydney, Australia, by highly trained craftsmen'. However, a major challenge for Global Ugg has been that Deckers (Ugg Australia) own the worldwide trademark on the word 'UGG'. Deckers are notorious litigators and very aggressive in protecting their trademarks, using bullying tactics like intimidation of smaller competitors, baseless legal actions, and lobbying customs and government authorities. This has made for a very difficult situation for Australian manufacturers who want to market their products and sell internationally, as they can't use the word 'UGG' outside Australia.

Situation analysis - Internal and external

Over the past 10 years, the marketplace has become very competitive and is only getting tougher, with a number of manufacturers locally and internationally (Pacific Sheepskin,

Jumbo UGG, Chic Empire, UGG Australia, and Emu Australia) offering very similar products at very similar prices. There are also numerous smaller brands that sell Ugg boots extremely cheaply, but these are usually not made from real sheepskin.

Even though these companies do differ behind the scenes in how they operate and manufacture, from the customer's perspective they all look similar. This is making it harder and harder for the authentic sheepskin manufacturers like Global Ugg to get noticed, to differentiate and, ultimately, to grow sales.

Even so, the Global Ugg brand has an excellent reputation in the sheepskin footwear industry and is in a strong position, particularly in terms of offering 100% Australian made, superior quality products, style variety, and customer service at a cheaper price point to its competitors (between $80-$150 per pair). The unique selling proposition of Global Ugg is 'luxury and style handcrafted in Australia'.

However, Global Ugg possess relatively low market awareness overall, mostly due to the lack of a clear and consistent marketing strategy. An inherent weakness is the brand itself, which suffers greatly from being outdated and incongruous with the high quality image the brand is trying to project. Overall, whilst Global Ugg does have significant strengths, they may not be sustainable long-term, as their products are easily delivered and copied by most of the other brands.

Marketing activities to date

Global Ugg has trialled/dabbled in a number of marketing activities over the years, but unfortunately has not had the resources to give each activity the attention it needs to make it successful. A few activities have generated a good response for a short time, but have not been sustainable (due mainly to budget). This has resulted in a very inconsistent marketing program with low ROI in most areas. The only forms of marketing Global Ugg have used consistently are email marketing and search engine marketing, but these have been met with minimal success.

Even so, the business has managed to sustain itself well by having a good product, strong online sales and a good wholesale network. Global Ugg depends heavily on retail point-of-sale through 1) their own stores, 2) wholesalers and 3) online marketing. The split is about 30% of sales for each of these 3 areas.

A dynamic SWOT analysis of Global Ugg's market and operations has revealed the following.

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