An Integrated Campaign That Cannot Be Measured
A regional dairy brand, Meghna, is planning a six-month campaign for a new high-protein yoghurt aimed at urban families. The agency has proposed television, billboard, and social media with a total budget of BDT 4 crore. There is no baseline tracking study, no unique promotional code, and no plan to measure in-store availability during the campaign. Sales are handled through 900 grocery outlets and 12 distributors. The brand manager wants "maximum reach"; the finance team wants evidence that the spend worked. The yoghurt category has a short shelf life, and the factory can supply only 60,000 cups a month for the first three months.
1. Critique the agency's proposal against the requirements of integrated marketing communication and the constraints of the situation.
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The proposal is a media plan, not an integrated marketing communication plan. It selects channels but does not define the message, the response sought at each stage, or how the elements reinforce each other. Several specific failures stand out.
- No measurable response mechanism. With no promotional code, no dedicated landing page, and no baseline tracking, the campaign cannot distinguish its own effect from seasonality or distribution gains. The finance team's request is therefore unanswerable by design.
- Reach is pursued for its own sake. "Maximum reach" with a BDT 4 crore budget across TV, billboard, and social will spread spend thinly and reach many people who cannot buy the product - the factory supplies only 60,000 cups a month, so national reach would create demand the supply chain cannot serve.
- No link to availability. A campaign that drives trial into 900 outlets without checking that the product is on shelf will generate out-of-stocks, which is the most damaging outcome for a new product with a short shelf life.
- Channel roles are undefined. TV, billboard, and social should do different jobs - awareness, local reinforcement, and trial/engagement - but the proposal treats them as interchangeable reach vehicles.
The plan needs to be rebuilt around a defined message, a defined response, and a measurable path from exposure to purchase.
2. Redesign the campaign so that it is integrated, supply-constrained, and measurable within the same budget.
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The redesign starts from the constraint: 60,000 cups a month for three months, sold through 900 outlets. That is roughly 67 cups per outlet per month - a trial-and-repeat task in a defined geography, not a mass-awareness task.
1. Narrow the geography. Concentrate the budget on the cities and neighbourhoods served by the 900 outlets. Reach within the served market is worth more than national reach that cannot convert. This alone makes the budget go much further per potential buyer.
2. Assign each channel a job.
- Billboards and local radio/TV build awareness in the served areas.
- Social media carries the protein message, family usage ideas, and a trackable call to action.
- In-store is the conversion engine: sampling, shelf talkers, and a visible protein claim at the point of purchase.
3. Build in measurement from day one.
- A unique promotional code or QR on pack and in ads, so response is traceable.
- A short baseline and endline survey in served vs matched unserved areas, giving a comparison group.
- Weekly on-shelf availability audits in the 900 outlets.
- Redemption and repeat-purchase tracking by outlet.
4. Sequence spend. Front-load sampling and availability checks, then release media weight once distribution is confirmed. Reserve part of the budget for the repeat-purchase phase, because for a short-shelf-life product the second purchase is the real test.
This keeps the budget at BDT 4 crore but converts it from a reach purchase into a measurable trial-and-repeat programme within the supply the factory can actually deliver.
3. What would you tell the finance team they can and cannot learn from this campaign, and how should success be judged?
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Be honest about the limits. With a single-region launch and no prior baseline, the campaign cannot prove a precise return on investment. It can, however, produce credible evidence on a defined set of questions if the measurement is designed in advance.
What finance can learn:
- Whether awareness of the product rose in served areas relative to matched unserved areas.
- Trial rate per outlet, and repeat purchase rate - the key indicator for a perishable product.
- Redemption of the promotional code and its cost per trial.
- On-shelf availability and its effect on sales, which isolates distribution from communication.
- Cost per acquired trier, which is a defensible efficiency metric even without a full ROI.
What finance cannot learn:
- The long-run sales effect beyond six months.
- The precise sales that would have occurred without the campaign, beyond the comparison-area estimate.
- Whether a different media mix would have done better, since only one mix is tested.
How to judge success: set thresholds before launch - for example, a target trial rate, a repeat rate above a stated level, and availability above 90% in served outlets. Judge the campaign against those thresholds and against the comparison areas, not against a single sales number. If repeat purchase is weak, the correct conclusion is that the product or its price needs work, not that more media is required.