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ASSIGNMENT 1st SEMESTER : CREATIVE STRATEGY (CRE)

STUDY UNITS COVERED : CHAPTERS 1 - 7

DUE DATE : 3.00 p.m. 16 March 2010

TOTAL MARKS : 100

INSTRUCTIONS TO CANDIDATES FOR COMPLETING AND SUBMITTING

ASSIGNMENTS

The complete 'Instructions to Students for Completing and Submitting Assignments' must be
collected from any IMM GSM office, the relevant Student Support Centre or can be downloaded
from the IMM GSM website. It is essential that the complete instructions be studied prior to
commencing your assignment. The following points highlight only a few important notes.
1) You are required to submit ONE assignment per subject.
2) The assignment will contribute 20% towards the final examination mark, and the other 80%
will be contributed by the examination, however, the examination papers will count out of
100%.
3) Although your assignment will contribute towards your final examination mark, you do not
have to earn credits for admission to the examinations; you are automatically accepted on
registering for the exam.
4) Number all the pages of your assignment (e.g. page 1 of 4) and write your name and
surname, student number and subject at the top of each page.
5) The IMM GSM requires assignments to be presented in a typed format, on plain A4 paper.
Unless otherwise specified, this assignment must be completed within a limit of 1500 words,
excluding the bibliography.
6) A separate assignment cover, which is provided by the IMM GSM, must be attached to the
front of each assignment.
7) Retain a copy of each assignment before submitting, in case the original does not reach the
IMM GSM.
8) The assignment due date refers to the day up to which assignments will be accepted for
marking purposes. The deadline is 3:00 p.m. on 16 March 2010. Late assignments will be
accepted, but 25 marks will be deducted from the maximum mark if received after 3:00 p.m.
on 16 March 2010 and up to 5:00 p.m. the following day, after which no assignments will be
accepted.
9) If you fail to follow these instructions carefully, the IMM Graduate School of Marketing
cannot accept responsibility for the return of the assignment. It may even result in your
assignment not being marked.
Results will be available on the IMM GSM website, www.imm.co.za, on Friday, 7 May 2010.

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

Assignment: 1st Semester 2010 Creative Strategy (CRE)
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SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS

• Marks will NOT be awarded for definitions. The object is to test your
understanding of these theoretical concepts.
• Marks will NOT be awarded for information or examples lifted from
textbooks or study manuals provided by learning institutions. It is important
that you think of your OWN applications.
• Marks will NOT be awarded for answers/examples provided by lecturers.
(This becomes very apparent when all students from one centre are quoting
the same examples!)
• Marks will not be awarded for copying/adapting answers in previous
marking memoranda.
• 10 marks have been allocated to presentation. Please refer to your IMM GSM
guidelines to ensure you comply with the necessary requirements.
• Please be reminded that PLAGIARISM is regarded as an extremely
serious offence and you will be penalised accordingly.
• All references are from the prescribed text:
Belch, G.E. & Belch, M.A. (2009) Advertising and Promotion: an Integrated
Marketing Communications Perspective. 8th edition. Irwin: McGraw
Hill.

Read the HAVAIANAS CASE STUDY attached.

You have been appointed as the Brand Manager for Havaianas in your home country
(South Africa, Zimbabwe or Namibia, etc.) and wish to strengthen the brand and
begin generating profit over the next 12-month period. Until now, the brand has been
sold at a few exclusive shoe stores only and has received little marketing support.
You are required to write an integrated marketing communications strategy for your
brand under the following subheadings:

QUESTION 1 [15]

Target market (Chapter 2)

You are to consider who your primary and secondary targets would be and to give
detailed demographic and psychographic profiles.

QUESTION 2 [25]

Advertising and Media Agencies and Specialised Services (Chapter 3)

You are required to discuss whether or not you would use advertising, media and
other specialised agencies or services. Justify why. Also discuss how you would
ensure positive and productive relationships with any companies you intend working
with.

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

Assignment: 1st Semester 2010 Creative Strategy (CRE)
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QUESTION 3 [15]

Communications Strategy (Chapter 5)

Use the Foote Cone and Belding Model (p. 164) to explain which communications
strategy you believe would be most appropriate for your brand. Fully justify your
recommendations.

QUESTION 4 [10]

Communication Objectives (Chapter 7)

Develop specific, measureable, attainable, realistic and time-related IMC objectives
for the strategy to be implemented over the next year.

QUESTION 5 [15]

Message Appeals (Chapter 6)

Discuss which message appeals you will use for the brand. Explain why you believe
these appeals to be effective and how you could implement them creatively.

QUESTION 6 [10]

Celebrity Appeal (Chapter 6)

It has been suggested that you use a local celebrity (or celebrities) to improve the
awareness level and appeal of the brand in your country. Explain how you would
choose an appropriate celebrity and give practical examples of your choice/s.

PRESENTATION [10]

ASSIGNMENT TOTAL: 100

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

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CASE STUDY

Havaianas imprints

by Barry Silverstein
www.brandchannel.com August 4, 2008 issue

Some products are so ubiquitous consumers forget the original brand with which they are
associated. This is particularly true in the fashion world. Jeans, for example, revolutionized
the youth culture. While jeans were invented by Levi Strauss, few people who purchase
jeans today remember or care that Levi’s was the first manufacturer of jeans. Levi’s still
makes them, but so do many other competitors.

The story of the Havaianas brand—and flip-flops—is equally compelling. Havaianas, was
keen to differentiate itself from the perception of being a flip-flop brand. Flip-flops were
considered cheap and shoddy. But time has changed all of that.

Apparently, not even Havaianas could have predicted the extent to which the image of flip-
flops would change over the past few years. Somehow this non-shoe became a sensation,
setting the footwear industry squarely on its head.

The flip-flop enjoys such notoriety that it has become the center of promotional campaigns. In
2005, for example, Old Navy (an American clothing retailer) celebrated the switch to Daylight
Savings as “The First Official Day of Flip-Flops.” At the same time, Old Navy kicked off its
“Top Flip-Flop Model Contest,” a national search for “America’s most beautiful feet.” The
grand prize included 365 pairs of flip-flops.

In April 2008, Air New Zealand launched a “Flip My Flop” campaign to promote its non-stop
service from Los Angeles to London’s Heathrow Airport. According to Roger Poulton, Air
New Zealand’s vice president, Americas, “We are using the flip-flop as an iconic symbol that
resonates among LA residents, but is just odd enough to keep Londoners on their
feet. Plus, we’re giving the popular footwear a little personality as only Air New
Zealand can!” The campaign included unique flip-flops created by
celebrities and designers, as well as an ad showing a British guardsman
wearing flip-flops instead of boots.

The flip-flop has taken on a life of its own, becoming a kind of generic
super-brand. Today’s flip-flop-seeking consumer can buy everything from
promotional flip-flops imprinted with company logos or university names, to
“FitFlops,” the new UK “fashion-fitness” version, to “PechPlatinum,” exclusive flip-flops made
of crocodile skin that sell for US$ 400 a pair.

It’s a wonder how any brand even begins to compete in this multi-faceted footwear category.
But there is one brand that manages to stay on solid ground: Havaianas—the Coca-Cola of
flip-flops.

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

Assignment: 1st Semester 2010 Creative Strategy (CRE)
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Havaianas, which means Hawaiians in Portuguese, are manufactured by Brazilian company

Sao Paulo Alpargatas S.A. In 1907, simple sandals called Alpargatas were worn by coffee
farmers in Brazil.

The company says its Havaianas were inspired by Japanese woven flip-flops known as zoris,
but flip-flops—technically a type of thong sandal—are actually thousands of years old.

In 1962, Alpargatas began to produce its version of zoris in quantity, using a “secret rubber
recipe.” Since the product’s introduction, 2.2 billion pairs of Havaianas have been produced
and sold throughout the world, according to the company. If the sandals were laid end to
end, they would encircle the globe 50 times. That’s a lot of flip-flops.

Today, despite the countless knock-offs and sustained popularity of flip-flops, Havaianas
continues to dominate the worldwide market, with market share as high as 10 percent by
some estimates. One reason is that Havaianas, unlike cheap competitors, are soft,
comfortable, and durable. But just as important, Havaianas have developed what amounts to
a cult following. When Alpargatas began exporting them in 2001, Havaianas’ popularity
skyrocketed.

While the United States is not the sole driver of footwear fashion, acceptance of a brand by
American consumers and celebrities tends to fuel its growth. Happily for Alpargatas, that’s
exactly what happened with Havaianas. The sandals began showing up on the feet of movie
stars and rock stars, then appearing on fashion runways.

The company carefully cultivated the celebrity market by

producing special edition Havaianas just for them. “Oscar
gift basket sandals” were awarded to Oscar nominees
during the Academy Awards. The flip-flops were hand-
stitched and encrusted with Swarovski Crystal. Equally
glitzy sandals were created as a backstage gift for stars
who appeared at the Grammy Awards.

Of course, success didn’t happen overnight. In the mid-

1990s, hurt by a sales and profit downturn, Alpargatas
introduced a new sandal called Havaianas TOP, which the beautiful people found appealing.
A subsequent advertising campaign, positioning Havaianas as an elegant and unique
product, gave the brand a needed boost. By 2000, some of the world’s top celebrities were
seen sporting the sandals, and the brand has been climbing ever since. Currently, about five
pairs of Havaianas are produced each second. About 22 million pairs are exported each
year.

Still, Havaianas will always face competition, both from low-end copycats and from
companies anxious to capitalize on the high-end flip-flop frenzy. The previously mentioned
“PechPlatinum” crocodile flip-flops are the product of a company called PecheBlu, which
says it is making “sports flip-flops,” more athletic sandals that are also stylish. The company
calls its PechPlatinums “the most expensive flip-flops in the world.”

But crocodile flip-flops are pretty tame, compared with the novel flip-flops created by Reef.
This is a company that clearly believes flip-floppers are focused on having a good time. Reef
offers a number of models just for fun, including one that has a built-in bottle opener in the

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

Assignment: 1st Semester 2010 Creative Strategy (CRE)
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sole, and another that features an “encapsulated polyurethane canteen heel” so you can take
a swig from your flip-flop.

There seems to be no end in sight to variations on the flip-flop theme. This is a journey
Havaianas has taken, and will continue to take, one step at a time.

© IMM Graduate School of Marketing

Assignment: 1st Semester 2010 Creative Strategy (CRE)