final report run for the oceans marketing campaign evaluation and recommendations

Factors contributing to the success of the “Run for The Oceans” campaign and Tts Limitations.... The report focuses on evaluating the success of Adidas’ “Run for the Oceans” marketing

NATIONAL ECONOMICS UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

DEPARTMENT OF BUSINESS ENGLISH

FINAL REPORT

“RUN FOR THE OCEANS” MARKETING CAMPAIGN EVALUATION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Instructor: M.A Do Minh Diep Module: English for Economics and Business (Research-Oriented) (121) 01 Group: 3

Group Members: Pham Thi Trang Anh — 11180443

Nguyen Phuong Linh - 11182779

Le Minh Quang — 11184163

Hanoi, November 2021

Table of Contents

ABSTRACT 1

INTRODUCTION 2

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1.1 The Concepts of Marketing cv n1 vn HS H1 H11 HH1 11 1H tết 5 1.2 _ The Concepts of Marketing Campaign - c cv 2H HH ng He, 7 1.3 The Concepts of Corporate Social ResponsIbiÏIfy c nt vn re 8 1.4 The Concepts of Recycling cccccccsccecsessessesseserssesesseessssessssessecsesesseessessuerses 9

2.1 The Scope of Influence of “Run for The Oceans” Campaign - 10 2.2 Statistics Related to The “Run for The Oceans” Campaign c2 552 11 2.3 Factors contributing to the success of the “Run for The Oceans” campaign and

Tts Limitations 12

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1

ABSTRACT Environmental pollution in general and marine pollution in particular has always been

a burning problem today “Run for the Oceans” is not only a marketing campaign to benefit its business, but also contribute to solving that problem The report focuses on evaluating the success of Adidas’ “Run for the Oceans” marketing campaign in partnership with Parley For the Oceans To draw conclusions, we rely on the impact of the campaign on businesses, customers, and society; in addition, there are specific figures related to the campaign for the last 3 years, 2018, 2019, and 2021 In general, the campaign has been operating in a very successful way It contributes to increasing brand value and revenue for Adidas; raising people's awareness about environmental pollution; tuming thoughts into practical actions to protect the environment Since then, not just a fashion business, Adidas has been bringing positive and meaningful values to society The report also points to the reasons for the success of the campaign The goal of “Run for the Oceans” itself has been one of the most concerning issues in recent years Besides, Adidas is one of the largest sportswear brands in the world, which means that the number of customers and people interested in the brand is extremely large Moreover, Adidas has grasped the trend as well as being one of the pioneering enterprises in the field of fashion associated with the mission of protecting the marine environment Fashion items and a practical campaign not only get the message across faster and more effectively than the cliché "less plastic" slogans, but they also set trends and inspire more intensely Therefore, it is not surprising that the campaign is increasingly successful However, with the current rate of consumption of plastic products constantly increasing, the scale of this campaign is probably not enough Nonetheless, we have to admit that Adidas or Parley have done an unbelievable job, which is to lay a solid foundation for the future recycled fashion industry Indeed, plastic waste cannot disappear in the blink of an eye, and there is no miracle that makes this happen quickly However, small actions, such as each

of us participating in the annual “Run for the Oceans”, can exponentially make a big

difference to the blue ocean

INTRODUCTION

Since the beginning of the twentieth century, it is undeniable that plastics have brought significant advances in all aspects of our daily lives Specifically, plastic is both cheap and convenient, playing an important role in areas such as manufacturing and healthcare However, because it is only used once and is difficult to decompose, plastic has become a major cause of environmental pollution, more than any other material ever created

in human history So we are faced with a paradox: how can we manage this resource to maintain its benefits for humanity while limiting the possibility of environmental degradation? This is also a key question that has led the global fashion industry - the largest consumer of low-cost synthetic materials - to find answers in the past few years

With a mission to bring brands, organizations, and people together to find new solutions to the main threat of marine pollution that is plastic waste, Parley For The Oceans

was founded Besides, Parley is a place where leaders, thinkers, and creators raise awareness

about the vulnerability of the ocean, thereby working together to limit and end the destruction

of waste

Adidas is a founding member of Parley for the Oceans The company wanted to play a leading role in finding ways to prevent plastic pollution The idea of taking materials polluting the ocean to make sportswear comparable to natural plastic sounded unrealizable However, this concept has tured into real success Millions of shoes and a variety of high- quality sportswear are made from recycled plastic waste

One of the most notable campaigns in Adidas's collaboration with Parley For The Oceans is “Run for the Oceans”, a global movement that harnesses the power of sport to drive environmental action and raise awareness of the threat of plastic pollution in the marine

environment With this research, we aim to assess the effect of “Run for the Ocean” on the business, customers, and society

In this part, we will give an explanation of the reasons why we opt this campaign to study There are two main reasons for our choice

Recycled materials as well as recycled products, although becoming more and more popular in people's lives, in Vietnam they are still quite far-fetched concepts and do not have high practical application in daily life This research firstly aims to help readers have a better view of recycled materials and recycled products as well as the benefits that they bring to people As people have better knowledge about recycled and sustainable materials, they will have more positive changes in using them in particular and contributing to environmental protection in general

The second reason for the choice of Run for the Ocean campaign is because of the valuable lessons learned from the campaign It can be seen that in this campaign, businesses not only earn profits from related products, but also build and strengthen their brand image better and better in consumers’ eyes Moreover, the campaign also has a positive influence on environmental awareness, contributing to helping people raise awareness about the increasingly serious environmental problem in the world Thereby, it encourages people to make changes in reducing using plastic materials toward using environmental- protection products

Ill Research Objectives

Before conducting the research, the authors have proposed two following research

aims

Firstly, the study would explore reasons behind the success of the “Run for the Oceans” campaign held by the collaboration between Adidas and Parley

Secondly, this study also aims to answer the question whether a similar campaign would achieve the equivalent amount of engagement and success in the Vietnamese market as compared to “Run for the Oceans” campaign

IV Research Scope

In order to better conduct the study, the authors have narrowed the scope of the research down to 3 years Particularly, this research would investigate the “Run for the Oceans” marketing campaign during the years of 2018, 2019, and 2021

With the aim of evaluating the “Run for the Oceans” campaign and proposing some recommendations to better improve the campaign, the authors have concluded two below research questions:

1 Which are the factors contributing to the success of the campaign?

2 What are some feasible measures the brands could implement to better execute the campaign?

DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1 LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 The Concepts of Marketing

1.1.1 Definition of Marketing

To have a good base to study about the chosen marketing campaign, the authors will introduce the marketing definition and other related things about it There are various ways to define marketing According to Kotler and Keller (2006), a simple definition of marketing is

“meeting needs profitably” They also mention that marketing is also defined as the process

of developing, conveying, and delivering value to clients Also, it is the way to keep good relationships with customers to gain benefits Another way to define marketing is “ satisfying the customers" (Kotler, 2005) They claim that marketing is not just “selling and buying” 1.1.2 Marketing Mix

When mentioning about marketing, there would be a lot of things to discuss about, but people often refer to the Marketing Mix Basically, the marketing mix refers to the marketing techniques that marketers employ to fulfill their marketing objectives Neil Borden initially presented the concept of marketing mix in his 1964 paper The marketing mix at the time consisted of a number of elements After that, McCarthy and Perreault (2002) had grouped those factors into 4Ps basically including product, price, place, and promotion Regarding the term product, sellers must first determine the demands of potential clients for the product/service before adjusting the items to satisfy those needs About the second P — price,

it mentions how much you can charge your products The third P is place, referring to where you sell the product and how you distribute it The last P — promotion is as important as other

Ps with the role of promoting buying and selling activities

1.1.3 Promotion in marketing mix

In order to evaluate the campaign we are studying, in this research, we will only focus on the fourth factor - promotion in the 4Ps of the marketing mix

The Economic Times (2021) defines promotion as "the full collection of activities that communicates the product, brand, or service to the user." The major purpose of this section is

6

to make people aware of the product, interest them, and persuade them to buy it Claimed by Kolter and Armstrong (2001), there are five elements contributing to promotional mix which are advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relation and direct marketing Advertising: One of the most effective promotional techniques is advertising Its purpose is to communicate the message that the company wishes to express to customers The message is simply defined as the product's unique and distinct values, which are frequently repeated in the media (newspaper, radio, TV, billboard, etc.) in order to capture consumers’ attention, penetrate their minds, and urge them to purchase products

Personal selling: Direct spoken conversation between sellers and potential buyers is what personal selling is all about (Perreault and McCarthy, 2002) It is a communication, exchange, and direct interaction process in which sellers attempt to persuade potential consumers to buy the company's products or services, or to aid in supplying information advice in order to develop belief, build a positive connection, and therefore create future prospects

Sales promotion refers to efforts that encourage customers to purchase things in a short period of time by increasing customer benefits

Public relation is defined as ongoing efforts aimed at establishing and maintaining an organization's credibility, affection, and mutual understanding with the general public Direct marketing refers to marketing efforts that are carried out without the use of distributors or middlemen

1.2 The Concepts of Marketing Campaign

1.2.1 Marketing Campaign Definition

According to Aashish Pahwa (2021), marketing campaigns are an ordered and well- prepared course of action that aims to reach businesses' marketing goals Its goals are to convey the product to the target audience, to strengthen the image and status of the brand, to gain more customers in order to achieve greater benefits for the company

1.2.2 The Importance of Marketing Campaign

Marketing campaign is a subset of promotion, therefore, it plays an extremely important role Carter (2019) emphasized that through conducting marketing campaigns, marketers can gain some benefits Firstly, a successful campaign obviously can help the businesses attract more customers and increase sales Thereby, the profits that they gain from increasing sales can support them to develop and expand in the market Secondly, marketing campaigns are able to build and strengthen the business’s reputation and trust from the customers Sharing the same opinion with Carter, Rachael (2020) claims that marketing campaigns could raise customer awareness and make the business more reliable She also adds that marketing campaigns are one of the ways to keep the business image inside the customers’ mind Besides, marketing campaigns play a role as a testing tool Through conducting a marketing campaign, the marketers could figure out what is a business's strength and weakness in order to improve and develop

1.2.3 Factors Contributing to The Success of A Marketing Campaign

A successful or viral marketing campaign is formed by 5 main factors: the campaign’s

overall structure , the characteristics of the product or service, the content of the message, the

characteristics of the diffusion and, the peer-to-peer information conduit (Woerndl et al, 2008) Each of them includes some different aspects Regarding the campaign’s overall structure, the campaigns need to promote the goal activities and must not break the ethical issues and legal requirements; The characteristics of the product or service: the product or service provided in the campaign need to be appropriate; The content of the message is described in words: imagination, fun & intngue, ease of use and engaging; The characteristics of the diffusion is evaluated through three aspects which are Exponential, Speed, and Audience reach; and The peer-to-peer information conduit is estimated by four

aspects which are Channels available & used, Technology available & used, Combinations of

technology leveraged and source credibility

1.3 The Concepts of Corporate Social Responsibility

1.3.1 Corporate Social Responsibility Definition

The concept was coined in the 1950s and garnered a lot of interest in management research in the 1970s There are three categories of CSR: economic growth, ecological balance, and social progress (Saeed & Arshad, 2012) Despite the fact that academicians and

economists continue to debate the various facets of CSR, businesses worldwide are being

pressured to become more socially conscious and active contributors to their local and global communities As a result, CSR is a critical component of a company's reputation, determining how stakeholders and potential employees see the organization

CSR has been investigated by a number of scholars, resulting in a plethora of ways to understand the term In 2021, Investopedia proposed a definition of CSR as a self-regulatory business model that enables a corporation to be socially responsible to itself, its stakeholders, and the general public Moreover, Advantage (2020) provided a more holistic notion of CSR

as scenarios in which businesses engage in social activities to help the communities in which they operate Despite numerous ways to interpret corporate social responsibility, the authors decide to follow European Commission’s (2001) definition of CSR as a voluntary notion in which businesses incorporate social and environmental issues into their company operations

and interactions with its stakeholders

1.3.2 Corporate Social Responsibility’s Role from A Marketing Perspective CSR may help a company generate extraordinary resources, such as a good reputation, enhanced brand perceptions, employee capacity, expertise, and a network of

contacts Consumers are concerned not just about the features and benefits of a brand, but

also about the company's relationship with society, according to brand perception studies (Kervyn, Fiske, & Malone, 2012) Strategic CSR may help a company establish a reputation for being socially, morally, and ecologically conscious (Porter & Kramer, 2006)

When a company is a good corporate citizen, it may improve customer loyalty and turn customers into brand ambassadors who promote the company The following were among the disclosures made in the 2016 Aflac survey, which was performed in the United

States (PR Newswire, 2016):

75% of customers are inclined to take some form of action against corporations who are irresponsible These actions include everything from social media posts to company boycotts;

Companies who are irresponsible risk losing up to 39% of their prospective customers One out of every four customers will warn their friends and family to stay away from these businesses;