Quintessentially TV Marketing, Social Media and ... films of their clients to a more urban demographic, ... Quintessentially Quintessentially TV . Shahzad Mahmood

1

Quintessentially TV Internship placement

5/21/2011

MBA Internship- MGT 659

Shahzad Mahmood

Shahzad Mahmood

2

Contents Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

Background on Quintessentially ......................................................................................................... 3

Quintessentially TV ......................................................................................................................... 3

Role in the Organisation ..................................................................................................................... 3

Personal Experiences .............................................................................................................................. 3

Skills and Experiences Gained ............................................................................................................. 3

Methodology ........................................................................................................................................... 4

SWOT Analysis..................................................................................................................................... 4

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 5

Strengths ......................................................................................................................................... 5

Weaknesses .................................................................................................................................... 6

Opportunities .................................................................................................................................. 7

Threats ............................................................................................................................................ 7

Boston Matrix ..................................................................................................................................... 7

Background ..................................................................................................................................... 8

Current Position: Scenario 1 & 2 ..................................................................................................... 8

Mintzberg’s Model .............................................................................................................................. 9

Background ................................................................................................................................... 10

Current Method ............................................................................................................................ 10

Situation Analysis .............................................................................................................................. 10

Background ................................................................................................................................... 11

Market Segmentation ....................................................................................................................... 13

Background ................................................................................................................................... 13

Organisational Structure ................................................................................................................... 13

Management Structure ..................................................................................................................... 14

Recommendations ................................................................................................................................ 15

Viral Marketing, Social Media and Digital Marketing ....................................................................... 15

Marketing Planning Process .............................................................................................................. 17

Overall Experience of the Internship ................................................................................................ 18

References ............................................................................................................................................ 19

Appendix ............................................................................................................................................... 19

Work Blog .......................................................................................................................................... 19

Shahzad Mahmood

3

Introduction As part of my course, I took part in an internship for the remainder of my MBA. The internship is to

provide us with real life work experience, and I was fortunate to do mine at a company called

Quintessentially. I did not have any specific requirements for this internship. My objective was to

learn from what businesses are doing, and how they are recovering from the recent/current

economic crisis. I also wanted to expand my working knowledge, gaining more experience from

different areas of work and to try to understand how and if theory learnt from my courses are used

in application.

Background on Quintessentially

Quintessentially was founded in 2000 by Aaron Simpson, Ben Elliot and Paul Drummond. The newly

formed company started off as a luxury shopping portal for members. They soon evolved from

luxury shopping to offering other services, primarily a concierge service. They had an corporate

ethos of “accessing the inaccessible” and soon has found themselves operating in a niche market,

with the concierge service being their USP.

In the past decade Quintessentially has benefited with the growth of the luxury services market,

which has led them to 33 subsidiaries, each focused on a particular industry.

Quintessentially TV

Quintessentially TV (QTV) is a subsidiary or business unit of Quintessentially. It was started in 2010

and produces films for upper-class hotels, car manufacturers, small businesses and individuals. As

well as shooting videos, they also do in-house video editing, tailored to the customers need. Their

clients are separated into two parts: internal and external. The internal clients consist of other

Quintessentially subsidiaries, and the external are those that have no relation with the business.

QTV also specialise in distribution of videos. This gives them a USP, where they can shoot a video for

a client and at the same time, use their partners in distribution to showcase adverts and promotional

videos in locations such as airports, hotels and other public places.

The main people involved in QTV are Rebecca Tucker, the managing director, Poppy Tullo, the

producer and client support, and Matt Melvin, the creative director and cameraman. There are also

other freelance cameramen that offer their services to QTV.

Role in the Organisation

My role in the organisation was as an intern. The reason I took this internship was to understand and

learn about new businesses and the strategies used in them.

Personal Experiences

Skills and Experiences Gained

During my internship, there were many new skills, which I learned as well as skills that I already had

which were being utilised. Many of the new skills were mainly film and marketing orientated. Skills I

already had included presentation writing, creating invoices, and normal office duties.

Shahzad Mahmood

4

• Video editing- as part of my internship, I had to be able to edit video footage, which was

then to be distributed through various channels. As I have never had experience in video

editing, I was able to grasp the concept quit quickly and was able to edit footage and adding

effects to a high standard. The software that was used was Adobe Final Cu Pro. Learning

how to use this software has given me much more appreciation to how television

advertisements are made and that the editing process is just as, or more important than the

actual shooting. As well as editing, I was taught how to covert files to different formats,

sizes, and quality for various purposes such as uploading in on different websites, for DVDs

or television.

• Social networking- although I am aware of social networking and use it on a daily basis,

during my internship I was taught how I could utilise them to promote QTV. The main source

was YouTube, the social video networking site. I had to upload videos and edit them on the

website itself, such as adding descriptions, annotations, tagging and replying to comments.

As a user of YouTube, it was the first time I was “behind the scenes” as it were. I never had

uploaded a video before and this is something I now know fluently. I also had to upload to

the popular Chinese video-sharing site Youku. This was more challenging as the whole

website is in the Chinese language which makes looking for options. I also had to update the

Facebook page, which I already had experience, and Twitter, which was new to me.

• Appreciation for marketing- I was never interested in marketing, but working at QTV, I was

amazed to see how marketing can be influential to a company. This goes for marketing

concepts used by QTV for themselves and their clients.

• Working in a semi-formal environment- previous job of mine including working in offices

with strict, professional codes of conduct. It was a good experience working in a setting

where there was a more relaxed atmosphere. These made it easier to work with other

people and were more approachable. This is method of office work is become the norm in

many places and will prepare for working in the future.

• Marketing concepts- working at QTV has made me do my own research into marketing

concepts, and which ones are right for a particular industry. I was also able to see which

methods are the norms for businesses and how effective it can be if used correctly.

• Presentation making skills- As part of my internship, I was asked to make several

presentations for clients. The presentations were made as a sales pitch to prospective

clients, where details of the company, prices and other details. Although I have had

experience in making presentations as part of my course, I was able to see what is included

and the protocol for making one for business use. Each presentation was tailored made, and

I found that making a unique presentation for a client, they were more inclined to get back

to QTV.

Methodology

SWOT Analysis

Shahzad Mahmood

Strengths

•Brand

•Video content

•Unique distribution platform

•Partnerships

•Global demographics

•Support

Opportunities

•Online video channel

•New technology driven markets

•Growth of economy

•Seasonal events

Background

As a proven method for strategy, a SWOT analysis is used. The Swot comprises of internal (strengths

and weaknesses) and external (opportunities and threats) points which gives a company an idea of

where there stand in a market and environment they are in.

Strengths

As outlined in the above diagram, the strengths for QTV lie within the brand name, unique

distribution platform and support. These strengths are able to make QTV more competitive and

thus, to stay in business. The Quintessentially b

and so, for clients who are aware of the parent brand, and now their reputation, they will also

perceive QTV as being a higher quality service compared to that of others in the market. Using the

Quintessentially brand name will also make it easier for prospective clients to identify them.

The distribution channels are the means to which a film QTV produces is shown to the audiences.

QTV have been able to secure contracts with a few advertisement

airline industries. This gives the opportunity for the clients to see where they would like their film to

be featured. The distribution channels are very safe, meaning that they follow a traditional approach

Environment

Unique distribution platform

Global demographics Weaknesses

•Stressed resources

•Time constraints

•Lack of funds

•Small team

•Unclear objectives

Online video channel

New technology driven

Growth of economy

Seasonal eventsThreats

•Clients taking advantage

•Growing market

•Competitive market



where there stand in a market and environment they are in.



thus, to stay in business. The Quintessentially brand name carries a lot of weight in the luxury world,



will also make it easier for prospective clients to identify them.

channels are the means to which a film QTV produces is shown to the audiences.

QTV have been able to secure contracts with a few advertisement agencies operating in the hotel or



Internal Environment

Strengths

weaknesses

External Environment

Opportunities

Threats

5

Stressed resources

Time constraints

Lack of funds

Small team

Unclear objectives

Clients taking advantage

Growing market

Competitive market





rand name carries a lot of weight in the luxury world,



will also make it easier for prospective clients to identify them.

channels are the means to which a film QTV produces is shown to the audiences.

es operating in the hotel or



Shahzad Mahmood

6

such as showing them on TV screens at regular intervals. They are also shown in busy places such as

airports, and selected terminals. The distribution channels can however be improved, by getting the

agencies to look at other places to show videos such as at train stations, and instead of at the

passenger gates, but perhaps at the front end of the airport, close to the check in desks. Another

viable option would be to get spots on the CBS Outdoor LCD panels. This offers QTV to show the

films of their clients to a more urban demographic, and are situated in the most populated areas in

the UK, including busy streets, tube stations, train stations and even shopping malls.

In terms of support, QTV have the support of other departments, as well as the parent group. This

allows QTV to stay afloat, as well as synergise with the other departments. The other departments,

known as “Internal Clients” such as Quintessntially Wine and Quintessentially Driven are able to

have films produced for them at cost or a discounted rate. This in a way opens up the opportunity to

get separate contacts.

Weaknesses

A major weakness that QTV are experiencing is the stressing of their resources. This includes their

crew, equipment and working spacing. The film crew is very small and often free lancers are used.

This provides QTV with new talent coming to work for cheap, however free lancers can be unreliable

in the sense that they may not be as experienced, or the good free lancers may not be available for

certain shoots. QTV may want to have free lancers on contract, which would allow them easier

access to them, as well as using the free lancers to look for leads to which QTV can exploit. The work

space is small, as the office is shared with two other departments. I would be in the interest of QTV

to have another separate room where edits can be made and shown to the clients.

QTV, as I was told, started off with very little funds, in hopes of building up. The problem with

starting a new business with a very limited initial investment is that some business operations may

not be utilised. In the case of QTV, marketing operations are restricted to internet channels and

word of mouth. Although the internet can be a valuable tool, there is only so far a company can go

without paying for advertisement space to attract new customers. QTV should try to get some sort

of loan, or attract investors so that they can have the expenditure for promotional activity, which

they are lacking when used in the marketing mix.

Another big weakness that QTV have is unclear objectives. Although the department know what

they are doing, and aware of their surroundings, they are still not sure in which direction they want

to head towards. QTV should assess where in the market they lie, and which options they have

available to them, for example, they can continue to produce videos for clients, or move on to

distribution of the videos and use contractors to produce videos. They may also want to create a

short term plan which they can use with conjunction with their budget and come up with achievable

objectives.

The QTV team is small, considering how much work they have between them. As mentioned above,

their only form of marketing is based on social media and networking, which is a lot of responsibility.

The team are constrained by time, and so this becomes a downfall for QTV. If they can hire students,

or more interns to just work on the social media content, this will leave the important tasks for the

rest of the team.

Shahzad Mahmood

7

Opportunities

For QTV there are a few strong opportunities which could help their cause. QTV, in order to make a

viable internet TV channel they will need to re-construct their website for ease of use. They would

then need to come up with good video content. As mentioned in their weaknesses, they have

unclear objectives. If they decide to go down the film production route, they can concentrate on

creating original video content, and have their own distribution channel rather than going into

partnerships. Original content focused on certain target markets could make them popular, as well

as include product placements which would generate an income stream.

New technology means that QTV could express their products on other platforms. They could sell, or

distribute for free their videos on iTunes, which can be played from a computer, iPod or iPad. They

can also create an application or “app” for mobile devices so that customers can view content not

just from QTV, but also integrate the Qube social networking into it. The app could be sold for a

small price which would also generate a small income. Apart from internet channel, QTV could also

make use of physical mediums, such as putting their videos on customised USB flash drives which

could be passed around to clients and customers.

Although QTV do attend various seasonal events, they should try to get the required accreditation so

that they can get access to more events, which would lead to more, diverse content and eventually

new customers and clients. They may also want to partner up with other media companies, which

have a more influential stance on public relation events.

Threats

The market for film production is growing. There are currently around 400 film production

companies nationwide in the UK. Many of them specialise in certain types of films such as sporting

events, weddings or professional adverts. In order for them to have a stable position in the market

they would need to retain some of their high profile clients so that they do not move on to the niche

film producers.

Along with the rapid growth of the market, QTV should also be aware of the competitiveness. Many

of the companies have been in the market for a long time and have a wealth of experience. Some of

these companies are using other forms of advertisement, such as Yell.com and Google Ads. QTV may

want to adopt these strategies to remain competitive with these companies.

Another threat is the fact that clients take advantage of QTV, in terms of asking for cost price

discounts, and additional edits. QTV need to take a more authoritative stance, they should let clients

know that breakdown cost of production is high. This however is a very sensitive matter, and should

be approached with precaution.

Boston Matrix

Shahzad Mahmood

8

Background

The matrix shown above was created by a management consultancy group called Boston Consulting

Group (BCG), and they named the matrix the BCG Growth-Share Matrix. The matrix is based on cash

flow and works on the following assumptions:

• “market growth has an adverse affect on cash flow because of the investment ion such

assets as manufacturing facilities, equipment and marketing needed to finance growth

• “market share has a positive affect on cash flow as profits are related to market share”

(2010, Jobber).

The matrix has four categories: Stars, cash cows, question marks or problem children and

dogs. The axes that identify them are market growth rate and the relative market share.

• Stars: these are the market leaders in markets that are experiencing high market

growth. They have high profitability rates which are based on their strategic

objectives which are to maintain their market share and growth. Eventually when

the market levels, they will be transformed to cash cows.

• Cash cows: when the market has saturated, the leaders will be able to experience

continued profits because of their increased market share. Companies that are cash

cows need to retain their position by re-evaluating the market. Cash cows tend to

re-invest their extra profits to support problem children and question marks.

• Question marks/problem children: these continue to have large expenditures since

because of the rapid growth of the market. There is an opportunity to transform

them into stars, but require substantial time and investment. Most of the

investment for them will be spent on marketing strategies.

• Dogs: these are weak products that compete in low market growth. They struggle to

gain market dominance. The best strategy for dogs is to reposition them into a niche

market which they may be able to be salvaged.

The BCG is analyses the products and not the company. The primary products that QTV have are the

film productions and distribution channels.

Current Position: Scenario 1 & 2

For QTV, they can be placed in two positions: Problem children/question marks and dogs. The best

scenario for QTV is that they are problem children, where the appropriate strategy will help

Shahzad Mahmood

9

transform them into a cash cow, or even a star. The worst case scenario would be that they are

dogs, and we will need to identify what can be done to make them more profitable.

Scenario 1 Transformation:

QTV’s products are problem children/question marks. They operate in a market with high growth,

but have low market share. The advantage of being in this position is that there is potential for them

to transform to being a star or cash cow.

For QTV’s transformation they should think about moving to a different market. They have the

Quintessentially brand name behind them, which is based on selling luxurious services. If QTV

position them in a high class market, where they target clients of a high profile nature. The strategy

they take to do this would need to take advantage of the clients in the other subsidiaries. If they

approach these clients offering services such as shooting special birthday parties, weddings, or other

private events, this would ensure a steady income stream. Another option is that they find a genre

and be the best at it. For example, one of their key clients, Aston Martin, the famous car

manufacturers have asked QTV to make them a launch film for one of their models. If QTV continue

to make videos of a similar nature for other clients such as Ariel or Jaguar, then they may gain a

positive reputation.

Scenario 2 Transformation:

QTV’s products are dogs. This is a worst case situation for QTV. They have a low market share in a

market that is growing slowly, or not at all. There are not many advantages of being associated as a

dog, however there are ways in which they can improve their products position.

To transform themselves, they have some options. Quintessentially can cut their losses and divest.

Divesting is the opposite of an investment, where a company will let go of a subsidiary to focus on

other business opportunities. This, however is not a option for QTV or Quintessentially since there

could be a potential to grow. They will have to look at pragmatic issues, in this case, segment their

products to cater for a niche market.

Mintzberg’s Model

Shahzad Mahmood

Background

Henri Mintzberg, a management and business strategy academic has written about structuring

organisations. The above diagram, devised by Mintzberg sh

main body, the operating core consists of the workers that perform the main duties related to the

company. For Quintessentially, this would be the concierge department. They look for the members

and would be their biggest profit centre. The strategic

towards the overall mission of the organisation. They would be classified as top management. The

middle line managers link the strategic apex to the operating core. These, in terms of

Quintessentially groups would be the head of the individual business units. The technostructure

consists of those who serve the organisation by affecting the work of others; however they do not

do the work themselves. This can be the outside contracto

hire. The support staffs are those that aid the other employees outside the operating work flow. This

can be the IT department, or cleaners,

The above diagram shows the pressures on each of the parts, pulling in

Current Method

Quintessentially currently do not have enough pull from the strategic apex.

there are different variations of the above model, and the one that relates closely to

Quintessentially is the “machine bureau

The machine bureaucracy is a formal management structure

business. The main decisions are made from the top and carried down through the chain. In QTVs

case, Rebecca makes most of the big decisions, which looks at all aspects of the operations.

Situation Analysis


organisations. The above diagram, devised by Mintzberg shows the organisation in five parts. The



profit centre. The strategic apexes are those charged with working


middle line managers link the strategic apex to the operating core. These, in terms of



do the work themselves. This can be the outside contractors or consultants that Quintessentially


can be the IT department, or cleaners,

The above diagram shows the pressures on each of the parts, pulling in their favour.

Quintessentially currently do not have enough pull from the strategic apex. According to Mintzberg,


Quintessentially is the “machine bureaucracy”, shown below.

The machine bureaucracy is a formal management structure which has a formal approach of doing



10


ows the organisation in five parts. The



those charged with working


middle line managers link the strategic apex to the operating core. These, in terms of the



rs or consultants that Quintessentially


their favour.

According to Mintzberg,


which has a formal approach of doing



Shahzad Mahmood

Background

The situation analysis is a marketing tool that

situation analysis “represents an important component of real

al, 2008). This means that for a company to understand which marketing strategy to use, they need

to use the “5 C analysis” shown in the diagram above. The diagram starts at the centre, the

company, and fans out to climate, so we are looking at QTV from internal to external. T

analysis will be done only for QTV.

• Company- the first part of the analysis is about the company. The analysis will contain the

product line, image in the market, technology and experience, culture and goals

(www.netmba.com). QTV’s product

them using their contracted channels and editing footage. Their

recognised. They benefit from having Quintessentially in their name, howeve

unit, they will need to have their own external brand recognition in their specific market.

Their technology and experience is limited, due to not enough members in the team.

Although the existing members are very capable, they should perha

someone similar to help with the direction of films. Having an expert amongst them will

instantly give them more recognition and will gain acceptance as a high

company. The culture is not an issue. The culture is

Quintessentially group where

positive effect on the employees where they do not get stressed. The management is also

quite decentralised with helps with motivating

according to priorities. There is also a lot of delegation, especially within QTV, which again

maybe due to the small team. The goals, which is an important is lacking. QTV do have some

sort of direction, but ther

are undertaking many responsibilities

small. If they can realign their

instead of worrying about distribution, of vice versa, then they can focus resources on these

goals.

• The collaborators are the next in

its customers. They help

Their distributors are large, which is a good point for QTV. Their own, internal distributors

are their websites where they show their videos that have been produced, as well as their

The situation analysis is a marketing tool that looks at the internal and external capabilities

situation analysis “represents an important component of real-world marketing practice” (Munoz et

that for a company to understand which marketing strategy to use, they need


company, and fans out to climate, so we are looking at QTV from internal to external. T

analysis will be done only for QTV.

the first part of the analysis is about the company. The analysis will contain the


QTV’s product line consists of making high quality videos, distributing

them using their contracted channels and editing footage. Their image

recognised. They benefit from having Quintessentially in their name, howeve



members are very capable, they should perhaps hire a script writer or


instantly give them more recognition and will gain acceptance as a high

company. The culture is not an issue. The culture is really based on the whole of the

Quintessentially group where the corporate culture is cheerful and relaxed. This has a


quite decentralised with helps with motivating employees, as they can set out their tasks



sort of direction, but there is nothing written in stone, so to speak. QTV is small, and they

responsibilities, which mean that their client turnover is short and

small. If they can realign their priorities, for example, focus more on making more films,

of worrying about distribution, of vice versa, then they can focus resources on these

The collaborators are the next in analysing the situation. Collaborators sit between QTV and

help the company deliver their products to the cus



Climate

Competitors

Customers

Collaborators

Company

11

external capabilities. The

world marketing practice” (Munoz et

that for a company to understand which marketing strategy to use, they need


company, and fans out to climate, so we are looking at QTV from internal to external. The situation

the first part of the analysis is about the company. The analysis will contain the


line consists of making high quality videos, distributing

however is not well

recognised. They benefit from having Quintessentially in their name, however as a business



ps hire a script writer or


instantly give them more recognition and will gain acceptance as a high class production

really based on the whole of the

the corporate culture is cheerful and relaxed. This has a


employees, as they can set out their tasks



e is nothing written in stone, so to speak. QTV is small, and they

that their client turnover is short and

, for example, focus more on making more films,

of worrying about distribution, of vice versa, then they can focus resources on these

the situation. Collaborators sit between QTV and

the company deliver their products to the customers and clients.



Shahzad Mahmood

12

YouTube channel, which they can directly control. Other external distributors are TVC and

AdLux, who work alongside QTV to distribute selected promotional videos in places such as

hotels or airports. Using these distributors allow QTV to get their videos out there, but the

question that needs to be asked if QTV specifically are getting credit for these videos. There

are also suppliers, which collaborate with a company. Luckily for QTV, they do not need to

make a commitment to resource suppliers, and can rent out equipment from wherever and

whenever. However another way to look at suppliers is to see them as resources to finding

new clients. Lastly, alliances: they are the ones that work with QTV. The alliances are

separated into production and distribution. The production aspect involves using a

contracted film production company to produce films on behalf of QTV, dues to them have

more experience and resources. The distribution side would involve the “contacts” that QTV

have to get their videos out there, and also to give them tip-offs of events or functions that

would lead to potential clients. A recent alliance with quintessentially Publishing and

Editorial means that all three business units, that a small can bring what resources they have

together and synergise. This is good strategic move for QTV, as well as the others, however

they will need to look at how the synergy can out a positive effect rather than fail, as it is

common that not all synergies work out.

• Customers- QTV has a fair amount of loyal clients. They also benefit from Quintessentiallys’

other business units who prefer to have their videos made in-house for a competitive rate.

Quintessentially need to secure some sort of market share. They are in a highly competitive

market, with many players. This means that there is a potential for growth. There are also

many market segments in which QTV can operate in. For example, many of these production

companies have segmented the market in parts such as creating specials films (weddings,

parties, events, promotions, etc.) this means that QTV should try see where they fit in the

segments. This would make their objectives and long-term goals more measurable and

achievable. They should also see where the customers sought out film producers. In this day

and age, it’s usually the internet and Google. QTV need to understand what the customers

search for on these types of websites and analyse the popularity of paid advertisements.

They also need to trends and the frequency of when customers purchase these products.

This can help for allocating funds for advertising. For example, if QTV specialise in producing

films for weddings, which many are held during the summer months such as June and July,

QTV may want to advertise a few months before this while people are planning their

weddings. They may also want to advertise then in bridal magazines, or collaborate with

wedding planners, or better yet, Quintessentially Weddings. They also need to look at the

motivation behind the purchase of their products. They have to show the customer that the

benefits of having a film shot for them will outweigh the costs. This will need a lot of

convincing. The best way to do this is to get testimonials, especially on their social

networking sites so that a larger audience can see them.

• Competitors- as mentioned above, QTV operates in a highly competitive industry, and so

they have many competitors. The competitors are segmented into direct and indirect

competitors. Although there are a large number of them, it is safe to assume that they are

all, or most of them, are indirect competitors, meaning that they do not have a direct

influence over QTVs operations, but they influence how clients choose a company to

produce a film. Because the market is so big, there isn’t one company that has a substantial

amount of market share, however there are more affluent companies that have been in the

Shahzad Mahmood

market for a long time and have built up a loyal client base. QTV should, as mentioned

above, look at which segment they want to target, and seek out the competition and try to

directly compete with th

take advantage of sharing clients and expertise.

• Climate- the climate is also known as the macro

PESTLE-DG analysis (political, economical, socia

demographic and global). Understanding the external climate can help QTV seek out

trends and the direction in which the market is heading in. This is very time consuming, but

there are government agencies tha

done to benefit the Quintessentially group as a whole.

Market Segmentation

Background

As mentioned several times above, for QTV to be competitive they may want to segment

themselves. The reason why segmentation is important is because not all customers are the same,

or require the same product. The market at this time is saturated with film

and are the treating the market as one, i.e. mass marketing their products. Although it is desirable to

mass market, there is not enough room in the current market to mass market.

segment, they will need to look at c

within that particular segment, brand loyalty, required market share, and the potential of increasing

sales. QTV already have the base of being a luxury product. They can segment themselves as pu

meeting the needs of members that are part the Quintessentially concierge and other products,

which means that all their film production will be done internally. In order to accomplish this they

will need to advertise and build relationships directly

The diagram at the top of this section looks at the requirements which need to be matched against

the segment (Jobber, 2010). The most important aspect would be the unique needs. QTV will need

to justify to their clients the need for change and how they can offer

Organisational Structure

The Quintessentially Group has 30 business units that operate beneath the Concierge. Other

business units include wine, gifts, flowers and aviation.

Identifiable



directly compete with them. They may also what to have a strategic alliance with them

take advantage of sharing clients and expertise.

the climate is also known as the macro-environmental factors which are

DG analysis (political, economical, social, technological, legal, environmental,

demographic and global). Understanding the external climate can help QTV seek out


there are government agencies that have already outlined most of the data, and could be

done to benefit the Quintessentially group as a whole.



or require the same product. The market at this time is saturated with film production companies,


mass market, there is not enough room in the current market to mass market.

segment, they will need to look at certain aspects, such as the size of the segment, competition


sales. QTV already have the base of being a luxury product. They can segment themselves as pu



will need to advertise and build relationships directly with Quintessentially clients.


The most important aspect would be the unique needs. QTV will need

need for change and how they can offer better films

Organisational Structure


business units include wine, gifts, flowers and aviation.

RequirementsIdentifiable

Accessible

Substantial

Unique Needs

Durable

13



em. They may also what to have a strategic alliance with them and

factors which are basically a

l, technological, legal, environmental,

demographic and global). Understanding the external climate can help QTV seek out certain


t have already outlined most of the data, and could be



production companies,


mass market, there is not enough room in the current market to mass market. If QTV decide to

ertain aspects, such as the size of the segment, competition


sales. QTV already have the base of being a luxury product. They can segment themselves as purely



with Quintessentially clients.


The most important aspect would be the unique needs. QTV will need

better films.


Shahzad Mahmood

14

The concierge service from Quintessentially brings in many members are the most popular service

offered by them. Concierge can be classified as a cash cow, where any profits gained from them are

used for re-investment into Quintessentially which has produced the smaller business unit. This

structure is fairly common and works well for Quintessentially. However, the allocation of re-

investments should be reviewed and see how they could support the sprouting business units such

as QTV.

Management Structure

the management structure is a traditional hierarchy, with the Co-founders of Quintessentially on the

top, then managing director of QTV below. Since QTV is a business unit, they have a indirect

relationship with the higher-ups, which means that the MD has a lot of more responsibility and has

to make managerial decisions by herself. The team is also small which, has leaves many aspects of

running the business to a few. They should try to get more experience people related to certain

business aspects, for example, they may want to hire a marketing, or business strategy consultant

who can formulate goals and objectives that QTV can follow.

Quintessentially Group

Quintessentially Concierge

Quintessentially TV

Aaron Simpson

Rebecca Tucker

Poppy Tullo

Matt Melvin

Dave

Danny

Ben ElliotPaul

Drummond

Shahzad Mahmood

15

Recommendations

Viral Marketing, Social Media and Digital Marketing

For a company such as QTV, whose primary product is creating and distributing films, it is important

for them to make their video content “viral”. The term viral marketing is relatively, making its first

appearance during the mid-nineties with the popularity of email and email-related advertising

(Bampo et al, 2008). Bampo et al state that “conventional wisdom holds that the viral marketing

process is both random and unmanageable” (Bampo et al, 2008). The authors suggest that because

viral marketing is dependent on peer-to-peer activity, a company will find it difficult to control the

direction of the marketing direction. In other words, it can cause a positive or negative effect.

QTV are using several popular channels used by businesses to promote themselves virally: YouTube,

Facebook, Twitter and other smaller video sharing websites.

• YouTube- the popular video sharing website, recently acquired by Google boasts the largest

share in the video sharing/social websites. They have high number of users and views and

benefit from Google’s searching algorithms that make it the best for finding the right video

in the least amount of time. Andrew Hampp is an advertising and marketing guru who has

analysed the viral video market and come up with models to follow to make a successful

viral campaign. Hampp says to pick an attention grabbing concept when making a film, for

example, “...four types of videos that tend to strike a chord with Break’s audience of young

males can broadly be categorized as ‘funny,’ ‘sexy,’ ‘wow,’ and ‘ow’.” (Hampp, 2011).

Hampp continues to say that those that are “funny” and “wow” tend to be popular with ads,

however linking videos to current affairs or being topical directed to a particular audience

can gain many views. Hampp also suggests to “encourage engagement”. This means asking

views directly for a response to the video. This is usually done by asking for video responses,

or asking viewers what they would do differently. The video responses on YouTube are

usually done by other YouTube channel owners, and so users in their network will eventually

be attracted to QTV’s channel. Hampp stresses the use of celebrities in their videos; “while

having a household name can certainly boost awareness and even search results, it’s not the

end-game to securing viral success. Hampp continues to point out that if a celebrity is

already active online, either with twitter or have a personal blog, then they will gain more

popular online than celebrities that are the opposite. As part of using social networking, QTV

may want to hire a popular YouTube personality to star in videos, such as interviews at

premiers etc. “But leveraging relationships with key bloggers, press and online personalities

is the secret sauce to a hit campaign with lots of earned media” (Hampp, 2011). With these

popular bloggers or video bloggers have already gained a fan base that are loyal, and their

inclusion in videos will help secure more views.

• Twitter- As far as Twitter goes; I personally not fully sold on the concept. There is a degree of

usefulness of the popular social networking site, but many companies often under-utilise, or

do not understand how to use it to its full potential. Twitter is a micro-blogging service,

which means what you would normally write in a blog post, you want to condense this down

to 140 characters. After looking at how QTV uses their Twitter accounts, and doing some

research on Twitter “etiquette”, I was able to find strategies that would best work for them.

QTV does not have a set schedule for twitter. Susan Gunelius writes: “spend your time

Shahzad Mahmood

16

wisely by setting aside a specific time in the morning, midday, and late afternoon to use

Twitter for business purposes, sharing content and engaging with other users during that

time” (Gunelius, 2011). Twitter feeds should not also only consist of tweets, but retweets,

sharing things from other sources, inspirational quotes and trending topics (Campbell, 2010).

QTV follow many people and businesses. This leads to an overflow of tweets on the

homepage, which means that checking up on competitors or see what important clients are

up to. Campbell says “don’t follow everyone who follows you on Twitter. Conduct targeted

keyword searches for individuals, companies, and other industry players who are important

to you or who you want to have as a client” (Campbell, 2010). Gunelius continues to say

suggest that you should not over promote yourself. “No one will want to interact with you if

you’re constantly talking about yourself and promoting your business” (Gunelius, 2010). QTV

should spend more time looking at the important people, or asking tips, from even their

competitors about, for example, what new software to use, cameras etc. Using Twitter is a

long and time consuming process, and should be undertaken by everyone in the QTV

department, and not just the responsibility of one employee.

• Facebook- the popular social networking site consists of over 500 million users, which means

that if used correctly, Facebook can be used to find new clients and users to view QTVs

content. Looking at QTVs Facebook page, there are many things that they will need to do to

make it worthwhile. There are overall goals that QTV should aim towards: get found by

people, connect and engage with potential customers, create a community and promote not

only the content they produce, i.e. films and videos, but blogs, and other resources

(www.hubspot.com). This is a common problem QTV is having. They need to gain more

clients and gain popularity, and the way to do that is to show interest in the potential clients.

They should also focus more on interacting with existing clients. Since QTV operates in a very

competitive industry, and they should continue to satisfy their clients, and check up on them

on a regular basis.

Quite recently, QTV has started uploading it’s content on the Chinese version of YouTube, called

Youku. With more of Chinas youth looking towards the internet for entertainment (Madden, 2010)

this has opened up a new market for brands. The research done by Madden shows that more of

Chinas youth do not have Television sets, and so the next best thing for them is the internet. For

QTV, this can present a new business opportunity. They can create content that will be viewed by

the Chinese, especially “younger viewers seek out entertainment online because the programming

aired by national broadcaster China Central Television and local channels doesn't appeal to the

under-30 crowd...” (Madden, 2010). This brings the idea of creating, new, original content for this

new audience.

An idea which I bought forward to QTV was to create “webisodes”, which are short clips featured

only on the internet, “Original minishows for the Internet were all the rage online before the

Internet bubble burst in 2001. Now they're back, this time as advertising vehicles, courtesy of a

robust online ad market and growing broadband audience” (Graham, 2005). Graham explains in his

article that new generation of webisodes show more advertising which have a higher rate of being

viral. Webisodes have been used by many large organisations such as Ikea, Procter and Gamble and

Kraft (Hampp, 2010). Hampp has also explained the speed at which these videos become viral,

“Mindshare Entertainment on behalf of clients Sprint and Unilever, became a massive hit on MSN,

Shahzad Mahmood

17

accumulating more than 16 million views by its second season and eventually becoming a sitcom for

ABC” (Hampp, 2010). If QTV can get sponsors to pay for their brands to be shown in these short

segments, then QTV can produce videos that they can show to a wide audience. With increased

broadband speeds around the world, the video content would reach a larger target audience that

would not mind watching a branded clip if it is entertaining enough. This will also give QTV the

competitive edge they need to make their products into stars.

Marketing Planning Process

Business mission

Marketing audit

SWOT analysis

Marketing objective

Core strategy

Competitive advantage

Marketing mix decisions

Organisation and implementation

control

Strategic thrust

Target markets

Redefinition

Marketing

planning at the

business level

Strategic objectives

Competitor targets

Marketing

planning at the

product level

Shahzad Mahmood

18

The above model is called the marketing planning process (Jobber, 2010). It is used as a framework

to understand what marketing processes are required when planning, to aid decision making

processes and the stages of the key elements of the marketing process. The process starts with a

business mission defined by Ackoff as “a broadly defined, enduring statement of purpose that

distinguishes a business from others of its type” (Achoff, 1987). The business mission will explain the

scope of the business, as well as prepare QTV for any environmental change (Jobber, 2010). The

marketing audit looks at the business environment, both macro and micro. QTV and Quintessentially

can make use of the marketing audit if they are to know where they are presently and where they

want to be. The SWOT analysis, as mentioned in the previous section looks at the strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats. There are then the marketing objectives, which is made up

of two parts: strategic thrust and strategic objectives. The strategic thrust “defines the future

direction of the business in terms of which products to sell in which markets” (Jobber, 2010). This

would refer to the segments which QTV may want to take so that they can outline marketing

objectives. The strategic objectives “are product-level objectives relating to the decision to build,

hold, harvest or divest products” (Jobber, 2010). QTV should look at where they make the most sales

and focus on that rather than ones that require too many resources, which should be divested.

Following the marketing process will help QTV create a planned approach to being recognised in the

market. It will also help create milestones which they could use to track their progress.

Overall Experience of the Internship

The overall experience of working at QTV has been a good experience, in terms of learning. I was

able to work a relatively new company. The industry is was also new to me. It required more

professional customer services, and also learning new skills which has made me open to searching

for a wider variety of jobs. The place itself was extremely homely. The open office plan was new to

me, since I was used to working in cubicles. The open office plan allows better communication

within the team and other departments.

Working at QTV also has let me see problems which companies are facing that operate in

competitive industries. This has also made me realise that there are other ways to make a business

successful. This has led me to have an marketing and strategy.

Shahzad Mahmood

19

References

Achoff, R. I. (1987). Mission Statements, Planning review. 15(4), 30-2.

Bampo, M., Ewing, M. T., Mather, D. R., Stewart, D., & Wallace, M. (2008). The Effects of the Social

Structure of Digital Networks on Viral Marketing Performance. Information Systems Research, 19(3),

273-290.

Campbell, D. (2010). what's your social media strategy?. Black Enterprise, 41(4), 74-76.

Graham, J. (2005). Webisodes return, now as advertising. USA today.

http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/techpolicy/business/2005-10-23-webisodes_x.htm

Gunelius, S. (2011). Twitter Do's and Don'ts. BusinessWeek.com, 6. Retrieved from EBSCOhost.

Hampp, A. (2010). IF you build a web series around it, will they come?. Advertising Age, 81(29), 13.

Hampp, A. (2011). how to make your branded video go truly viral. Advertising Age, 82(9), 46.

Jobber, D. (2010). Principles and Practice of Marketing (sixth edition). McGraw-Hill

Madden, N. (2010). As Chinese youth head online, marketers follow with content. Advertising Age,

81(32), 6.

Munoz, C., & Huser, A. (2008). Experiential and Cooperative Learning: Using a Situation Analysis

Project in Principles of Marketing. Journal of Education for Business, 83(4), 214-220.

Sherwin, L. (2009). [Mintzberg Models diagrams] Mintzbergs Model on organisational structure.

http://www.lindsay-

sherwin.co.uk/guide_managing_change/html_change_strategy/07_mintzberg.htm

Appendix

Work Blog

Documents

Quintessentially TV Marketing, Social Media and ... films of their clients to a more urban demographic, ... Quintessentially Quintessentially TV . Shahzad Mahmood