IMC Marketing Plan Charter Communications

1. CHARTER COMMUNICATIONS
Isaac Coleman
IMC Marketing Plan 07/21/2022

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Table Of Contents
Table Of Contents. 1
Executive Summary. 2
Backgrounder 3
SWOT Analysis 6
Target Consumer Definition 7
Marketing Campaign Objective 10
Points-of-Parity 11
Creative Brief 12
Conclusion 14
Reference Page. 15

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Executive Summary
The Charter Communications IMC Campaign will deliver in depth detail about the company’s
current situation as well as set the table for the future of Charter Communications. Being an
internet service provider, Charter must be able to keep up with the increase of demand of
services and products. The current target market, Millennials are not as maneuverable with
social media as the next generation.
The company background will provide the history of Charter Communications, detail it’s current
situation, current target market analysis and projections. This will lay the foundation of what
Charter Communications provides. This is a summary of Charter Communications. The SWOT
analysis goes over the strengths, weakness, opportunity and threats for Charter. Analysis
what’s being done right and identifying the potential risk factors.
The target audience details the desired target market, Generation Z. This generation is so far
ahead the other generations before it what it comes to streaming and social media. Adding this
clientele will continue to keep Charter competitive in the industry. The consumer profile
provides a look at potential consumer from Generation Z. This profile gives income, work and
home locations as well as their spending hobbies.

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The marketing goals, objectives, and strategies provides a blueprint of how the rollout of a new
brand launch will be displayed to appeal to the potential market. The creative strategy is the
layout of the Television/YouTube ad and the reasoning behind it. The point of parity is a Venn
Diagramthat reviews the emotional and rational reasonings for purchase of Charter services.
The creative statement and tagline are key pieces to the relaunch of the brand. The creative
brief goes over the promotional channels that would be the most beneficial to the brand.
Company Background
In 1993, former Cencom Cable Television executives Barry Babcock, Jerald Kent, and
Howard Wood founded Charter Communications. This mass media company operates under
the branding of Spectrum. In 2020, Charter Communications ranked the second largest cable
operator in the United States with over 26 million subscribers. Charter Communications offers a
variety of products and services that include broadband, cable television, digital cable, digit
telephone, HDTV, home security, internet, internet security, VoIP phone. Their competitors are
T-Mobile, Cogeco, AT&T, Verizon, and Comcast. The company’s current revenue sits at 43.63
Billion dollars (bizvibe, 2020).
In 1995, Charter acquired Cablesouth for roughly 300 million dollars. In 1997, Earthlink
and Charter joined together to provide high speed internet across California. In 1998, Charter
Communications had 1 million customers. In 1999, Charter went public trading on the NASDAQ
stock exchange. Charter also made over 10 acquisitions (compaineshistory, 2021):
 American Cable
 InterMedia Partners (cable system swap)

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 Marcus Cable (merged)
 Rifkin Acquisition Partners
 Greater Media Inc
 Renaissance Media Group
 Helicon Cable Communications
 Avalon Cable TV
 Broadband Communications
 Falcon Cable TV
 Fanch Communications Inc. of Denver
In 2009, Charter had its bankruptcy plan approved. That resulted in the termination of
its stock and cut roughly $8 billion in debt. Less than a year later in 2010, Charter Class A
common stock was re-listed on NASDAQ under the stock ticker CHTR. That symbol is the same
symbol used today. In 2012, Thomas M. Rutledge was appointed President and CEO of Charter
Communications. The following year, Charter acquired Bresnan Communications in a
transaction worth 1.63 billion dollars. Charter attempted to buy on one of its larger rivals in
Time Warner Cable. It took three misfires before Rutledge penned a letter to then Time Warner
Cable CEO Robert Marcus. Charter’s $132.50 per share offer was rejected. A month later, Time
Warner Cable accepted an offer of $158.82 per share. In April 2014, Comcast and Charter begin
to start negotiations to acquire Comcast customers, barring that the merger between Time
Warner Cable and Comcast was successful. Comcast and Charter agreed to customer swap of
1.6 million subscribers. In 2016, Charter Communications acquired Time Warner Cable and its

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sister company Bright House Networks. This move made Charter the third-largest pay television
service in the United States.
Under the brand Spectrum, the mission is to exceed expectations by providing high
quality service and superior entertainment and communications products. The vision behind
that mission relies on employees taking pride in providing that product. The values that bring
this mission to life include being an expert in the field, working with integrity and promote
teamwork, earn the respect of your co-workers, earn the trust of their customers, pursue
growth and learning (comparably n,d).
Charter offers a variety of services and products, the three main services are cable,
internet and landline phones. The target for cable is upper to middle class who do not reside in
rural areas. For landline services, the target is individuals that do not own a cell phone, which
narrows down to adults aged 65 or older. For internet use, the target is adults aged 18-49.
Charter differentiates form the competition by pursing a unique low-cost strategy. This
strategy tailors around the cost driven customers, attempting to draw them in from the
competitors (sites.google n,d).
There are currently multiple limited offers where customers that haven’t subscribed to
any other services in the past 30 days along with no outstanding obligation to Charter, the price
for TV and Internet will be 49.99/month. The current Spectrum advertisements includes
comedians KevOnStage and Tony Baker.

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Target Market
Generation Z is defined by individuals who were born from 1997 to 2012. Generation Z is the
largest generation in U.S. population. Social media has blossom during this time period and Gen
Z benefited the most from it. The average age for Gen Zers when they received their first
smartphone is 12 years old. Millennials, the generation before them were almost double that
age when smartphones really started to take off in the market. Generation is on track to
become the most pivotal generation for the future of retail, having a huge spending power by
2026 (Meola, 2022).
Gen Z has used social media to create a present that can’t be duplicated. Platforms such
as TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter have become a place to vocalize feelings regarding
fashion, music, political and social trends. Digital shopping is at its peak, and thanks to social
media providing advertisements for brands, Gen Zers put their stamp on society (Ehart, 2020).
Gen Zers put affordability and authenticity at the top of their priority list when it comes
to shopping. This is the perfect situation for a company that is looking to evolve that way that
spectrum is. My intentions are to incorporate a bigger social media presence using the
presence of Generation Z. The goal is to provide a platform where their voices are heard, a
place where they can make a change. Offering affordable internet services allows us to provide
that platform for this generation. Picking a generation that has this type of influence in the era
of social media seems like a no brainer. As well as internet services, Spectrum Mobile offers a
plan that would split the monthly cost for cellular usage in half compared to its competitors.
This is what will not only attract Gen Zers but also maintain their business.

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Being able to provide financial freedom while administering a platform that allows
freedom of expression is what’s important to Generation Z. That’s what I want to display with
Charter Communications through the Spectrum brand.
Consumer Profile
In the photo above you seen a group friends. This group are way much more than that to each
other, their roommates. (Pictured from Left to Right) Nick, Kori, Blaze, Johnny and Emma met at
orientation in college. They now reside in a condo just outside the Full Sail University compass.
Nick and Kori are Entertainment Business students, Blaze is a Digital Cinematography major,
Johnny is in the Media Communications degree program and Emma is in pursue of a BFA in
creative writing. The group of friends have created the “Smoke, Mirrors, and Flames” podcast.
They are in the works of making SMF Productions, a film company “made by us, inspired by us”.
Emma is the one who ignites the spark of the group, the one that brought them all together
during a community event on campus. She is outgoing, intelligent, and fun to be around. Kori is
the oldest by 1 year, she won’t let anyone forget it. She is the one reminding the group of their
responsibilities and priorities, she’s the records keeper. Blaze is the rebel of the five. Blaze’s
pronouns are they/them. Blaze doesn’t consider consequences when making decisions, Blaze is

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the best photographer on campus. Nick is a social media influencer. His 150 thousand followers
Instagram followers have helped contribute to the success of the SMF podcast that just
surpassed 100 thousand listeners on Spotify. With over 1 million likes on TikTok it’s easy to see
why Nick is the voice of the group. Johnny is the cool, calmand collected one in the group. He’s
modest, humble, and rather shy. He gets to come out of his shell around his friends because
that’s when he feels the most creative. He is the one behind the production and promoting of
Nick’s social media but SMF’s as well.

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Isaac Coleman
IMC Week Two
Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
Ver. 2020
Overview
Charter Communications
Goal:
To increase brand sustainability, that will embrace Gen Z customers.
Objective 1: Increase acquisition of Gen Z customers by 50% by January 2023
Increase acquisition of Gen Z customers by 50% by January 2023.
Strategies:
Utilize Ads from popular social media sites
Offers promotions through social media
Offer seasonal discounts
Annually Award customers on the anniversary of the activation date
Objective 2:
Create “GEN Z” experiment to increase social media presence 65% by July 2023
Strategies:
Appoint an influencer from Gen Z to be brand ambassador
Have a Q&A with ambassador once a month on social media
Offer scholarship program for upcoming students
Relaunch social to allow platform for Gen Zers voice to be heard

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Charter Communications
Rational Emotional
Creative Statement: Internet, phone and television coming your way in the most innovative
way possible
Tagline: “When others can’t, Spectrum can”
Rejected Statements:
Spectrum, it’s only right
Affordable cable in an unaffordable world, Spectrum
No one communicates like Charter
High Band Equity for high
speed wireless
connection
#2 Cable Operator in the
U.S.
29 million subscribers
across 20 states
High level of customer
satisfaction
Low inflation rate
Affordableprices on
services
High speed connection for
customers to allow them
to postto social media
daily
Opportunity for audience
to be heard
Employment opportunites
with the company

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Creative Brief
What are we advertising?
Charter Communications is advertising internet, phone and cable services. Providing high speed
connection is the must for us.
Whom are we talking to?
Generation Z. This generation is defined by those individuals born during 1997-2012. The most
in-depth generation regarding social media.
What do they currently think?
Gen Zers will only buy a product that they can afford. They also want sustainability with the
product/service.
What would we like them to think?
We want them to think that they are getting the best for their buck. Charter wants to provide
the sustainability that our target audience craves so much.
What is the single most persuasive idea we can convey?
Adding an iconic figure from Gen Z such as Marsai Martin, to become the face of our social
media rebrand.
Why should they believe it?
Martin is renowned by her generation as someone to inspire to be. Having her endorse the
company would be a game changer.
Are there any creative guidelines?
The hashtag #SpectrumCan must be displayed during ads and promotions ran.

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Spectrum TV Script:
The basis of this script is built upon the idea that “Black-ish” stars Marsai Martin and Yara
Shahidi are the faces of the commercial. This script is made with them two in mind specifically
because of the influence that they have on Generation Z, My current target market.
Marsai (over the phone): Sis, I thought we were hanging out yesterday, what happened?
Yara (Confused tone): Uh, what are you talking about? I called you multiple times YOU never
answered.
Marsai: I told you NOT to FaceTime me, my Wi-Fi tripping.
Yara (Laughs): That’s your fault I told you to get with spectrum, High speed quality, affordable
internet, and they are giving $300 towards phone trade-ins to switch to Spectrum Mobile! How
do you not know this?
Marsai: What am I supposed to do? Take your word for it? You know you’re too much like your
characters in real life.
Yara: You know what? I’m willing to let that go, you don’t have to believe me (sends message) I
sent you a link to an article with customers reviews.
Narrator: Spectrum is the top cable operator in the U.S. Switch over to Spectrum today for 44.99
for you first 3 months! Also, Try Spectrum Mobile for just $30 per line. Want to be part of the
nation’s best high-speed connection. Call Spectrum or chat with us online.
Marsai (looking at phone): This is what I’m talking about, I gotta go.
Yara: Wait, are we hanging out today or what?
Marsai: after I finish switching to Spectrum. Maybe
Yara: Really dude? Okay whatever just like let the know I referred you?
Marsai: Got to go. Love you. Bye
Narrator : When others can’t, Spectrum can. Switch over today

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Conclusion
Since 1993, Charter Communications has emerged to become the second largest cable operator
in the U.S. Merging with smaller companies to help expand its market, Charter has been able
has been able to stand on its own in a crowed industry. Their current target market of
Millennials isn’t as technologically advance as the generation after them. Generation Z are the
frontrunners in advancing their individual profiles from social media platforms. With the social
media and streaming at an all-time high regarding usage % it makes sense targeting Generation
Z as potential customers.
Providing High speed connection has resulted in high costumer satisfaction. Delivering a high
quality provide and service is something Charter prides themselves in. That type of dedication is
what will attract Generation Z customers. Gen Zers want storability and affordable prices.
Charter Communications offers both. The task at hand is to provide the message that carters to
the desired target market. That method will be a Television/YouTube advertisement with a
feature from two of the most influential content creators of Generation Z.
The Charter Communications IMC campaign provides research and information that identifies
the current areas of strength within the company. Also, this campaign details where Charter
can turn the areas of improvement into profit by switching the target market. Providing the
sense of financial freedom with affordable prices will be the determining factor in gaining Gen Z
consumers. Continuing the practice of providing high quality service is imperative in the
acquisition of Generation Z customers.

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Reference:
Chcom. (2021, November 17). Charter Communications (Spectrum). CompaniesHistory.com -
The largest companies and brands in the world. Retrieved July 5, 2022, from
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Stay connected with spectrum internet®. Charter Spectrum® Official - Internet, Cable TV, and
Phone Service. (n.d.). Retrieved July 5, 2022, from https://official.spectrum.com/lfo-
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Meola, A. (2022, January 5). Generation Z: Latest gen Z news, research, facts. Insider
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Ewart, A., Asia Ewart Asia Ewart is a New York City-based journalist covering all things
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(2020, April 21). Who is generation Z and what visuals represent this generation. The
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