Promotion --Marketing Communication

Chapter 15

Marketing Communication

What is promotion?• Communication by marketers; its

intention is to influence opinions/actions of potential buyers through:– Informing– Persuading– Reminding

• From an economist’s view, its purpose is to stimulate demand– Shift demand curve to the right– Make demand curve more inelastic

Intent: To influence consumers & create a competitive advantage

Components of the Promotion Mix

• Personal Selling

• Advertising

• Public Relations

& Publicity

• Sales Promotion

• Direct Marketing

A Promotional

Strategy plans for

the optimal use of these

elements

Promotion Mix Components• Advertising

– Nonpersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or org. that is paid for by a marketer

• Public Relations & Publicity– Evaluates public attitudes– Identifies areas within the org. the public

may be interested in– Executes a program of action to earn

public understanding and acceptance (tours, press releases, work in the community, etc.)

Promotion Mix Components

• Sales Promotion– Special sales– Temporary packaging and/or product modifications– Coupons– Samples, premiums, and specialty advertising items– Trade shows– Merchandising efforts–displays, etc.– Contests, games

• Personal Selling– Interpersonal, face-to-face, paid

communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other

Promotion Mix Components

• Social Media– Promotion tools used to facilitate

conversations among people online; e.g., blogs, Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn

• Direct Marketing– E-commerce– Direct Mail– Telemarketing– Catalogs– Infomercials– Home shopping networks

Promotion is Communication

• Two types of communication:– Interpersonal Communication

• Advantage - immediate feedback• Disadvantage - cost of personal contacts

– Mass Communication• Advantage - reaching large numbers at once• Disadvantage - waiting to assess reaction and

responses to mass-communicated promotion

Promotion is Communication

Feedback

Sender

Encodes Message

Trans-mitter

Decodes Message

Receiver

NOISENOISE

The Communication Process (Exh.2, p. 273)

Goals & Purposes of Promotion

• Informative Promotion– Increase the awareness of a new brand– Build a company image– Explain the use of the product (or new uses)

• Persuasive Promotion– Encourage brand switching– Change perceptions of product attributes– Influence customers to buy now or call

• Reminder Promotion– Remind customers of upcoming needs– Remind customers where to buy the product– Maintain consumer awareness – image, uses, etc.

Characteristics of Promotion Mix Elements

• See Exhibit 16.3 on page 266

• Take note of differences in:– Communicator’s control over situation– Amount of feedback– Control over message content– Speed in reaching large audience– Message flexibility

• Different types of promotion are required for different targeted groups

When to Use Which Promotion Element . . .

• See Exhibit 4 on page 281• Personal Selling – best at building interest

and desire and stimulating action• Advertising – best at building awareness and

interest• Sales Promotion – best at triggering action• Public Relations – best at everything except

action

Concept of A I D A

• Attention– Greeting & approach (personal selling)– Volume, contrasts, movement, bold words/colors

• Interest– e.g., Show knowledge of customer’s needs

• Desire– Explain differential advantage and benefits

• Action– Request action on their part– Give them a little push – coupons, trial-size

packages

Integrated Marketing Communications

• The message reaching the consumer should be consistent and coordinated

. . . regardless of which method of communication/promotion is used

Six Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix

• Factor 1: Nature of the Product– Business or Consumer Product?– How complex is the product?– What are the costs and risks associated

with using the product?

Six Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix

• Factor 2: Stage in the Product Life Cycle (See Exh. 6, p. 286)

– Introduction• Publicity and advertising (informative) to introduce product• Sales promotion to induce trial• Personal selling to obtain distribution

– Growth • Heavy advertising and PR to build brand loyalty

– Maturity• Nature of advertising changes to persuasive and reminder ads• Increased sales promotion to build market share

– Decline• Advertising and PR drastically reduced• Other forms of promotion maintained at low levels

Six Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix• Factor 3: Target Market Characteristics

– Degree of geographic dispersion?– Highly informed or not?– Brand loyal or not?

• Factor 4: Type of Buying Decision– Routine decision or complex decision?

• Factor 5: Available Funds to Pay for Promotion– Consider the cost per contact of various options– No money – publicity is free– Affects media choices for advertising

• Factor 6: Push or Pull Strategy – see Exh. 7 on p. 288