part three: the marketing mix CHAPTER 8 PROMOTION an opening challenge You run a small, specialist soft drinks firm. Your marketing budget is a tiny fraction of your major competitors and you certainly cannot afford television advertising. How will you get your brand noticed by potential customers? agenda • • • • • • • • the promotion mix managing promotional activities objectives promotion strategy marketing communications process marketing communications tools regulations budgets mixes Place Price Marketing Mix Product advertising sales promotion direct marketing personal selling Promotion Mix public relations packaging promotion management • setting objectives • setting budgets • designing marketing programmes/campaigns • implementing campaigns • checking the results of campaigns (evaluation and control) the objectives of promotion what is it meant to achieve? • create brand awareness • build brand image • inform • remind • educate • break into new market • change/reinforce attitudes • stimulate trial • get into purchase consideration set • regain lost customers • obtain information • re-position • increase usage targeted objectives • key to the organisation’s direction – strategies are devised to meet objectives • objectives should be SMART – specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, timed • aim at a specific target audience audience or market? • markets are customers/consumers – people who buy or use things • audiences listen or watch • so promotional activities are targeted at audiences – who may or may not be customers/consumers promotional strategy market analysis target audiences SMART objectives strategies push pull promotional strategy • a subset of overall marketing strategy • informed by branding and positioning • overall marketing communications strategy plus campaign strategies • overview of how objectives will be achieved – the details go in the plan • push strategies – aimed at the trade • pull strategies – aimed at consumers encoding message receiver channel decoding sender a simple communications model: 1 a simple communications model: 2 noise sender receiver distortion distortion encoding channel message (Schramm, 1955) feedback receiver decoding sender a simple communications model: 3 the promotional mix • advertising – paid for, mass media • public relations (PR) – media relations, sponsorship, exhibitions, hospitality, celebrity endorsement • sales promotion – discounts, special offers, competitions • personal selling – b2b, retail, telesales influencing customers attention think interest desire action feel do AIDA and the promotion mix AQ – re-set figure type DAGMAR: a hierarchical model AQ – re-set figure type promotion tools • • • • advertising public relations sales promotion personal selling • direct marketing • packaging • sponsorship advertising essentials AQ – re-set figure type creative executions • • • • • • slice of life animation & CGI endorsement celebrity news-style fantasy • • • • spoof or parody demonstration comedy audience participation • music media media class or category, e.g. television media vehicles e.g. EastEnders media vehicles public relations (PR) ‘the determined, planned and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual understanding between an organisation and its publics. Also understood as reputation management’ (Chartered Institute of Public Relations, 2010) PR techniques • • • • • • • • • • publicity or media relations publications corporate communications community relations lobbying sponsorship product placement branded content events management crisis management sales promotion short-term special offers which add value to a product offering benefits of sales promotion • • • • • • good at increasing sales effectiveness can be easily measured has accurate targeting can keep budget down has an almost immediate effect creates interest in products typical sales promotion objectives • stimulate product trial – which may lead to regular purchase • introduce a new product to the market • combat/spoil a competitor’s campaign • encourage greater product use – and so more frequent purchase personal selling prospecting preparing making the appointment the call or pitch following up closing objection handling a salesperson’s job • • • • • • • • buyer/seller team coordinator customer service provider buyer behaviour expert information gatherer market analyst and planner sales forecaster market cost analyst technologist direct marketing ‘the planned recording, analysis and tracking of individual customers’ responses and transactions for the purpose of developing and prolonging mutually profitable customer relationships’ (Institute of Direct Marketing, 2010) direct marketing communications • personal contact • looking for a direct response – better feedback • database marketing • direct response advertising DM media selection: AIMRITE Audience Impact Message Response Internal Management The End Result (Pickton and Broderick, 2004) UK regulations • advertising standards code – – – – legal decent honest truthful • similar principles in other codes of practice – sales promotion, sponsorship • for up-to-date rules, visit the ASA website at: http://www.asa.org.uk setting budgets • arbitrary method – judgement call • affordable method – tends to result in low budgets • competitive parity method – but did the competition get it right? • objective and task method – time-consuming but accurate • percentage of sales method – commonly used, but which year’s sales? summary • clear campaign objectives • good market understanding • clearly identified target audience – and the means to reach them • originality and creativity – so the message is correctly received • a variety of tools to integrate into the campaign references • Chartered Institute of Public Relations (CIPR) (n.d.) CIPR website. Available at http://www.cipr.co.uk/content/policyresources/jargon-buster (accessed 30/06/10). • Institute of Direct Marketing (IDM) (n.d.) IDM website. Available at: http://www.theidm.com/resources/jargon-buster (accessed 15/05/10). • Pickton, D.W. and Broderick, A. (2004) Integrated Marketing Communications, 2nd edn. Harlow: FT Prentice Hall. • Schramm, W. (1955) ‘How communication works’, in W. Schramm (ed.), The Process and Effects of Mass Communications. Champaign: University of Illinois Press, pp. 3– 26.