Promotion is CommunicationPrinciples of MarketingChapter 36

Introduction• Promotion is the process of telling

people about a product and the company that offers it.• Let’s brainstorm the ways that

companies promote their products.

Did you think of all of these?• Sales associate helping customers• TV commercials• Billboards• Direct mail• Advertisements in newspapers and

magazines• Public service announcements• Corporate sponsorship of sporting events

Marketing Communication• Another term commonly used for

promotion• Promotion is part of the marketing

mix• Communication from an organization

to its customers, potential customers, and the public

Goals of Promotion• Brainstorm a list of the goals of promotion

Goals of Promotion• Basic marketing goals•Sell products•Make profit

• Informs• Expresses• Persuades

Inform customers about:• Existing products• New products• New features on existing products• Use or assembly of products• Safety issues that may affect the use of a product• Charities and cultural organizations the business

supports• Events the business sponsors in the community• Remind customers of their product

Express• Words• Color• Motion• MusicDescribe a promotional message that was memorable. What made this message memorable? What feelings did the message evoke in you? What product did it promote? Did the message make you want to buy the product? Did you buy the product?

Persuade• Persuasion is the use of logic, argument, or

pleading to get another person to agree with you or to act in a certain way.

• Promotional messages persuade people to buy through the use of • Information• Reminders• Expressions• Entertainment

Group Activity• Use one of the promotional goals to

write your own promotion for your office product. • Present your promotion to the class•Print ads•Speaking radio ads•Acting TV commercials

Types of Promotion• Target market might be business (B2B) or

consumer (B2C) • What is being promoted: product or

institution• Product promotion is marketing communication that focuses on the product and selling the product• Institutional promotion focuses on the image of the organization

Four Elements of Promotional Mix• Promotion mix is the combination of promotional

elements used in a promotion• Personal selling• Advertising• Sales promotion• Public relations

• These fall into two categories• Personal promotion• Nonpersonal promotion

Personal Promotion• The marketer and the customer communicate in

person• Personal selling is the only promotion in this

category• The seller can customize the message, based on

the immediate response from the customer

Nonpersonal Promotion• Promotion that communicates the same

message to all potential customers• No interaction between the marketer and

the target market• Elements of nonpersonal promotion• Advertising• Sales promotion• Public relations

Advertising• Nonpersonal promotion paid for by an identified

sponsor• Print advertisements in newspapers and magazines• Commercials broadcast over radio and TV• Internet ads• Billboards• Transit advertising on buses and subway cars• Direct marketing channels—the same message is sent to

all receivers• U.S. Postal service--catalogs• Telemarketing• Internet

Sales Promotion• Marketing activities designed to entice customers

to buy a company’s products• Coupons • Contests• Free samples• Gift-inside

• Short-term activities• Used with other forms of promotion to support

overall goals• B2C and B2B sales promotions

Public Relations• Promotional activities designed to create goodwill

between a company and the public• Used mostly for institutional promotion• Proactive public relations consists of communications

initiated within the company for the purpose of image building• Reactive public relations consists of communications in

response to negative events or damaging information that appears in the media

Publicity• Information about a company and its products

that appears in the media• The company does not pay the media to carry the

message• Public relations specialists send information to

the media, hoping that the media will print or broadcast the story

• Tools of publicity• Press release• Press kit—includes press release, brochures, and

photographs• Press conference

Publicity Activity• Find a recent article that contains newsworthy

information about a well-known company.• Summarize the article in your own words and site

your source.• Answer the following questions about your

article:• Is the information in the article positive, negative, or

neutral? Why do you think so?• What impact will this article have on the reputation of

the company? Why do you think so?• What impact will this article have on sales and profits?

Why do you think so?

Promotional Strategies• Pull strategy is promotional effort focused on

the consumer• Primarily advertising• B2C• Customer demand often causes the retailer to

contact the wholesaler or manufacturer to increase the product order

• The consumer demand pulls the product through the distribution channel

Push Strategy• Promotional efforts are focused on the

wholesalers, distributors, and retailers• Manufacturers promote their products to

wholesalers and distributors and encourage them to add the products to their inventory

• Wholesalers and distributors, in turn, promote these products to retailers and encourage them to stock their stores with the products

• This is a B2B strategy, and personal selling is used

Positioning• Actions marketers take to create a certain image

of a product in the minds of customers• The actual position of a product is in the mind of

the consumer• Marketers decide what position they would like

their product to have, then build a promotional strategy to achieve that position

Two more Promotional Strategies

Buzz Marketing• Buzz marketing is

promotion designed to look as though it is coming from an unbiased stranger or a friend, instead of from a corporation

Sponsorship• The sponsor pays for

an activity such as a sporting event, a cultural performance, or a charity event

• Many corporations want to sponsor the Olympics so that they can use the Olympic logo in their advertising

Promotional Campaigns• A series of coordinated promotional activities

desgined to achieve a specific goal• Image building• The mental picture of what a customer believes about

a product• Emphasizes a particular aspect of a product by

focusing on creating an impression of the product• Product differentiation• Convenience, customization, and greater customer

satisfaction• Direct response• The seller communicates directly with the buyer and

asks for an immediate response