Month: February 2021

Management Notes

Evolution process of IMC, Messages evaluation

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During the 1980s, many companies came to see the need for more of a strategic integration of their promotional tools. These firms began moving toward the process of integrated marketing communications (IMC), which involves coordinating the various promotional elements and other marketing activities that communicate with a firm’s customers. As marketers embraced the concept of integrated marketing communications, they began asking their ad agencies to coordinate the use of a variety of promotional tools rather than relying primarily on media advertising. A number of companies also began to look beyond traditional advertising agencies and use other types of promotional specialists to develop and implement various components of their promotional plans.

Since 1993, when the first book on integrated marketing communications first appeared (Schultz et al 1993), medias and technologies have accelerated, expanded and further fragmented (Kitchen, 2010; Kitchen and Uzunoglu, 2015).  Measuring return on investment has become more straightforward on-line via mobile, yet more complex as many more channels (medias) have proliferated.  Consumers are more streetwise, savvy, and sophisticated. Markets have further demassified and fragmented. Real audiences are more smudged than ever before. Meanwhile, the world has passed through a major economic crisis, admittedly not without serious damage, and its aftermath will be felt and paid for, over many years.

Many agencies responded to the call for synergy among the promotional tools by acquiring PR, sales promotion, and direct-marketing companies and touting themselves as IMC agencies that offer one-stop shopping for all their clients’ promotional needs. Some agencies became involved in these non-advertising areas to gain control over their clients’ promotional programs and budgets and struggled to offer any real value beyond creating advertising. However, the advertising industry soon recognized that IMC was more than just a fad. Terms such as new advertising, orchestration, and seamless communication were used to describe the concept of integration. A task force from the American Association of Advertising Agencies (the “4As”) developed one of the first definitions of integrated marketing communications:

A concept of marketing communications planning that recognizes the added value of a comprehensive plan that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines for example, general advertising, direct response, sales promotion, and public relations and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency, and maximum communications impact.

The 4As’ definition focuses on the process of using all forms of promotion to achieve maximum communication impact. However, advocates of the IMC concept, such as Don Schultz of Northwestern University, argue for an even broader perspective that considers all sources of brand or company contact that a customer or prospect has with a product or service. Schultz and others note that the process of integrated marketing communications calls for a “big-picture” approach to planning marketing and promotion programs and coordinating the various communication functions. It requires that firms develop a total marketing communications strategy that recognizes how all of a firm’s marketing activities, not just promotion, communicate with its customers.

Consumers’ perceptions of a company and/or its various brands are a synthesis of the bundle of messages they receive or contacts they have, such as media advertisements, price, package design, direct-marketing efforts, publicity, sales promotions, websites, point-of-purchase displays, and even the type of store where a product or service is sold. The integrated marketing communications approach seeks to have all.

Many companies have adopted this broader perspective of IMC. They see it as a way to coordinate and manage their marketing communications programs to ensure that they give customers a consistent message about the company and/or its brands. For these companies, the IMC approach represents an improvement over the traditional method of treating the various marketing and communications elements as virtually separate activities. However, as marketers become more sophisticated in their understanding of IMC, they recognize that it offers more than just ideas for coordinating all elements of the marketing and communications programs. The IMC approach helps companies identify the most appropriate and effective methods for communicating and building relationships with their customers as well as other stakeholders such as employees, suppliers, investors, interest groups, and the general public.

IMC has become one the most influential marketing management frameworks during the last twenty years. It is the overarching theme of every marketing communications text, it heads the material for chapters in marketing management texts, it is the theme of many professional books and articles, trade and academic conferences, academic journal special issues and editorials (i.e. Journal of Advertising, Journal of Advertising Research, International Journal of Advertising, Journal of Marketing Communications), the trade literature, and the ongoing adoption and usage of IMC by companies and agencies of all types.

The challenges facing today’s marketing and brand managers concern the interface between traditional sales, marketing and communications and new, interactive sales, marketing and communication.  These brand activities are focused upon customers and prospects with the need to measure or show marketplace results.  A few years ago, Don Schultz (arguably the IMC guru) spoke of transitioning from old to new ways of communicating, based upon the needs associated with the new world of the 21st century.  How does the firm or brand move from where they are now to where they need to be in this dynamic global marketplace? The old 4Ps (product, price, promotion, place) approach was essentially outbound, linear, and driven by a supply orientation. The reality is of course, that markets are not, and perhaps never have been product, production, or even marketing–driven. Now, more than ever before, markets are driven by customers, consumers, and prospects. And, the day may come when   businesses will be customer-driven. The business that really understands its customers and works with them, with the recognition that business is demand-driven should have access to an enormous source of ongoing information that leads to competitive advantage. Hence, customer insight and integrated brand marketing strategy are keys to winning the marketing game, a game fought in every country, and in every market, all over the world.

It would seem that the road to integration of messages is now complete, as the ideal of one-voice, one-sight, one-sound has become the standardised norm. What started as a single track, in 1993, has now become a superhighway for all companies. However, the journey toward integration from a consumer perspective has scarcely begun. Thus, what Don Schultz and I (2000) regarded as a four-stage process, for the majority of companies, has to all intents and purposes stalled at its very beginning.  Yes, we have ‘message integration’ but not necessarily ‘consumer integration’. Most companies carry out poor, ineffectual market research, or none at all. There is an insufficiency of real understanding of markets, marketplaces, or marketspaces.  Most messages are still outbound and linear, with the added virtue of looking or sounding the same via all media. Integrated brand marketing, where one measures behavioural outcomes in response to marketing communication, is still a far-fetched dream for most companies.  As we may see in the papers to be submitted, there are techniques, processes and workable techniques for after-the-event evaluation of integrated marketing communications. Few work with immediacy.

However, a more realistic picture of IMC may be gradually emerging from the maelstrom of debate, conceptualisation, and currently available evidence. IMC seems to be situation-specific and context-dependent. While IMC is a widely accepted model and paradigm, actual use depends on what clients want and need in terms of communications.

There remain difficult and problematic issues.  IMC, in terms of its major tenets, design, contribution, and benefits, has gained academic and, as evidenced here, practitioner acceptance throughout the world. One can already make out the bones of what could be termed a ‘central theory’, which most IMC researchers and practitioners would accept.  Around the edges (i.e. of PR, of turf battles, of a stages theory of IMC etc), there will always be healthy disagreement, conjecture, and criticism. IMC has already proved to be remarkably robust; it is no passing phase or passing fad.  However, the time has come for more evidence to be presented from companies and for more sophisticated questions to be asked and answered. Only then, will the theoretical framework be strengthened.  Current barriers seem eminently capable of being understood, corrected, and overcome. The crucible of practice, where integrated marketing communications was born and grew, is the crucible where IMC continues to undergo change.

This special issue aims at opening the debate on the meaningfulness of, and challenges pertaining to Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) in the 21st century.

Messages evaluation

gain some understanding through data collection with the right tools.

  • Did the audience receive the message sent? Companies like ContactMonkey or Politemail provide email tracking services to help a communicator determine how many of your readers opened your message. If you use a collaborative intranet platform to share your messages, a web tracking program like Google Analytics can give you myriad insights as to who is “landing” on your message.
  • Did the audience consume any of the message? If your message is encouraging a reader to click through to a video or webpage, this can help you understand better if the reader engaged with the content. How many readers clicked through to watch the video?
  • Did the audience understand the message? This is where it gets dicey. Certainly if you’ve requested a behavior of your audience and they’ve responded accordingly, then you know your message was understood. For instance, if you requested that customers update their passwords, you can tell how many audience members understood the message by measuring how many customers changed their passwords. However, if your message was about company strategy, about strengthening employee engagement, or about increasing customer confidence in the company, it’s not as easy to gauge the effectiveness of these more nebulous messages. Long-term, you’re likely to see the results of these messages (whether positive or negative), but you likely want to know relatively quickly if your message was successful. You can use tools like surveys to determine if you’re on the right track.

Techniques

  1. Pre-test and Post Test:

Pre-test implies testing advertising message before it is sent to specific media. Post-test implies testing impact of advertising message after it is published in any of the media.

  1. Communication and Sales Effect Test:

Communication test measures communicability (ability to communicate) of the message. Whereas sales-effect test measures advertising impact on sales volume.

  1. Laboratory and Field Test:

Clearly, a laboratory test is conducted in a controlled environment in a limited scale. Respondents are invited in a laboratory to state their response. Quite opposite, a field test is conducted in original setting, artificial climate is not created. It is similar as conducting survey to measure what customers think about company’s advertisement.

  1. Experimental and Survey Test:

Experimental test involves testing advertising effect by conducting test by manipulating independent variable (i.e., advertising efforts) and measuring the effect of the manipulation on other dependent variables like sales, profits, consumer satisfaction, etc. Experimental test may be laboratory or field test. Survey test involved knowing consumers’ view’s through a survey method.

  1. Message and Media Effect Test:

While message test involves measuring clarity, contents, believability, action ability, etc., of the message, the media test measures effectiveness/ suitability of one or more media.

Mostly, a company is interested to measure advertisement’s communication effect and sales effect. Therefore, it is worthwhile to discuss communication and sales effect test.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Internet & IMC

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Internet marketing is the marketing of products and services using the Internet as its medium. Lower costs of dissemination of information and a global audience are its main advantages. Internet marketing also encompasses digital customer data management and electronic customer relationship management (ECRM), which are widely used in businesses today.

The importance of Internet marketing strategies has increased with the growth and importance of the Internet. Most established companies are vying online space today and seek to adopt web marketing strategies to increase traffic to their company’s homepage. Internet marketing helps add potential customers and the number of quality leads to your website as well. In fact, most organizations can adopt Internet marketing and advertising strategies to generate better business.

According to the findings of the 2010 Digital Influence Index, by Fleishman-Hillard International Communications with Harris Interactive, when it comes to driving consumer decisions about a range of products and services, the Internet is by far the most influential media channel.

Internet technology has significantly influenced people’s living and the way business is done. It has opened every business available for the whole world

With the use of Internet and websites, customers can easily find a service or product by the use of search engine like MSN, Yahoo or Google since these search engines give Web Page results. Hence, people find convenience in using the internet through search engines because they don’t have to personally go to the office to inquire about a product or business.

By the use of internet as a marketing tool potential client are reached. Most corporates have websites to promote their products and services. As a result of this, sales and profits are increased.

Through the use of websites, corporate may present their works and achievements to prove that their firm has a reputable tract record. In this way a prospect client can now see what the companies have to offer to them and how it is compared to competitors ‘brands. Many companies use websites to have that marketing edge by other competitors in their category. This is the very reason why they keep growing.

Internet marketing & internet advertising has never been better. It requires customers to use newer technologies rather than traditional media. It differs from magazine advertisements, where the goal is to appeal to the projected demographic of the periodical, but rather the advertiser has knowledge of the target audience people who engage in certain activities (e. Internet marketing, also referred to as i-marketing, web-marketing, online-marketing, Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or e-Marketing, is the marketing of products or services over the Internet.

Management Notes

Misleading claims, Puffery, fraud, Questionable B2B practices

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False advertising is described as the crime or misconduct of publishing, transmitting, or otherwise publicly circulating an advertisement containing a false, misleading, or deceptive statement, made intentionally or recklessly to promote the sale of property, goods, or services to the public. One form of false advertising is to claim that a product has a health benefit or contains vitamins or minerals that it in fact does not. Many governments use regulations to control false advertising. A false advertisement can further be classified as deceptive if the advertiser deliberately misleads the consumer, as opposed to making an honest mistake.

Types of Deception

Photo Editing

Often used in cosmetic and weight loss commercials, these adverts portray false and unobtainable results to the consumer and give a false impression of the product’s true capabilities. If retouching is not discovered or fixed, a company can be at a competitive advantage with consumers purchasing their seemingly more effective product, thereby leaving competitors at a loss.

Hidden Fees and Surcharges

Hidden fees can be a way for companies to trick the unwary consumer into paying excess fees (for example tax, shipping fees, insurance etc.) on a product that was advertised at a specific price as a way to increase profit without raising the price on the actual item.

A common form of hidden fees and surcharges is “fine print” in advertising. Another way to hide fees that is commonly used is to not include “shipping fees” into the price of goods online. This makes an item look cheaper than it is once the shipping cost is added. Many hotels charge mandatory “resort fees” that are not typically included in the advertised base price of the room.

Bait-and-Switch Tactic

A common form of false advertising is the bait-and-switch tactic, this is when an advertisement says something specific about a certain product or the price of the product, but has no intention of selling it,or they would sell it for a much higher price then they said. The seller will try to take advantage of the customer when they respond to the advertisement by trying to sell them a product that is very different than what they were showing or at a much higher price.

Fillers and Oversized Packaging

Some products are sold with fillers, which increase the legal weight of the product with something that costs the producer very little compared to what the consumer thinks that he or she is buying. Food is an example of this, where meat is injected with broth or even brine (up to 15%), or TV dinners are filled with gravy or other sauce instead of meat. Malt and ham have been used as filler in peanut butter. There are also non-meat fillers which may look starchy in their makeup; they are high in carbohydrates and low in nutritional value. One example is known as a cereal binder and usually contains some combination of flours and oatmeal.

Some products may have a large container where most of the space is empty, leading the consumer to believe that the total amount of food is greater than it actually is.

Portraying honest quality and origin

Another form of deceptive advertising is when the advertisement portrays quality and the origin of the product falsely. If the advertisement shows a certain product with a certain quality but knows the product has defects or is not of the same quality, they are false advertising the product. A lot of times the producer will lie about where the product is manufactured, sometimes they will say it was produced in the United States, but it was actually produced in a different country.

Puffery in Advertising

The FTC has a long and storied history of pursuing some of the largest companies in America for false advertising, which must be “motivated by a desire to deceive or mislead the public.” False advertising is also subject to civil and criminal laws, punishable by anything from a public verbal slap to stiff penalties.

So whereas puffery often includes a value word that is a matter of opinion, a false ad contains a deliberate falsehood. And it happens more often and by more notable companies than you may think.

In everyday language, puffery refers to exaggerated or false praise. In law, puffery is a promotional statement or claim that expresses subjective rather than objective views, which no “reasonable person” would take literally. Puffery serves to “puff up” an exaggerated image of what is being described and is especially featured in testimonials.

Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery: an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary.

Puff piece is an idiom for a journalistic form of puffery: an article or story of exaggerating praise that often ignores or downplays opposing viewpoints or evidence to the contrary. In some cases, reviews of films, albums, or products (e.g., a new car or television set) may be considered to be “puff pieces”, due to the actual or perceived bias of the reviewer: a review of a product, film, or event that is written by a sympathetic reviewer or by an individual who has a connection to the product or event in question, either in terms of an employment relationship or other links. For example, a major media conglomerate that owns both print media and record companies may instruct an employee in one of its newspapers to do a review of an album which is being released by the conglomerate’s record company.

Although some journalists may assert their professional independence and integrity, and insist on producing an unbiased review, in other cases a writer may succumb to the pressure and pen a biased “puff piece” which praises the product or event while omitting any discussion of any shortcomings. In some cases, “puff pieces” purport to provide a review of the product or event, but instead merely provide peacock words (“an amazing recording”); weasel words (“probably one of the most important albums of the 2000s”; “Perhaps one of the leading bands of the 2010s”) and tabloid-style filler which is peripheral or irrelevant to assessing the qualities of the product or event (“during the filming, there were rumours that romantic sparks flew between the two co-leads, who were often seen talking together on the set”).

Fraud in Advertising

Ad fraud (also referred to as Invalid Traffic) is concerned with theory and practice of fraudulently representing online advertisement impressions, clicks, conversion or data events in order to generate revenue. While ad fraud is more generally associated with banner ads, video ads and in-app ads, click fraud has been associated with search marketing, mobile advertising and conversion fraud with affiliate marketing.

Type of Fraud

  • Impression fraud
  • Click fraud
  • Conversion fraud
  • Data fraud

Questionable B2B practices

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Offensive brand Messages, Legal issues, Commercial free Speech

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When more than one company offers the same kind of product, each company only receives a percentage of all sales of that kind of product. This percentage is called a “market share,” and any effort to take some of the market share away from one company and bring it to another is called an offensive marketing plan.

Any organization that is in direct competition with another organization is likely to use offensive marketing strategies.

In the business sector, offensive marketing attempts to reach customers who either already prefer a competing company or customers who are undecided about which business they will support in future purchases.

Political campaigns can be viewed as a competition between two or more “businesses” where votes stand in for profit. If there are two candidates running for the same office, the candidate who captures the majority of the market share of voters will win.

Political campaigns are well known for using “attack ads” designed to compare one candidate or issue to an opposing candidate or issue to create a stark contrast and influence the way people vote. For example, political election, numerous political action committees created attack ads disparaging both presidential candidates.

Strategies

The first step in creating an effective offensive marketing campaign is to identify the competitor’s advantages and disadvantages. For a focused campaign, the competitor’s product’s strengths must be downplayed or ignored while emphasizing weakness.

Businesses should closely monitor the effects of offensive marketing campaigns, and survey consumers for their views on the campaign. A business should also closely follow any change in its own market share during the campaign to determine if the specific materials used in the campaign have had the intended effect.

Education and Skills

Market research analysts should have a bachelor’s degree in marketing, business, or statistical analysis. This job requires high computer literacy and the ability to communicate technical data in a simple, easy-to-understand way. It can also be helpful to have previous experience in analytics or information technology

Legal issues

The council’s objectives are:

  • To ensure the truthfulness and honesty of representations and claims made by advertisements
  • To ensure that advertisements are not offensive to generally accepted standards of public decency
  • To safeguard against the indiscriminate use of advertising for the promotion of products regarded as hazardous to society or to individuals.
  • To ensure that advertisements observe fairness in competition so as to inform the consumer on choices in the marketplace while observing the canons of generally accepted competitive behavior in business

Laws Governing Media

  • The Press Council Act 1978
  • Cable Television Network Rules, 1994
  • Code for Commercial Advertising on Doordarshan and All India Radio
  • Electronic Media Monitoring Centre (EMMC)
  • Norms for Journalist Conduct issued by the Press Council of India
  • Code of Conduct of the News Broadcasters Association

Laws Protecting Society and the Consumer

  • Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950
  • Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act, 1956
  • Companies Act, 1956
  • Standards of Weight & Measures Act, 1976
  • Indecent Representation of Women (Prohibition) Act, 1986
  • Consumer Protection Act, 1986
  • Laws related to intellectual property rights

Industry-Specific Laws

  • The Drugs and Cosmetic Act, 1940
  • The Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994
  • The Drugs and Magical Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954
  • The Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention of Misuse) Act, 1994
  • Advocates Act, 1961
  • Infant Milk Substitutes, Feeding Bottles and Infant Foods (Regulation of Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 1992
  • Securities and Exchange Board of India Act, 1992
  • The Prize Chits and Money Circulation Schemes (Banning) Act, 1978
  • Cigarettes and other Tobacco Products (Prohibition of Advertisement and Regulation of Trade and Commerce, Production, Supply and Distribution) Act, 2003
  • Public Gambling Act, 1867, the Lotteries (Regulation) Act, 1998 and the Prize Competitions Act, 1955
  • Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002
  • The Food Safety & Standards Act, 2006

Commercial free Speech

In law, commercial speech is speech or writing on behalf of a business with the intent of earning revenue or a profit. It is economic in nature and usually attempts to persuade consumers to purchase the business’s product or service.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

PR through Internet Banner, Sales Promotion on Internet, Direct Marketing on Internet

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Digital display advertising is graphic advertising on Internet websites, apps or social media through banners or other advertising formats made of text, images, flash, video, and audio. The main purpose of display advertising is to deliver general advertisements and brand messages to site visitors.

According to eMarketer, Facebook and Twitter will take 33 percent of display ad spending market share by 2017. Google’s display campaigns reach 80 percent of global internet users. Desktop display advertising eclipsed search ad buying in 2014, with mobile ad spending overtaking display in 2015.

Digital display advertising is an online form of advertising in which the company’s promotional messages appear on third-party sites or search engine results pages such as publishers or social networks. There is an evidence showing that this advertising can increase the number of website page view of a company from most types of customers except from the non-authenticated visitors who visited the website before. The main purpose of display advertising is to support brand awareness (Robinson et al., 2007 and it also helps to increase the purchase intention of consumers.

Social media is used by many organizations. One example is, in 2014, ASOS and Nike collaborated with Google Hangouts to create the first shoppable video web chat on Google+. The video is an example of display advertising used for commemorating 27 years of Nike’s Air Max shoes. The video advertising aimed at creating brand awareness among users and convincing them to watch the Hangout and purchase products from the display advertising itself. Consumers were able to shop by clicking the display advertising. According to an ASOS statement, display advertising has contributed to an increase in both the number of users visiting its website and downloads of the ASOS App by 28 percent, with users having then visited the website eight times a month, on average.

Importance of formats of display ads

Two students of the “Amsterdam school of Communication Research ASCor” have run studies about the audience reactions to different display advertising formats. In particular, they took into consideration two different types of format (sponsored content and banner advertising) to demonstrate that people react and perceive formats in different ways, positive and negative. For this reason, it is important to choose the right format because it will help to make the most of the medium. It is also possible to add:

  • Video;
  • Rich Media Ads (Expandables): flash files that may expand when the user interacts on mouseover (polite), or auto- initiated (non-polite);
  • Overlays: ads that appear above content and that are possible to remove by clicking on a close button;
  • Interstitials: Ads that are displayed on web pages before expected content (before the target page is displayed on the user’s screen);
  • Sponsorship: including a logo or adding a brand to the design of a website. This can also can fall under Native advertising, which is an ad that can seem like Editorial, or “In-Feed”, but has really been paid for by the advertiser

Sales Promotion on Internet

Websites.

These days if you are going to be successful you will need a website to promote your brand and all of its offerings. That’s not to say you will fail without one: many smaller small retailers uses sites like ebay and Amazon to sell their goods, they provide a wider reach. Ideally you will have your own site (you could use both).

The website provides you with an ideal platform to inform customers what is going on.

E-mail Marketing.

E-mail Marketing, a form of direct marketing is another good way of informing customers of a sales promotion. As mentioned above, you will need to encourage users to ‘sign-up’ to receive updates. You can do this via your website or even social media sites.

Web Adverts.

If you have a retail website then you will also want to engage in web advertising. There are many formats, you can create banner (horizontal), Skyscraper ads (vertical) or pop-up ads (they appear in the middle of the screen). There is also the option of using one of the ad facilities of the many social media platforms that are out there.

Search Engine Optimisation.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is a process that enhances your standing on the search engine page ranking. This is a difficult process, but a key driver for success. A few years ago, but it needs updating. Needless to say if you are not on page one you should consider a ‘Pay Per Clicks’ (PPC) process (another form of web advertising).

Digital Market Places & Affiliate Marketing.

As mentioned earlier, platforms like ebay and Amazon (digital market places) can be used to supplement your retail process (particularly if you are a small organisation).

There is also the option of using the affiliate marketing process to support you promotional campaign. The likes of Groupon and Living Social are a particular type of affiliate marketing platform: they will focus on special deals. The example below is from Living Social.

Direct Marketing on Internet

Targeting Specific Customers with Specific Offers

Direct marketing allows you to mail advertisements or broadcast commercials directly to the customers who are most likely to want what you’re selling. Marketing professional Dave Dolak points out that direct marketing appeals to a customer’s desire not to search extensively for the goods and services they want. If you own a sushi restaurant, for example, you may benefit by only mailing your menus to locals who have eaten at your restaurant before or have expressed an interest in spending an evening in a sushi restaurant.

Building Personal Relationships

Traditional online marketing is usually impersonal because it is done over a large scale. Direct marketing techniques encourage you to be much more personal with your prospective customers. Gary Elwood, a writer for the real estate agent advice website Real Estate Growth, reminds you that direct marketing allows you to add personal touches to your advertisements. Instead of sending countless metered letters bearing address labels, this targeted approach means you can hand-write the customer’s addresses and demonstrate to the customer that they are being contacted by an actual human instead of a computerized mail service.

Quick Response

If you cast a very wide net with your advertising, you may have to wait to see results or engage in contact with customers. Give to Get Marketing, a firm that helps businesses reach out to consumers, asserts that direct marketing garners a faster response. Instead of simply hoping to build awareness with a new customer base, direct marketing puts you in contact with people who already want what you have to provide.

Eliminating Unlikely Customers

The privacy laws that govern direct marketing may seem like an obstacle. The Federal Trade Commission maintains a “Do Not Call” list of citizens who have expressed a desire not to receive any telemarketing calls. This restriction can be a drawback because you’re prohibited from cold-calling these people. There is, however, a great benefit. Instead of wasting time trying to sell to consumers who don’t wish to speak on the phone, you can concentrate your efforts on people who are interested.

Internet Sales Techniques to implement in your online business to generate and even increase your sales.

  1. Use Content Marketing

A company today cannot survive without a proper content marketing strategy. No matter your content strategy goal (lead generation, brand awareness, website traffic, increased sales, etc.) the end goal should be the same increase the amount of revenue coming in and to increase business. Take the time to look at your content marketing strategy, review and revise it as it is necessary. Remember, content is king, and those with the best content and most current content will rule their market.

  1. Create Coupons (or Deals) To Promote

Coupons are a great way to attract visitors to your website and shopping area online. Plus everyone wants to get a deal, so by having a coupon people feel they are indeed getting a deal or savings. You can promote your coupons online on social sharing networks or simply email to a list of clients and/or prospects.

  1. Up-Sell

Online there are many opportunities to up-sell your customer without being pushy or feeling awkward like you may on the phone. Strategically placing upsell options during the point-of-sale process can increase your sales two-folds. Give bulk purchasing incentives to save money, discounts based on their payment method or plan, or offer an extra item or future discount based on them purchasing more, pair or show additional items based on what is in their cart, etc.

  1. Create a Sense of Urgency

While promoting your deal, create a sense of urgency to complete the purchase. You can do this by putting a deadline on your promotion or offer and make it stand out. Even think about throwing in an additional deal if they complete the order by a certain time.

  1. Make Checkout or Signup Area User Friendly

Take the time to properly research and study user preferences and needs. Have your IT team conduct a lengthy amount of user testing to ensure an ease of doing business with your company. Also, be sure to have any forms on your site tested as well. Keep them simple and only ask for the amount of information you absolutely need and nothing more.

Also, be sure to have a customer service team available for any and all questions that may arise during the purchase period, 24-hr online chat features are a great way to do this if you can sustain it.

  1. Include Something for Free

A great way to retain a customer is by making their purchasing experience the best it can be. You can simply include an extra item when delivered or if you feel you need to encourage purchases you can offer an extra FREE item while your customer is shopping on your online store. Who doesn’t like something for FREE?

  1. Highlight Special Features or Products

You see a lot of companies doing this now, but it does seem to work. Highlight your top selling products, products on sale or any special (or New) features you are trying to promote. This is a great way to move people through your website and make it easier for them to search for particular items. Someone may choose a different (more expensive or better) product if they feel other people use it more often.

  1. Use a Clear and Prominent Call-to-Action
  2. Add Images or Product Demos

Videos can dramatically affect the number of visitors on your website and the number of conversions you will get. In fact:

  • 46% of people say that they would be more likely to make a purchase if they have seen a video or demo of the product first (Eloqua).
  • The average user spends 88% more time on a website that uses video (Eloqua).
  • Video and email marketing can increase click-through rates by more than 90% (Mist Media).
  • Having video on your landing page or homepage makes it 53% more likely that Google will rank you on page 1 (Mist Media).
  • Of 80% of video users, 46% of them took some sort of action after viewing the video (Video Brewery).
  1. Include Customer Reviews or Testimonials

It is no secret that people who can build trust in their market are the ones who will get repeat buyers and people promoting and sharing their information. A great way to build trust is by including customer reviews and testimonials, even better include a video testimonial.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Test Markets: Competitive responses, Scanner Data, Purchase Simulation Test

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A test market, in the field of business and marketing, is a geographic region or demographic group used to gauge the viability of a product or service in the mass market prior to a wide scale roll-out.

Simulated test markets (STMs) provide sales estimates of new products prior to launch. They are used by management to make the “go/no-go” decision prior to the launch of the new product.

The following information is obtained at both the concept and after-use stages, for forecasting trial and repeat volume:

  • Purchase intention: This is gauged through statements that describe how respondents feel about buying the product (See example in Exhibit 11.8).
  • Share of preference: Respondents select one or more products from a competitive set displayed on a simulated shelf.
  • Claimed units: Respondents are asked how much of the product, if any, they will buy.
  • Claimed frequency: Respondents are asked how often, if ever, they would buy the product if it became available.

The criteria used to judge the acceptability of a test market region or group include:

  • A population that is demographically similar to the proposed target market; and
  • Relative isolation from densely populated media markets so that advertising to the test audience can be efficient and economical.

The test market ideally aims to duplicate “everything” promotion and distribution as well as “product” on a smaller scale. The technique replicates, typically in one area, what is planned to occur in a national launch; and the results are very carefully monitored, so that they can be extrapolated to projected national results. The area may be any one of the following:

  • Television area
  • Internet online test
  • Test town
  • Residential neighbourhood
  • Test site

A number of decisions have to be taken about any test market:

  • Which test market?
  • What is to be tested?
  • How long a test?
  • What are the success criteria?

Disadvantages:

  • Replicability: Even the largest test market is not totally representative of the national market, and the smaller ones may introduce gross distortions. Test market results therefore have to be treated with reservations, in exactly the same way as other market research.
  • Effectiveness: In many cases the major part of the investment has already been made (in development and in plant, for example) before the `product’ is ready to be test marketed. Therefore, the reduction in risk may be minimal; and not worth the delays involved.
  • Competitor warning: Test markets can give competitors advance warning of a company’s intentions and time to react. They may even be able to go national with their own product before the test is complete. They may also interfere with a test, by changing their promotional activities (usually by massively increasing them) to the extent that results are meaningless.
  • Cost: Although the main objective of test markets is to reduce the amount of investment put at risk, they may still involve significant costs.

They evaluate the strength of the mix on underlying factors that make new products appealing to consumers, such as the following:

  • Novelty: Rating product on uniqueness.
  • Likeability (and Relevance): Overall liking of the product.
  • Credibility: Believability of the statements made about the product.
  • Affordability: Price/Value perception.

Steps to Implement a Test Market

  • Set the Marketing Objectives: Objectives can be based on the following quantitative measures: Market Share, Sales Volume, proportion of the target market who try the product or make repeat purchase, length of the purchase cycle, levels of consumer satisfaction, distribution levels achieved, etc.
  • Select the Test Market type: Standard, Controlled, or Simulated Test Market
  • Establish a budget: The budget must include the cost to produce the product for the test market, all research costs, and all marketing costs, including the production of promotional materials and the cost to distribute promotional messages.
  • Develop detail test plans: These plans cover manufacturing, target market definition, product formulation, distribution, pricing, and promotion.
  • Select the Test Markets: Marketer typically will require two test markets and a control market. Test markets should be geographically dispersed are provide a good representation of the national target market. The test market should run for 6 to 12 months, or longer for products with a long purchase cycle. The test markets should have a wide variety of media outlets.
  • Execute the Test Plan
  • Analyze the Results

Competitive responses

Even companies that do analyze their competitors usually fail to consider that a rival might choose not to respond to a strategic move. In ignoring that possibility, the strategist lowers his estimate of the expected value of his company’s move: the higher the perceived probability of counteraction by competitors, the lower the expected payoff. And with a lower expected payoff, the company is less likely to take bold action.

The probability of a competitor’s response to a competitive action is based on four factors:

  • The type of action
  • The reputation of the competitor taking the action
  • The competitor’s dependence on the market
  • Competitor resource availability

Companies that are highly concentrated in or dependent on an industry (or market) in which a competitive action has been taken are more likely to respond than are companies who do business in multiple industries and markets. This implies that single and dominant-business companies (classifications that will be described fully later) will be more likely to respond to competitive actions initiated in their primary industry than would a diversified company (a company that does business in multiple industries). If the action has a major (negative) effect on these market- or industry-dependent companies, a competitive response is likely regardless of whether the action taken was strategic or tactical.

Scanner Data

Suppliers monitor the checkout scanner data to measure initial and repeat purchases as well as the sales of competitive products. Distribution of the marketer’s brand is “forced” into these stores. This has an advantage and disadvantage. The advantage is that distribution is guaranteed. The disadvantage is that the marketer cannot gauge retailer’s reactions to the new product. Other disadvantages of controlled test markets are that competitors can look at the new product before its national launch. Another concern is that even though the Scantrack and BehaviorScan propriety models are very sophisticated, it is questionable whether the shoppers at the test stores actually represent “average” targeted consumers for the brand being test marketed.

Purchase Simulation Test

Like controlled test markets, simulated test markets were designed to overcome the drawbacks of standard test markets. Simulated test markets are not conducted in real-world markets; they are laboratory tests. A simulated test market is a staged or artificial marketplace where researchers expose subjects to advertising and other marketing mix variable to gauge the subjects’ purchase intent. Simulated test markets are significantly faster and cheaper than standard test markets because the marketer does not have to execute the entire marketing plan.

The companies that run simulated test marketing ACNielsen’s Bases, Harris Interactive’s Litmus, and Synovate’s MarkeTest use a variety of mathematical models to estimate the effects of the tested variables.

Here is how a simulated test market works:

  • Consumers are selected for the experiment based on the definition of the brand’s target market
  • Consumers are invited to a central location were they are exposed to advertising or other stimuli for the test brand and its competitors
  • Consumers are given an opportunity to buy the test brand in a real or simulated store
  • Consumers are contacted after they had time to use the product, so researchers can gauge their satisfaction and interest in repurchasing the brand
  • The data collected is then used as input for the simulated test market’s proprietary model.
  • After the model has been run, estimates of market share, sales volume, and other metrics are presented to the client.
University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Advantages and Disadvantages of Personal Selling

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Personal selling happens when companies and business firms send out their salesmen to use the sale force and sell the products and services by meeting the consumer face2face. The salesmen aim to inform and encourage the customer to buy, or at least try the product.

Advantages of Personal Selling

Personal selling can prove to be a used promotional method in several ways including:

Effective in Building Personal Relationships: The interactive nature of personal selling makes it the most effective promotional method for building relationships with customers, which is particularly important when purchases take a considerable amount of time to complete (e.g., business-to-business purchasing).

Two-Way Form of Communications: Unlike other promotional methods, personal selling is a two-way form of communication, which enables a salesperson to adjust the message as she/he gains feedback from the customer (e.g., adjust message if customer does not fully understand how the product works).

Best Promotion for Hard-to-Reach Customers: Personal selling is the most practical promotional option for reaching customers who are not easily reached through other methods (e.g., do not response to advertising, public relations, and sales promotions).

Important in International Sales: Building relationships is also a critical part of the personal selling process when doing business internationally, especially in such area as Asia and Latin America, where personal relationships between buyer and seller are often more important than seeking the best business deal.

Disadvantages

More administrative problems:

Personal selling involves more of administrative problems than impersonal selling. Since, the firm is to deal with manpower a driving force behind sales the company has to meet the challenges in the areas of manpower-planning, organizing, directing, coordinating, motivating and controlling. The solutions to these problems, even if found out, are not everlasting because, human content in management is unique.

Stake in consumer loyalty:

Personal selling is such a process-direct and close between the customer and salesman that the consumer loyalty depends on the presence of such a salesman. The firm’s fortunes are tied to the loyalty of consumers which, in turn, depends on the very presence of salesman. The moment the salesman moves out, the clientele drops down to the detriment of the firm.

It is expensive:

Personal selling as a method of promotion is quite expensive. Getting salesman is one thing and retaining him for long is another. Further, there are no definite correlations between his stay and cost of retaining and the contributions of his, in return, to the firm, for such costs.

Training Costs:

Most forms of personal selling require the sales staff be extensively trained on product knowledge, industry information and selling skills. For companies that require their salespeople attend formal training programs, the cost of training can be quite high and include such expenses as travel, hotel, meals, and training equipment while also paying the trainees’ salaries while they attend.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Advantages and Disadvantages of PR

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Advantages of public relations agency

Credibility:

Public relations agency will provide more credibility. People show trust more to the messages from a trusted third party than the content of an advertisement.

Reach:

PR will help to reach decent public relations plans to attract various news outlets, to expose content to a larger section of the target audience.

Cost-effectiveness:

Public relations agency providesa more cost-effective method than paid promotion to reach a larger part of the target audience.

Disadvantages of PR agency

No direct control:

A PR agency cannot control a distributed content like paid media through earned media. This is one of the most significant risks while investing in public relations

Difficulty in measuring success:

It is tough for a PR agency to measure the progress and effectiveness

No guaranteed outcome:

There is no guarantee of publishing press release as a brand does not pay for it. It is only published by a media outlet when it feels that it will attract the target audience.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Alternative media evaluation of effectiveness of Direct Marketing

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Alternative media are media sources that differ from established or dominant types of media (such as mainstream media or mass media) in terms of their content, production, or distribution. Sometimes the term independent media is used as a synonym, referencing independence from large media corporations, but this term is also used to indicate media enjoying freedom of the press and independence from government control. Alternative media does not refer to a specific format and may be inclusive of print, audio, film/video, online/digital and street art, among others. Some examples include the counter-culture zines of the 1960s, ethnic and indigenous media such as the First People’s television network in Canada (later rebranded Aboriginal Peoples Television Network), and more recently online open publishing journalism sites such as Indymedia.

While mainstream mass media, on the whole, “represent government and corporate interests”, alternative media tend to be “non-commercial projects that advocate the interests of those excluded from the mainstream”, for example, the poor, political and ethnic minorities, labor groups, and LGBT identities. These media disseminate marginalized viewpoints, such as those heard in the progressive news program Democracy Now, and create communities of identity, as seen for example in the It Gets Better Project that was posted on YouTube in response to a rise in gay teen suicides at the time of its creation.

Definition

There are various definitions of “alternative media.” John Downing, for example, defines “radical alternative media” as media “that express an alternative vision to hegemonic policies, priorities, and perspectives”. In his assessment of a variety of definitions for the term, Chris Atton notes repeatedly the importance of alternative media production originating from small-scale, counter-hegemonic groups and individuals.

Christian Fuchs also argues that alternative media must have four distinct properties. The first being that the audience of these media must be involved in the creation of what is put out in alternative media. The second is that it has to be different from the mainstream. The third is that it should create a perspective different from that of the state and major corporations. The fourth property is that alternative media must “establish different types of relationships with the market and/or the state.”

As defined by Atton and Hamilton “Alternative journalism proceeds from dissatisfaction not only with the mainstream coverage of certain issues and topics but also with the epistemology of news. Its critique emphasizes alternatives to, inter alia, conventions of news sources and representation; the inverted pyramid of news texts; the hierarchical and capitalized economy of commercial journalism; the professional, elite basis of journalism as a practice; the professional norm of objectivity; and the subordinate role of the audience as a receiver”

Journalistic Practices says “Alternative media not only allow but also facilitate the participation (in its more radical meaning) of its members (or the community) in both the produced content and the content-producing organization.’ In this sense, participation in alternative media as described and reflected upon by the participants in this study can best be understood as a form of active citizenship”.

Alternative media challenge the dominant beliefs and values of a culture and have been described as “counter-hegemonic” by adherents of Antonio Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. However, since the definition of alternative media as merely counter to the mainstream is limiting, some approaches to the study of alternative media also address the question of how and where these media are created, as well as the dynamic relationship between the media and the participants that create and use them.

Social movement media

Social movements are a type of collective action. They involve large, sometimes informal, groups or organizations which focus on specific political or social issues and promote, instigate, resist or undo the social change. Social movement media is how social movements use media, and oftentimes, due to the nature of social movements, that media tends to be an alternative.

Communication is vital to the success of social movements. Research shows that social movements experience significant difficulties communicating through mainstream media because the mainstream media often systematically distort, stigmatize, or ignore social movement viewpoints. They may deny social movements’ access or representation at critical moments in their development, employ message frames that undermine or weaken public perceptions of a movement’s legitimacy or implicitly encourage movement actors who seek coverage to cater to the questionable values of mainstream reportage on social activism, including a heightened interest in violence, emotionality, and slogans. This problematic coverage of social movements is often referred to as the protest paradigm: the idea that mass media marginalizes protest groups through their depictions of the protesters, and, by doing so, subsequently support the status quo. As a result, social movements often turn to alternative media forms and practices in order to more effectively achieve their goals.

Audience size has several possible measures:

  • Circulation: The number of physical units carrying the advertising.
  • Audience: The number of people exposed to the vehicle. (If the vehicle has pass-on readership then the audience is larger than circulation).
  • Effectiveness audience: The number of people with target audience characteristics exposed to the vehicle.
  • Effective ad-exposed audience: The number of people with target audience characteristics who actually saw the ad.

Set-up

Make tracking the results of a direct-mail campaign possible with the right set-up and tracking instructions. Start by including a unique code, peel-away graphic or other identifier on each mailing piece. Use the code to distinguish the mailing campaign from others that may be running concurrently. Include instructions requiring a customer to present the mailer at the store to receive a free gift, a discount or whatever the mailing campaign offers. If the customer shops online, include instructions to enter the code during the checkout process.

Measure Response Rates

Proper set-up and education makes measuring response rates far less difficult. Make sure staff members are aware of each and every mail campaign currently in circulation. Conduct meetings to ensure staff members know how and where to record tracking information. Collect tracking information when the mailing campaign expires and divide the number of customers responding to the campaign by the number of people receiving the direct mail piece to get an accurate response rate.

Calculate Costs

The cost per mail piece and per acquisition plays a significant role in evaluating the success of a direct-mail campaign. The cost per mail piece should include both direct costs such as design, printing, paper and postage and indirect costs such as response management and administrative labor costs. Divide total costs by the number of mail pieces in the campaign to get the cost per mail piece. Cost per acquisition reveals how much each customer the mailing brings in costs. Divide the total cost of the mailing by the response rate to get the cost per acquisition.

Analyze Results

An effective direct-mail campaign maximizes response rates and minimizes costs. In addition to reviewing the cost per mail piece and acquisition cost of the current mailing, compare cost assessment and individual features of the mailing piece to previous mailings. Conduct a thorough analysis to see whether, for example, investing in a professional design service, adding more color or using a different weight of paper may have affected the response. Finally, consider external factors such as the geographic size of the mailing, the time of year and business competition to complete a results evaluation.

University of Mumbai BMS Notes

Components of Direct Marketing

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Direct marketing consists of three components: the development of an effective customer database; direct response advertising which leads to the sale; and the direct building of customer relationships to increase sales and profits. Direct marketing is an approach to marketing which is driven by a database which implies that the company knows who its customers are, and communicates with them in appropriate ways through enhanced and refined means of communications; the driver is the database. It is a highly targeted approach to marketing which also implies that the company knows who are not among its customers. Customer information management is critical and two-way communication with customers may lead to high loyalty.

Components of Direct Marketing campaign

Target Audience Development: Who is your audience/target market? Identify specific characteristics/needs/wants of your ideal customer and develop ways to appeal to those characteristics.

List Management: Your prospect database is the single most important body of information you possess. Outdated or inaccurate prospect lists waste expenses in lost leads and time.

Graphic Design: Visual appearance is the key to making a positive first impression and gaining your prospect’s attention long enough to convey your written message.

Copywriting: The critical element to compel your target audience to act (buy, call, browse website or catalog).

Copy Editing: Trim the fat and polish your language to make sure your message hits home. Nothing destroys your credibility faster than shoddy or amateurish copy.

Distribution: The impact of your campaign and your cost-per-lead are directly affected by the way you distribute your message, whether by direct mail, email, phone calls, etc. You must know, based on your knowledge about target audience, what approach will be most effective while minimizing cost.

Tracking and Follow-Up: The most important step to seeing real return on your marketing investment. With good tracking and consistent follow-up, you will emerge from this process with qualified leads and sales.

Essential components of successful direct marketing.

1) Deliver a Compelling Sales Message

Several elements go into creating a compelling sales message. Successful sales letters and other marketing content must be relevant, useful, and persuasive. Marketing content that works grabs your prospect’s attention, shows uniqueness, and builds trust with your prospect. Employ these three elements in all your direct marketing content.

2) Follow-up Leads Promptly to Attract and Engage Your Prospect’s Attention

You might have a lead-generating sales letter, but if you don’t follow-up, valuable leads will slip through the cracks. Follow-up a live event with a phone call, an email, or a letter that invites the prospect to take the next step.

Offer a free demonstration of your product or service. Set up an appointment with a subject matter expert who can go into greater detail on how your company’s solution works, and why it’s better than the competition’s. Then, before the scheduled demonstration, send a white paper that explains your product in detail.

3) Promote Your Brand

Benefits from branding give companies and edge over competitors that don’t brand. Branding helps position your product or service favorably. It also gives you pricing and distribution power. The takeaway is: never miss an opportunity to brand.

Direct marketing affords you many online and off-line media to build brand awareness. Online media:

(1) Banner advertising

(2) Blogs; (3) Email

(4) Website.

Off-line media:

(1) Print advertising – sales letters, postcards, brochures

(2) Press Releases

(3) Public Relations.

4) Nurture the New Customer Relationship

Lead nurturing is just as important as lead acquisition. Most companies want to develop long-term relationships with customers. That’s because they become repeat customers. And, over time, repeat customers generate more sales and profits to your bottom line.

Outbound marketing provides many ways to build and maintain a thriving lead nurturing program. You can employ email, direct mail, social media, mobile, podcasts, seminars, phone calls, and videos.

5) Integrate and Synchronize Online and Off-line Direct Marketing

To optimize your message and direct marketing budget, success lies in finding the right mix of online and off-line methods. One method isn’t necessarily better than another. Instead, the secret sauce to successful direct marketing depends on how you weave these various methods together.

You can integrate and synchronize these methods along the sales cycle beginning with message delivery. Start with a sales letter, follow-up with a phone call or email. Refer your prospect to your website for deeper marketing content, and don’t forget to brand throughout this process.

Achieving the right marketing mix produces a “multiplier effect” that helps you close sales faster and easier. Employing different media in a consistent and coherent manner working towards the same goal optimizes your marketing efforts.

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