Tag: Market Trends

Stereotype marketing ideologies might focus too much on one group and ignore another equally, or even more important. For example, target only kids for (non-PC) video games and lose access to millions of customers. Nearly a quarter of all video games are purchased by consumers aged 40 and older, and women make 38 percent of all video game sales.

The advertising world is inundated with with different types of stereotypes, ranging from gender and race to socioeconomic roles. Gender roles in commercials are especially prominent. Advertising often shapes cultural views and creates norms by introducing a product or service alongside an idea that makes that product desirable. In many cases, stereotypes are used simply because they are known to drive results for the company behind the advertisement. In other cases, stereotypes are used for legal reasons or to create an advertisement that is neutral and least likely to offend. Stereotypes can offer a safe solution for the advertiser in some cases, but increasing scrutiny can also lead to gender and cultural groups delivering negative feedback based on some common stereotypes in ads. Stereotypes in advertising are a sensitive subject, and they can deliver positive or negative results for the advertiser. Ultimately, stereotypes are judged on context; advertisers must proceed with caution when exploring messaging.

Stereotyping, by definition, is the oversimplification of something that is more complex than it’s portrayed. In most cases, stereotypes apply to things or people, and they are excessively common in advertising. In reality, people are complex and cannot be defined by single role. In advertising, labels are commonly used to portray an individual or group of people in a very specific light. Gender stereotypes are among the most common in advertising. Pay attention to advertisements for cleaning supplies and you are likely to see a female playing the lead role. The “housewife” gender role that was common in the 1950s is still being displayed in many modern advertisements.

Common examples of stereotyping in marketing include gender roles, racial stereotypes and stereotypes involving children. The way groups of people are portrayed in an advertisement does not always fully represent reality. Cause-based advertising does exist, but there is also a gap in this market. Some companies approach cause-based advertising with genuine intent to breakdown stereotypes while supporting a cause, while others capitalize on a movement simply to capture the audience. This disingenuous approach often draws heavy criticism and takes advantage of the grassroots work within the movement.

A lighthearted ad can often get away with common stereotypes without much in the way of negative consequences, but advertisements tackling socially sensitive subject matter in their campaigns can easily offend different genders and cultural groups through stereotypes. Common stereotypes include the housewife, the single African American friend in a group of Caucasians, the white businessman, blonde hair and blue-eyed girl, the suburban white family, etc. There are no shortages of stereotypes in society and they are present in the world of advertising.

Use

Brands approach each advertising campaign with a specific goal in mind. They have a budget and expect to see a return on that investment through an increase in sales. If it’s not profitable, the brand has no reason to advertise. Stereotypes play into the equation because the brand or advertising agency responsible for the campaign is speaking to a specific demographic. The brand for a cleaning product like a vacuum may have a historic profile of their previous customers. They can generate an audience profile and target demographic based on historic appeal. When the brand knows the primary audience and decision maker for a new vacuum purchase is a female between the ages of 25 and 50, it will cater to that audience. The stereotype becomes appealing at that point because it represents the customer base, despite the fact that a percentage of that customer base is also males in their early 30s or retired couples in their 60s. Ultimately, the stereotype for the audience with the most buying power will win out. In the specific housewife scenario for a vacuum cleaner, the stereotype risks alienating a large portion of a modern audience because it implies that the role for women is in the house with the responsibilities of cleaning and cooking. That gender role is ever-evolving, and many modern campaigns still misrepresent a large portion of the population.

Stereotypes aside, brands remain focused on advertising campaigns that sell products or services. It ultimately comes down to a message they are delivering to their audience to drive sales. If the group of people represented in the stereotype wants to see a change in the messaging, the brand is most likely to change when the buying power shifts away from that brand. Shopping strategically and buying from brands that represent a diverse population of people in a positive manner is the only way to effectively change the way stereotypes are used in advertising.

The role of digital advertising and the ability for new brands to launch quickly is also changing the use of stereotypes in advertising. A micro-climate exists in which brands can focus on a really tight niche and audience. With an ultra-focused niche, stereotypes are avoidable, because the audience is really well defined and the brand is selling a very specific product or small group of products.

Children are often portrayed as cute and happy in advertising. Unlike gender and racial stereotypes, kids are often portrayed in a way that appeals to their parents, the decision makers. Products and services are positioned to solve a problem for the parents. For example, a diaper that changes colors when wet does not necessarily appeal to the child but it does solve a problem for the parent. The child in the advertisement will often have a smile and broad appeal. The perfect family with a happy child and dog in a suburban house is a common stereotype used to target the middle class in general.

More important than how children are portrayed in advertising is the effect of stereotypes in advertising as seen through the lens of a child. Children see advertising on billboards, television, online and in print, and they hear radio advertisements. They are learning stereotypes through these mediums and have no way to really avoid viewing advertising with bias and stereotypes. Advertising crosses their paths intentionally in some scenarios like commercial breaks on a cartoon network, and unintentionally when family members are watching television and adult-targeted ads are displayed.

Word of Mouth

Customers can be your best or worst source of advertising. Word of mouth referrals, especially in the age of the Internet, should not be undervalued. And, since consumers are more likely to complain than to compliment, it pays to have customer-friendly and trustworthy complaint resolution practices in place.

Targeting Vulnerable customer

The vulnerable customer groups include children, elderly, certain minorities, and religious groups. These customers may be influenced comparatively more easily as they have either less knowledge about these practices or they are vulnerable in terms of their minority or religion. Children have always been important marketing target for certain kind of products. However, in recent times more and more marketing efforts are being focused on children. Children have great influencing power while making any purchase decision. But, generally, their knowledge is less developed and limited about the products, media, advertisements, and the selling strategies adopted by the firms. Due to these reasons, they are more likely to be attracted to the strong images projected towards them and the psychological appeals directed towards them.

Ethical questions arise in such environment when children are exposed to questionable practices e.g. advertisements attracting them towards products which are potentially harmful like alcohol and tobacco. The advent of Internet and direct marketing practices to market the products to children has become a major ethical issue in today’s environment. There are very less, almost negligible, controls which can supervise the content which goes over the web sites. The marketers can present objectionable and misleading material to the minors without any regulation. Due to all these issues, there is increasing need to control the content being presented to children. It requires higher levels of regulations for marketing to children.

Major ethical problems in international marketing are as follows:

Small- or large-scale bribery: Bribery is mostly considered to be an unethical practice. However, in some countries it may be acceptable to get some work done or speed up the process.

Gifts/Favors/Entertainment: These include items like gifts, personal travels etc. which may be intended to get some job done. However, it may be considered just as a gift in some cultures, it may also be considered as being a source of influence in other cultures.

Pricing: The ethical issues regarding this include unfair price differentials, pricing to eliminate local competition by selling products at prices which are well below those in-home country, or adopting pricing practices which are illegal in-home country but are legal in host country like price fixing arrangements and forming cartels.

Products/Technology: This may involve ethical issue of selling the product/service which is banned in home country but not in the host country or which is inappropriate or unsuitable for people in host country to use.

Questionable commissions to Channel partners: This may include unethical practices like paying unreasonably high commissions to channel partners like dealers, distributors, sales personnel etc. to carry the products of this firm and restricting the products of competing firms.

Involvement in political affairs: This includes the issues of exertion of political influence by multinationals, or indulging in marketing practices in countries which are at war with the home country.

Cultural differences: There may be potential misunderstandings as some practices may be considered as right in one culture and immoral or even illegal in another.

Reason

Consumer Choice vs. Consumer Protection: Consumers should be given alternatives to choose from as per the consumer choice concept. Consumer protection says that the consumer should be protected from abuse. Consumers may not always choose the product which is good for them. This is especially true for consumers like children, elderly or poverty-stricken. Target marketing to such vulnerable consumers is an example where these two goals diverge. Target marketing is a core concept of marketing. However, when it involves vulnerable consumer segment, it may attract criticism. This raises a question that the product is serving the distinct needs of the segment or taking advantage of their vulnerability.

Consumer Satisfaction vs. Revenue Growth: Firms should increase their profits and they should also focus on delivering satisfaction to their customers. Most of the times these two objectives can go hand-in-hand. However, sometimes these objectives diverge because fulfilling the requirements and obligations of current customers may come in way of incremental revenue generation. E.g. If a firm discovers a fault in its product, should it recall it, offer free or discounted replacement or use the same resources for further revenue generation. If a recall is not done it may cause reduction in customer satisfaction. There have been several instances in which companies have forsaken their revenues for customer satisfaction. The latest example in this can be taken from Honda recalling almost 7 lakh Jazz and City cars globally due to a defect. However, there have also been the cases where companies chose not to act even after detecting the defect and the customers have suffered due to this.

Customer Participation vs. Total System Efficiency: As per the marketing theory, entire marketing process from product development to communication and distribution should be made as efficient as possible. It also says that the consumers should participate in the process. However, to gain more efficiency, the processes require standardization which may not be quite engaging for the customers.

Customer Welfare vs. Price Discrimination: In industries having high fixed costs and expiring capacities, like airlines, hotels etc., price discrimination is very important to maintain profitability. In such cases, the firms should try to capture the consumer surplus by exercising price discrimination. On the other hand, the firm should also contribute to consumer welfare and price discrimination is believed to reduce this consumer welfare as it results in increased price dispersion for the products/services.

Ethical issues such as predatory pricing occur due to this reason. Predatory pricing initially offers lower prices to the customers, but subsequently it leads to reduced innovation, variety and increased prices. Selling branded goods at price premium is also considered as being an ethical issue due to this particular reason.

Employee Satisfaction vs. Short-Term Profit: Employee satisfaction has often been related to customer satisfaction which in turn leads to the success of an organization. If the organization maintains conditions such as ethical climate in the organization, then it may lead to improved employee satisfaction and service quality. However, this may come in conflict with the profit goal of the organization to maintain its competitive advantage. This may lead to situations where companies take advantage of their employees, avoid safety and health standards and go against labor unionization. There have been cases when companies have put the health and safety of their employees just in order to maintain their profits and earnings.

Collaborative Supplier Relationships vs. Short-Term Cost Control: Longer term relationships with suppliers enhance the firm’s results. The smaller the number of suppliers, i.e. the more collaboration a company has with its suppliers, the better the results of a firm are. However, the mass merchandisers take so much margin out of small suppliers that the small suppliers are forced to leave the business.

Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to “close the sale”

Personal selling is the interpersonal tool of the promotion mix. Unlike advertising, personal selling is two-way personal communication between salespeople and individual customers.

This communication may take place face-to-face, by telephone, through video conferences, or by other means. This implies that personal selling may be more trustworthy than advertising in more complicated selling situations.

Salespeople can be very effective in exploring the problems of the customers. They can compose the marketing offer to suit each customer’s special needs and negotiate terms of sale.

The role of the sales force varies from company to company. Companies that sell through mail-order catalogs, brokers, and agents do not maintain salespeople.

However, the sales force plays a critical role in companies selling business products. They work directly with customers and represent the company.

Salespeople employed in consumer goods-producing companies do not come into direct contact with the customers.

Nonetheless, their role is valuable because they work with wholesalers and retailers and help them be more effective in selling the company’s products.

Very often, salesforce works for both the seller and the buyer. They locate and develop new customers and communicate information about the company, its products, and services.

They perform selling task by approaching customers, presenting their products, answering objections, negotiating prices and terms, and closing sales.

Furthermore, salespeople provide services to customers, conduct market research, gather market information, and fill out sales call reports.

Simultaneously, salespeople represent customers to the company.

Personal Selling in the IMC

• Surveying: Educating themselves more about their customers’ businesses and regularly assessing these businesses and their customers to achieve a position of knowledgeable authority.
• Communicating: With existing and potential customers about the product range
• Mapmaking: Outlining both an account strategy and a solutions strategy (for the customer). This means laying out a plan, discussing it with a customer, and revising it as changes require.
• Selling: Contact with the customer, answering questions and trying to close the sale
• Guiding: Bringing incremental value to the customer by identifying problems and opportunities, offering alternative options and solutions, and providing solution with tangible value
• Fire starting: Engaging customers and driving them to commit to a solution
• Servicing: Providing support and service to the customer in the period up to delivery and also post-sale
• Information gathering: Obtaining information about the market to feedback into the marketing planning process

Conditions that favor personal selling:

• Product situation: Personal selling is relatively more effective and economical when a product is of a high unit value, when it is in the introductory stage of its life cycle, when it requires personal attention to match consumer needs, or when it requires product demonstration or after-sales services.
• Market situation: Personal selling is effective when a firm serves a small number of large-size buyers or a small/local market. Also, it can be used effectively when an indirect channel of distribution is used for selling to agents or middlemen.
• Company situation: Personal selling is best utilized when a firm is not in a good position to use impersonal communication media, or it cannot afford to have a large and regular advertising outlay.
• Consumer behavior situation: Personal selling should be adopted by a company when purchases are valuable but infrequent, or when competition is at such a level that consumers require persuasion and follow-up.

Designing a sales promotion campaign is an important process in marketing management that helps businesses increase sales, attract customers, and improve market performance. A sales promotion campaign consists of planned activities and promotional tools used to encourage immediate purchasing or selling behavior. Businesses use discounts, coupons, contests, free samples, cashback offers, and dealer incentives to achieve marketing objectives. Effective campaign design requires proper planning, budgeting, target audience identification, and performance evaluation. A well-designed sales promotion campaign increases customer interest, strengthens brand image, and improves competitive position in the market.

Meaning of Sales Promotion Campaign

A sales promotion campaign refers to a planned and organized set of promotional activities conducted for a specific period to achieve marketing and sales objectives. These campaigns are designed to stimulate customer demand and encourage dealers, retailers, or salespeople to increase sales efforts. Businesses use sales promotion campaigns during product launches, seasonal sales, festivals, and competitive situations. Successful campaigns combine attractive offers with effective communication strategies to achieve desired business results.

Steps in Designing Sales Promotion Campaigns

Step 1. Setting Promotional Objectives

The first step in designing a sales promotion campaign is identifying clear promotional objectives. Businesses must determine what they want to achieve through the campaign. Objectives may include increasing sales, attracting new customers, introducing new products, improving brand awareness, clearing excess inventory, or strengthening dealer support. Clear objectives help organizations choose suitable promotional techniques and measure campaign success effectively. Properly defined objectives provide direction and improve the efficiency of promotional planning and execution.

Step 2. Identifying Target Audience

Businesses must identify the target audience before designing promotional activities. The audience may include consumers, wholesalers, retailers, distributors, or salespeople depending on campaign goals. Understanding customer needs, preferences, buying behavior, income level, and demographics helps organizations design more effective promotional offers. Proper target audience selection improves communication effectiveness and customer response. A campaign designed according to audience expectations increases the chances of achieving marketing objectives successfully.

Step 3. Selecting Appropriate Promotional Tools

The next step is selecting suitable sales promotion tools and techniques. Businesses choose promotional methods based on objectives, product type, market conditions, and target audience. Common tools include discounts, coupons, free samples, contests, cashback offers, trade discounts, dealer incentives, and loyalty programs. The selected promotional techniques should attract customers and support overall marketing strategies. Proper tool selection increases campaign effectiveness and customer participation. Businesses often combine multiple promotional methods to maximize impact and sales performance.

Step 4. Determining Campaign Budget

Budget planning is an essential part of designing a sales promotion campaign. Businesses must estimate the total cost of promotional activities, including advertising, product discounts, gifts, distribution, event management, and communication expenses. A proper budget ensures that promotional activities are conducted efficiently without financial problems. Organizations should balance campaign costs with expected benefits and profitability. Budget planning also helps businesses control unnecessary expenses and allocate resources effectively. A realistic budget contributes to successful campaign implementation.

Step 5. Developing Promotional Message

An effective promotional message is necessary for attracting customer attention and encouraging participation. Businesses must create clear, attractive, and persuasive communication about promotional offers and benefits. The message should explain the details of discounts, contests, gifts, or special schemes in a simple and understandable manner. Attractive slogans, visuals, and creative content improve customer interest. The promotional message should also match the company’s brand image and marketing objectives. Effective communication increases customer response and campaign success.

Step 6. Choosing Communication Media

Businesses must select appropriate communication channels for promoting the campaign. Common media include television, newspapers, radio, magazines, social media, websites, email marketing, banners, and outdoor advertising. The choice of media depends on target audience characteristics, campaign objectives, and budget availability. Digital media is increasingly popular because it provides wide reach, quick communication, and measurable results. Proper media selection improves campaign visibility and customer engagement. Effective communication channels help businesses maximize promotional impact and audience reach.

Step 7. Deciding Campaign Duration

The duration of the sales promotion campaign should be carefully planned. Promotional activities are generally conducted for a limited period to create urgency among customers. The campaign duration depends on product type, market conditions, seasonal demand, and business objectives. Very short campaigns may not reach enough customers, while excessively long campaigns may reduce customer excitement and profitability. Proper timing and duration increase customer participation and improve promotional effectiveness. Businesses often schedule campaigns during festivals, holidays, or peak shopping periods.

Step 8. Coordinating with Distribution Channels

Successful sales promotion campaigns require cooperation from wholesalers, distributors, retailers, and salespeople. Businesses must inform channel members about campaign details, promotional offers, and expected responsibilities. Retailers should maintain sufficient product stock and attractive product displays during the campaign. Sales representatives should also understand promotional schemes properly to communicate with customers effectively. Coordination with distribution channels improves product availability and customer service quality. Strong cooperation helps businesses achieve better campaign results and market coverage.

Step 9. Implementing the Campaign

After planning, businesses launch and implement the sales promotion campaign in the market. Proper execution is essential for campaign success. Companies must ensure that promotional materials, advertisements, product displays, and offers are available as planned. Employees and dealers should actively participate in promotional activities. Businesses must monitor campaign progress and solve operational problems quickly. Effective implementation improves customer experience and increases campaign efficiency. Proper execution helps organizations achieve desired marketing and sales objectives successfully.

Step 10. Monitoring and Evaluating Results

The final step in designing a sales promotion campaign is monitoring and evaluating performance. Businesses analyze sales growth, customer response, market share improvement, and profitability after the campaign. Feedback from customers, dealers, and employees helps identify strengths and weaknesses of the campaign. Evaluation allows organizations to measure return on investment and determine whether objectives were achieved. Businesses can also use findings to improve future promotional strategies. Proper evaluation ensures continuous improvement and better decision-making in future campaigns.

Importance of Designing Sales Promotion Campaigns

• Improves Sales Performance

One of the major importance of designing sales promotion campaigns is improving sales performance. Well-planned promotional activities such as discounts, coupons, cashback offers, and contests attract customers and encourage immediate purchases. Proper campaign design ensures that promotional offers match customer expectations and market conditions. Increased customer response helps businesses improve sales volume and revenue within a short period. Effective sales promotion campaigns also support business growth and profitability. Therefore, careful planning and execution of promotional campaigns contribute significantly to achieving sales targets and improving market performance.

• Attracts New Customers

A properly designed sales promotion campaign helps businesses attract new customers and expand their customer base. Promotional offers such as free samples, introductory discounts, and trial packs encourage consumers to try products for the first time. Attractive campaigns create curiosity and interest among potential buyers. Businesses can target specific customer groups according to age, income, or buying behavior. Effective customer attraction increases market reach and creates opportunities for long-term customer relationships. Therefore, designing suitable promotional campaigns is essential for customer acquisition and business expansion.

• Enhances Customer Engagement

Sales promotion campaigns improve customer engagement by encouraging participation and interaction with the brand. Activities such as contests, loyalty programs, cashback offers, and social media campaigns increase customer involvement and excitement. Engaged customers are more likely to purchase products and maintain relationships with the company. Proper campaign design helps businesses communicate effectively with customers and understand their preferences. Increased engagement strengthens emotional connection and customer satisfaction. Therefore, designing attractive promotional campaigns is important for maintaining active customer participation and improving brand loyalty.

• Supports Brand Awareness

Another important benefit of designing sales promotion campaigns is increasing brand awareness and visibility. Promotional campaigns communicate product information and offers to a large audience through advertisements, digital media, banners, and retail displays. Attractive promotional activities help customers remember the brand and recognize products easily. Increased brand awareness improves market presence and customer trust. Businesses launching new products especially benefit from strong promotional campaigns. Therefore, effective campaign design supports brand communication and strengthens long-term market recognition.

• Strengthens Competitive Position

Designing effective sales promotion campaigns helps businesses compete successfully in highly competitive markets. Promotional schemes provide additional value to customers and encourage them to choose one brand over competitors. Proper planning allows companies to introduce attractive offers at the right time and place. Competitive promotional campaigns improve customer preference and protect market share. Businesses can also respond quickly to competitor activities through flexible promotional strategies. Therefore, sales promotion campaign design plays an important role in strengthening competitive advantage and market position.

• Improves Customer Loyalty

Well-designed sales promotion campaigns help businesses build customer loyalty and long-term relationships. Loyalty programs, reward points, membership benefits, and exclusive discounts encourage repeat purchases from existing customers. Customers appreciate businesses that provide additional benefits and personalized offers. Loyal customers are less likely to switch to competing brands and often recommend products to others. Effective campaign design ensures continuous customer satisfaction and engagement. Therefore, promotional campaigns contribute significantly to customer retention and long-term business stability.

• Ensures Better Resource Utilization

Proper campaign design helps businesses use financial, human, and marketing resources efficiently. Planning objectives, budgets, communication channels, and promotional methods in advance reduces unnecessary expenses and wastage. Businesses can allocate resources according to target audience needs and expected outcomes. Efficient resource utilization improves profitability and campaign effectiveness. Organizations can also monitor campaign performance and make improvements when necessary. Therefore, careful planning and management of sales promotion campaigns support better decision-making and operational efficiency.

• Facilitates Performance Evaluation

Designing sales promotion campaigns with clear objectives and measurable targets helps businesses evaluate performance effectively. Companies can analyze sales growth, customer response, profitability, and market share improvement after the campaign. Evaluation helps identify strengths and weaknesses in promotional strategies. Businesses can use customer feedback and campaign results to improve future marketing activities. Proper performance measurement also supports better budgeting and strategic planning. Therefore, campaign design contributes to continuous improvement and more successful promotional efforts in the future.

Sales promotion is a type of Pull marketing technique. If you have a product which is new in the market or which is not receiving a lot of attention, then you can promote this product to customers via sales promotion. You can use various techniques like giving discounts on the product, offering 1 + 1 free schemes, etc etc.

Consumer Sales Promotion:

The consumer sales promotion involves application of the following tools:

• Samples:

Samples are offers of a free amount or a trial of a product for consumers. The sample might be delivered door to door, sent in the mail, picked up in a store found attached to another product or featured in an advertising offer. Sampling is the most effective and most expensive way to introduce a new product e.g., Hindustan Levers introduced Ariel Trial Pack for its detergent powder Ariel Micro System.

• Coupons:

Coupons are certificates which entitle a consumer to buy the product at reduced prices. These coupons can be mailed, enclosed in other products or attached to them or inserted in magazines and newspapers. Coupons are accepted as cash by retailers.

• Rebates:

Cash refund or rebate provides a price reduction after the purchase rather than at the retail shop. The consumer sends a specified ‘proof of purchase’ to the manufacturer, who ‘refunds’ part of the purchase price by mail. It is a good device for creating new user and to strengthen the brand loyalty.

• Price Packs:

Price Packs (also called cents-off deals) are offers to consumers as discount e.g., Rs.2 off on a Brooke Bond pack of 500 gms. Price Packs are very effective in stimulating short- term sales, even more than coupons. The price pack may be in the form of a reduced price pack (20 per cent extra Five-star at the same price) or a banded pack (tooth brush and tooth paste together).

• Premiums:

Premiums (or gifts) are merchandise offered at a relatively low cost or free, as an incentive to purchase a particular product. Reusable jars, key chains, containers.

• Prizes (Contests, Sweepstakes, Games):

Prizes are offers of the chance to win cash, trips or merchandise as a result of purchasing something. A contestant calls for consumers Co., submit an entry — a jingle, estimate, suggestion to be examined by a panel of judges who will select the best entries. In sweepstakes, the customers submit their names which will be included in a drawing of prize winners. A game presents consumers with some puzzle or missing letters. All of these tend to gain more attention than coupons and premiums.

• Patronage Award (Trading Stamps):

These are values in cash or other forms. Such awards are given to those customers who shop only at a particular place. i.e., when the customers are loyal to a particular shop. Then they are treated as patrons.

• Free Trials:

Free trials consist of inviting prospective purchasers to try the product without cost in the hope that they will buy the product.

• Product Warranties:

Product warranties are important promotional tools in sensitive consumer markets.

• Tie-In-Promotions:

They involve two or more brands or companies that team up on coupons, refunds and contests to increase their pulling power.

• Point-of-Purchase and Demonstration:

POP displays and demonstrations take place at the point of purchase or sale.

Dealer Promotion:

Sales promotion activities are conducted to stimulate consumer-purchasing and dealer-effectiveness.

1. There is a provision of free display material either at the point of purchase (POP) or point of sale (POS), depending on one’s viewpoint. Display reaches consumers when they are buying and actually spending their money.
2. Retail demonstrators are supplied by manufacturers for preparing and distributing the product as a retail sample, e.g., Nescafe instant coffee to consumers for trying the sample on the spot or demonstration regarding the method of using the product.
3. Trade deals are offered to encourage retailers to give additional selling support to the product, e.g., toothpaste sold with 30 per cent to 40 per cent margin.
4. Seller gives buying allowance of a certain amount of money for a product bought.
5. Buy-back allowance is given to encourage repurchase of a product immediately after another trade deal. A buy-back is a resale opportunity.
6. Seller gives free goods, e.g., one free with 11, or 2 free with 10 are common free deals.
7. Sales contests for salesmen are held.
8. Dealer loader (a gift for an order) is a premium given to the retailer for buying certain quantities of goods or premium for special display done by a retailer.
9. Dealer and distributor training for salesmen, which may be provided to give them a better knowledge of a product and how to use it.

Business Promotion:

Sales promotion plays a major role in consumer goods promotion and it is used in a limited way in the case of Industrial Goods. Industrial goods marketing may involve provision for financing, training of users, buy-back arrangements and even reciprocal trading. POP materials are used for items that are sold through industrial distributors who maintain show rooms.

The major use of exhibits are in conventions, exhibitions and trade fairs. Speciality gifts such as key chains, calendars, coffee mugs, pens with messages, logos, can be handed over to industrial customers which will serve as a reminder of the company.

• Joint Promotion:

Some years ago, in an unusual print ad, Mafatlal Fabrics endorsed Procter & Gamble’s new detergent product, Ariel. Not that it was only Ariel that stood to gain from this approach, Mafatlal too, gained mileage through the ad. This was, perhaps, the first noticeable instance of joint promotion on the part of two brands that hoped to gain in visibility.

• Exhibitions and Trade Fairs:

An exhibition stand or stall is a form of showroom, but it is a very distinctive form of showroom. It provides a temporary market place at which buyers and sellers meet. There are various types of exhibitions, international trade fairs, national and local fairs and exhibitions (usually sponsored by a chamber of commerce or trade association).

• Indian Fashion Scene:

The fashion industry has Rs.20,000 crore internal market and Rs.3,000 crore export market. About 50,000 jobs are generated each year in the fashion field. Stagnation in this field seems a distant fear as the fashion market is growing at a tremendous rate. Hence, fashion shows and exhibitions are becoming very popular as means of promotion.

• Exclusive Showrooms:

Generally, the showroom idea is used as a tool of distribution. Currently, in the face of growing competition and unfair undercutting by dealers, a number of consumer durable companies are opening plush, exclusive showrooms, arcades and galleries as powerful means of sales-promotion to boost their sales. Exclusivity plays the role of Unique Selling Proposition (USP) to increase the sales.

• Sponsorship:

Sponsorship consists of giving money or other support to a beneficiary in order to make the activities financially viable or to gain some advertising, public relations or marketing advantage. The support could consist of money, trophies or other items in kind. The beneficiary could be an individual or an organisation.

Publicity/Public Relations:

Publicity:

It is also called marketing public relations. Publicity is not paid for by the organisation. Publicity comes from news reporters, columnists and journalist. It comes to the receiver as the truth rather than as a commercial. Public relations and publicity taken together become the fourth major ingredient of promotion-mix. These activities are, however, not controllable by the firm. Every firm tries to create a good public relations so as to give good publicity.

Defective products, unfair trade practices, anti-social activities often result in unfavourable publicity, consumer ill-will, bad product image, increased consumer protests, Government regulations and so on. The firm, having a poor public image, will have lower sales and lower profits. Reducing the impact of bad news is as important as creating good publicity.

Under the social marketing concept, publicity and public relations are assuming unique importance in the firm’s promotion-mix. Consumerism is altering consumer attitudes not only towards products, but also towards the firm and dealers selling the products of the firm.

Public Relations:

Public relations have now become an important marketing function. The total process of building goodwill towards a business enterprise and securing a bright public image of the company is called public relations. It creates a favourable atmosphere for conducting business. There are four groups of public:

(1) Customers

(2) Shareholders

(3) Employees

(4) The community.

The marketers should have the best possible relations with these groups. Public relations complement advertising by creating product and service credibility. Effective marketing communication is not possible without establishing and maintaining mutual understanding between the company and its customers.

Integrated Marketing Communication tools refer to integrating various marketing tools such as advertising, online marketing, public relation activities, direct marketing, sales campaigns to promote brands so that similar message reaches a wider audience. Products and services are promoted by effectively integrating various brand communication tools.

Public Relation Activities

Public relation activities help promote a brand through press releases, news, events, public appearances etc. The, role of public relations officer is to present the organization in the best light.

PR is done to create goodwill in the market and present the product of the company in the positive light.

Promotion can be done through press releases, public appearances, event sponsorships, news, etc.

Personal Selling

Personal selling is also one of the most effective tools for integrated marketing communication. Personal selling takes place when marketer or sales representative sells products or services to clients. Personal selling goes a long way in strengthening the relationship between the organization and the end-users.

Personal selling involves the following steps:

• Prospecting: Prospecting helps you find the right and potential contact.
• Making first contact: Marketers need to establish first contact with their prospective clients through emails, telephone calls etc.An appointment is essential and make sure you reach on time for the meeting.
• The sales call: Never ever lie to your customers. Share what all unique your brand has to offer to customers. As a marketer, you yourself should be convinced with your products and services if you expect your customers to invest in your brand.
• Objection handling: Be ready to answer any of the client’s queries.
• Closing the sale: Do not leave unless and until you successfully close the deal. There is no harm in giving customers some time to think and decide accordingly. Do not be after their life.

Direct Marketing

Direct marketing enables organizations to communicate directly with the end-users. Various tools for direct marketing are emails, text messages, catalogues, brochures, promotional letters and so on. Through direct marketing, messages reach end-users directly.

Sales Promotion

Brands (Products and services) can also be promoted through discount coupons, loyalty clubs, membership coupons, incentives, lucrative schemes, attractive packages for loyal customers, especially designed deals and so on. Brands can also be promoted effectively through newspaper inserts, danglers, banners at the right place, glorifiers, wobblers etc.

Advertising

Advertising is one of the most effective ways of brand promotion. Advertising helps organizations reach a wider audience within the shortest possible time frame. Advertisements in newspaper, television, Radio, billboards help end-users to believe in your brand and also motivate them to buy the same and remain loyal towards the brand. Advertisements not only increase the consumption of a particular product/service but also create brand awareness among customers. Marketers need to ensure that the right message reaches the right customers at the right time. Be careful about the content of the advertisement, after all you are paying for every second.

IMC Planning Process

1. Get organizational buy-in.

Integrated marketing requires co-ordination between various functional silos within marketing media planning, buying, marcom, PR, sales, advertising agencies, PPC & SEO agencies and so on. Ensure the organization recognizes the need for integrated marketing and impresses this need upon all involved parties for smooth execution. Get ideas from different functional teams on their ideas and how they can contribute to an integrated marketing program. Set up clear collaboration processes and zero in on tools to help you do the same.

2. Do a SWOT analysis of your brand.

A soul-searching process that will tell you exactly where you stand in terms of your brands strengths, weaknesses, opportunities that can be explored and competitive and market forces that pose a threat to your brands growth. Identify your products key features that give it an edge over competition and how you can leverage the same to gain market share.

3. Choose the Best Communication Tools.

Based on what you intend to achieve with your communication and what kind of media consumption habits your target audience displays, pick the right type of communication tools to reach out to your audience. This means choose between advertising, PR, direct marketing, sales promotion and personal selling. Whatever options you zero in on, need to work in tandem and complement each other. This synergy between promotion tools is what gives integrated marketing its edge over regular marketing.

Within each type of communication tool, drill down to the actual media vehicles that will carry your message most effectively. So if you decided to go with advertising and direct marketing, decide what media you will advertise on, whether you will go with brochures or fliers or email campaigns to achieve your objectives.

Media mix decisions also depend on your budgets and the estimated ROI you hope to achieve from each media vehicle. Create exact budgets for each media vehicle to guide media buying decisions.

4. Test and Execute

Once you have decided on your messaging and media mix, its finally time to test your communication and roll it out to your target audience.

Communication testing can be done in many ways, depending upon the platform being tested. Website communication can be tested with multiple online tools, emails can be tested on the email marketing software that you use before being sent out, TV commercials can be shown to test markets to test effectiveness, conduct group discussions with the sample groups to see if your communication hits bulls eye.

Once testing is complete, fix any issues that you unearthed. Once the fixes are made, roll out your campaign across all platforms. Or in Nikes immortal words, Just Do It.

5. Measure Results and Track Progress

There is no way to know how well a campaign performed without measuring the results achieved against the objectives set out in the beginning. Obsessively track every step of your marketing campaign to see if your marketing efforts have moved the needle and how significant is the difference that the campaign has made to organizational goals.

Tracking and measurement against numeric objectives is even more important in the case of marketing communication as sometimes, communication is well received and appreciated by the target audience but it may or may not show concrete results.

Process

1. Review of Marketing Plan:

Before developing a promotional programme, it is important to understand where the company’s (or the brand) current position is in the market, where it intends to go and how it plan to get there. A marketing plan is a written document describing the overall marketing strategy and programme developed for the organization, a particular product line or a brand.

Marketing plan included the following basic elements:

1. A detailed situation analysis that consists of an internal marketing audit and an external analysis of the market competition and environmental factors.
2. Specific marketing objectives that provide direction, a time frame for marketing activities, and a mechanism for measuring performance.
3. A marketing strategy and programme that include selection of target market(s) decisions and plans for the four elements of the marketing mix.
4. A programme for implementing the marketing strategy, including determining specific tasks to be performed and responsibilities.
5. A process for monitoring and evaluating performance and providing feed back so that proper control can be maintained and any necessary changes made in the marketing strategy or tactics.

A promotional programme is an integral part of the marketing strategy. It will give an idea of the role of advertising and other promotional mix element will play in the overall marketing programme.

2. Promotional Programme Situational Analysis:

The next step in developing promotional plan is to conduct the situation analysis. A situation analysis involves the internal analysis and external analysis. Internal analysis assesses relevant area involving the product/service offering and the firm itself.

The capabilities of the firm and its ability to develop and implement a successful promotional programme, the organization of promotional department and the success and failures of past programmes are reviewed.

The analysis study the relative advantages and disadvantages of performing the promotional functions. For example, the internal analysis may indicate the firm is not capable of planning, implementing and managing certain areas of the promotional programme.

If this is the case, it would be wise to look for assistance from an advertising agency or some other promotional facilitator. If the organization is already using an advertising agency, the focus will be on the quality of the agency’s work and the results achieved by past and/current campaigns.

The other aspect of internal analysis is assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the firm or the brand from an image perspective. Often, the image of the firm brings to the market will have a significant impact on its promotional programme.

Another aspect of the internal analysis is the assessment of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the product or service in comparison to its competitors, unique selling points or benefits it has, its price, design, packaging to help the creative personnel to develop advertising message for the brand.

External analysis focuses its attention on the firm’s customers, market segments, positioning strategies, and competitors . An important part of the external analysis is a detailed consideration of customers in terms of their characteristics and buying patterns, their decision processes, and factors influencing their purchase decisions.

Attention must also be given to consumer’s perceptions and attitudes, lifestyles, and criteria used in making purchase decisions often. Marketing research studies are necessary to answer some of these questions.

A key element of the external analysis is an assessment of the market. The attractiveness of various market segments must be evaluated and the decision made as to which segment (s) to target. Once the target markets are chosen, the emphasis will be on determining how the product should be positioned? What image or place should it have in consumers minds?

The external phase of the promotional programme situation analysis also includes an in depth examination of both direct and indirect competitors. While competitors were analyzed in the overall marketing situation analysis, even more attention is devoted to promotional aspects at this phase.

Focus is on the firm’s primary competitors;: their specific strengths and weaknesses; their segmentation, targeting and positioning strategies; and the promotional strategies they employ. The size and allocation of their promotional budgets, their media, strategies, and the messages they are sending to the market place should also be considered.

3. Analysis of Communication Process:

This stage involves to know how the company can effectively communicate with consumers in its target market. It involves the communication decision regarding the use of various sources, messages and channel factors. It involves the analysis of effects of various types of advertising messages might have on consumers and whether they are appropriate for the product or brand.

An important part of this stage of the promotional planning process is establishing communication goals and objectives. Communication objectives refer to what the firm wants to accomplish with its promotional programmes Russel Colley have identified 52 possible advertising objectives.

The communication objectives may include creating awareness or knowledge about a product and its attributes or benefits, creating an image or developing favourable attitudes, preferences or purchase intentions.

4. Budget Determination:

In budget determination, the two basic questions that should be asked includes what will the promotional programme’s cost? How will these funds be allocated. Budget determination procedure involves selecting the various budgeting ap­proaches and integrating them. At this stage, the budget is often tentative. It may not be finalized until specific promotional mix strategies are developed.

5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Programme:

At this stage, decisions are made regarding the role and importance of each element and their coordination with one another. Each promotional mix element has its own set of objectives and a budget and strategy for meeting them.

Decisions must be made and activities performed to implement the promotional programmes. Procedures are developed for evaluating performance and making any necessary changes.

Two important aspects of advertising programme are the development of the message and media strategy. Message development, often referred to as creative strategy, involve deter­mining the basic appeal and message the advertiser wishes to convey to the target audience.

Media strategy involves determining which communications channels will be used to deliver the advertising message to the target audience. Decisions must be made regarding which types of media will be used (e.g., Newspapers Magazines, Radio, Television, bill boards etc.) as well as specific media selections such as a particular magazines or TV programme.

This task requires careful evaluation of the media options’ advantages and limitations, costs, and ability to deliver the message effectively to the target market.

Once the message and media strategies have been determined, steps must be taken to implement them. Most large companies hire advertising agencies to plan and produce their messages and to evaluate and purchase the media that will carry their advertisement.

However, most agencies work very closely with their clients as they develop the advertise­ments and select media, because it is the advertiser that ultimately approves (and plays for) the creative work and media plan.

6. Mentoring, Evaluation and Control:

This stage determine how well the promotional programme is meeting communication objectives and helping the firm accomplish its overall marketing objectives. This stage is designed to provide managers with continual feedback concerning the effectiveness of the promotional programme which is used as input to subsequent promotional planning and strategy development.