Contemporary Marketing: Edition 16 - Chapter 16 - Integrated Marketing Communications
Discuss the factors that influence the effectiveness of a promotional mix and how marketers measure effectiveness.
Marketers face the challenge of determining the best mix of components for an overall promotional strategy. Several factors influence the effectiveness of the promotional mix: (1) the nature of the market, (2) the nature of the product, (3) the stage in the product lifecycle, (4) price, and (5) the funds available for promotion. Marketers may choose among several methods for determining promotional budgets, including percentage-of-sales,fixed-sum-per unit, meeting competition, or task-objective, which is considered the most flexible and most effective. Today, marketers use either direct sales results tests or indirect evaluation to measure effectiveness. Both methods have their benefits and drawbacks because of the difficulty of controlling variables. The effectiveness of advertising can be measured by pretesting and posttesting. Pretesting assesses an ad's effectiveness before it is actually used. Posttesting assesses an ad's effectiveness after it has been used. Commonly used posttests include readership tests, unaided recall tests, inquiry tests, and split runs.
split runs
Methods of testing alternate ads by dividing a cable TV audience or a publication's subscribers in two, using two different ads, and then evaluating the relative effectiveness of each
Describe the communication process and how it relates to the AIDA concept.
In the communication process, a message is encoded and transmitted through a communications channel; then it is decoded, or interpreted by the receiver; finally, the receiver provides feedback, which completes the system. The AIDA concept (attention, interest, desire, action) explains the steps through which a person reaches a purchase decision after being exposed to a promotional message. The marketer sends the promotional message, and the consumer receives and responds to it via the communication process.
Define integrated marketing communications and explain how it relates to the development of an optimal promotional mix.
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) refers to the coordination of all promotional activities to produce a unified, customer focused promotional message. Developing an optimal promotional mix involves selecting the personal and nonpersonal selling strategies that will work best to deliver the overall marketing message as defined by IMC.
Identify the elements of the promotional mix.
The elements of the promotional mix are personal selling and non personal selling (advertising, product placement, sales promotion, direct marketing, and public relations). Guerrilla marketing is frequently used by marketers with limited funds and firms attempting to attract attention for new-product offerings with innovative promotional approaches. Sponsorship occurs when an organization pays money or in-kind resources to an event or activity in exchange for a direct association with that event or activity.
promotion
communication link between buyers and sellers; the function of informing, persuading, and influencing a consumer's purchase decision
message
communication of information, advice, or a request by the sender to the receiver
advertising
paid, nonpersonal communication through various media about a business firm, not-for-profit organization, product, or idea by a sponsor identified in a message intended to inform or persuade members o fa particular audience
elements of promotional mix
personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, and public relations
institutional advertising
promotion of a concept, an idea, a philosophy, or the goodwill of an industry, company, organization, person, geographic location, or government agency
nonpersonal selling
promotion that includes advertising, product placement, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and guerrilla marketing—all conducted without being face-to-face with the buyer
trade promotion
sales promotion that appeals to marketing intermediaries rather than to consumers
communication process
sender, encoding by sender, channel, decoding by receiver, response, and feedback
sender
source of the message communicated to the receiver
AIDA concept
steps through which an individual reaches a purchase decision: attention, interest, desire, and action
promotional mix
subset of the marketing mix in which marketers attempt to achieve the optimal blending of the elements of personal and nonpersonal selling to achieve promotional objectives
types of media
television, radio, newspapers, magazines, direct mail, outdoor advertising, and interactive media
guerrilla marketing
unconventional, innovative, and low-cost marketing techniques designed to get consumers'attention in unusual way
posttesting
Research that assesses advertising effectiveness after it has appeared in a print or broadcast medium
pretesting
Research that evaluates an ad during its development stage
interactive advertising
Two-way promotional messages transmitted through communication channels that induce message recipients to participate actively in the promotional effort
Describe the major types of advertising appeals, and discuss their uses.
Advertisements often appeal to consumers' emotions, and these appeals to fear, humor, or sex can be effective. However, marketers need to recognize that fear appeals can backfire; people's sense of humor can differ according to sex, age, and other factors; and use of sexual imagery must not overstep the bounds of taste.
retail advertising
Advertising by stores that sell goods or services directly to the consuming public
media research
Advertising research that assesses how well a particular medium delivers an advertiser's message, where and when to place the advertisement, and the size of the audience
message research
Advertising research that tests consumer reactions to an advertisement's creative message
comparative advertising
Advertising strategy that emphasizes messages with direct or indirect promotional comparisons between competing brands
reminder advertising
Advertising that reinforces previous promotional activity by keeping the name of a good, service, organization, person, place, idea, or cause before the public
sponsorship
Relationship in which an organization provides funds or in-kind resources to an event or activity in exchange for a direct association with that event or activity
nonmarketing public relations
Organizational messages about general management issues
persuasive advertising
Promotion that attempts to increase demand for an existing good, service, organization, person, place, idea, or cause
cross-promotion
Promotional technique in which marketing partners share the cost of a promotional campaign that meets their mutual needs
Explain the roles of public relations, publicity, cross-promotion, and ethics in an organization's promotional strategy.
Public relations consists of the firm's communications and relationships with its various publics, including customers, employees, stockholders, suppliers, government, and the society in which it operates. Publicity is the dissemination of newsworthy information about a product or organization. This information activity is frequently used in new-product introductions. Although publicity is welcomed by firms, negative publicity is easily created when a company enters a gray ethical area with the use of its promotional efforts. Cross-promotion, illustrated by tie-ins between popular movies and fast-food restaurants, permits marketing partners to share the cost of a promotional campaign that meets their mutual needs. Marketers should be careful to construct ethically sound promotional campaigns, avoiding such practices as puffery and deceit. In addition, negative publicity may occur as a result of some action a firm takes—or fails to take—such as a product recall.
advertising campaign
Series of different but related ads that use a single theme and appear in different media within a specified time period
media scheduling
Setting the timing and sequence for a series of advertisements
cooperative advertising
Strategy in which a retailer shares advertising costs with a manufacturer or wholesaler
List and compare the major advertising media.
The major media include broadcast (TV and radio), newspapers and magazines, direct mail, outdoor, and interactive. Each medium has benefits and drawbacks. Newspapers are flexible and dominate local markets. Magazines can target niche markets. Interactive media foster two-way communication. Outdoor advertising in a high-traffic location reaches many people every day; television and radio reach even more. Direct mail allows effective segmentation. Once advertisers select the media that best matches their advertising objectives and promotional budgets, their attention shifts to setting the time and sequence for a series of ads.
Identify the major advertising strategies and the process of creating an advertisement.
The major strategies are comparative advertising, which makes extensive use of messages with direct comparisons between competing brands; celebrity, which uses famous spokespeople to boost an advertising message; retail, which includes all advertising by retail stores selling products directly to consumers; and interactive, which encourages two-way communication via the Internet, social media sites, or kiosks. An advertisement evolves from pinpointing goals, such as educating consumers, enhancing brand loyalty, or improving a product's image. From those goals, marketers move to the next stages: creating a plan, developing a message, developing and preparing the ad, and selecting the appropriate medium (or media).
Name the three major advertising objectives and the two basic categories of advertising.
The three major objectives of advertising are to inform, persuade, and remind. The two major categories of advertising are product advertising and institutional advertising. Product advertising involves the nonpersonal selling of a good or service. Institutional advertising is the nonpersonal promotion of a concept, idea, or philosophy of a company or organization.
integrated marketing communications (IMC)
coordination of all promotional activities to produce a unified, customer-focused promotional message
direct marketing
direct communications, other than personal sales contacts, between buyer and seller, designed to generate sales, information requests, or store or website visits
types of advertising appeals
fear, humor, and sex
public relations
firm's communications and relationships with its various publics
marketing public relations (MPR)
focused public relations activities that directly support marketing goals
product placement
form of promotion in which a marketer pays a motion picture or television program owner a fee to display a product prominently in the film or show
types of advertising
institutional and product
personal selling
interpersonal influence process involving a seller's promotional presentation conducted on a person-to person basis with the buyer
sales promotion
marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising, guerrilla marketing, and public relations that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness
marketing communications
messages that deal with buyer- seller relationships
product advertising
nonpersonal selling of a particular good or service