Promotional Mix

Promotion

Communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers of a product in order to influence an opinion or elicit a response.

Pull strategy

A marketing strategy that stimulates consumer demand to obtain product distribution.

Push strategy

A marketing strategy that uses aggressive personal selling and trade advertising to convince a wholesaler or retailer to carry and sell particular merchandise.

AIDA concept

A model that outlines the process for achieving promotional goals n terms of stages of consumer involvement with the message; the acronym stands for attention, interest, desire, and action.

Promotion strategy

A plan for the optimal use of the elements of promotion: advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and social media.

Personal selling

A purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other.

Advertising

Impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or organization that is paid for by the marketer.

Discuss the concept of integrated marketing communications.

Integrated marketing communications is the careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or service to ensure the consistency of messages at every contact point where a company meets the consumer-advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, and social media, as well as direct marketing, packaging, and other forms of communication. Marketing managers carefully coordinate all promotional activities to ensure that consumers see and hear one message. Integrating marketing communications has received more attention in recent years due to the proliferation of media choices, the fragmentation of mass markets into more segmented niches, and the decrease in advertising spending in favor of promotional techniques that generate an immediate sales response.

Sales promotion

Marketing activities-other than personal selling, advertising, and public relations-that stimulate consumer buying and dealer effectiveness.

Competitive advantage

One or more unique aspects of an organization that cause target consumers to patronize that firm rather than competitors.

Describe the factors that affect the promotional mix.

Promotion managers consider many factors when creating promotional mixes. These factors include the nature of the product, product life cycle stage, target market characteristics, the type of buying decision involved, availability of funds, and feasibility of push or pull strategies. As products move through different stages of the product life cycle, marketers will choose to use different promotional elements. Characteristics of the target market, such as geographic location of potential buyers and brand loyalty, influence the promotional mix, as does whether the buying decision is complex or routine. The amount of funds a firm has to allocate to promotion may also help determine the promotional mix. Last, if a firm uses a push strategy to promote the product or service, the marketing manager might choose to use aggressive advertising and personal selling to wholesalers and retailers. If a pull strategy is chose, then the manager often relies on aggressive mass promotion, such as advertising and sales promotion, to stimulate consumer demand.

Discuss the role of promotion in the marketing mix.

Promotional strategy is the plan for using the elements of promotion-advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media- to meet the firm's overall objectives and marketing goals. Based on these objectives, the elements of the promotional strategy become a coordinated promotion plan. The promotion plan then becomes an integral part of the total marketing strategy for reaching the target market along with product, distribution, and price. Promotional strategies have changed a great deal over the years as many target customer segments have become harder and harder to reach.

Publicity

Public information about a company, product, service, or issue appearing in the mass media as a news item.

Discuss the AIDA concept and its relationship to the promotional mix.

The AIDA model outlines the four basic stages in the purchase decision-making process, which are initiated and propelled by promotional activities: (1) attention, (2) interest, (3) desire, (4) action. The components of the promotional mix have varying levels of influence at each stage of the AIDA model. Advertising is a good tool for increasing awareness and knowledge of a good ro service. Sales promotion is effective when consumers are at the purchase stage of the decision-making process. Personal selling is most effective in developing customers interest and desire.

Integrated marketing communications (IMC)

The careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or service to ensure the consistency of messages at every contact point at which a company meets the consumer.

Promotional mix

The combination of promotional tools-including advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, and social media-used to reach the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals.

Discuss the elements of the promotional mix.

The elements of the promotional mix include advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social media. Advertising is a form of impersonal, one-way mass communication paid for by the source. Public relations is the function of promotion concerned with a firm's public image. Sales promotion is typically used to back up other components of the promotional mix by stimulating immediate demand. Personal selling typically involves direct communication, in person or by telephone; the seller tries to initiate a purchase by informing and persuading one or more potential buyers. Finally, social media are promotion tools used to facilitate conversations among people online.

Explain the goals and tasks of promotion.

The fundamental goals of promotion are to induce, modify, or reinforce behavior by informing, persuading, reminding, and connecting. Informative promotion explains a good's or service's purpose and benefits. Promotion that informs the consumer is typically used to increase demand for a general product category or to introduce a new good or service. Persuasive promotion is designed to stimulate a purchase or an action. Promotion that persuades the consumer to buy is essential during the growth stage of the product life cycle, when competition becomes fierce. Reminder promotion is used to keep the product and brand name in the public's mind. Promotions that remind are generally used during the maturity stage of the product life cycle. Connection promotion is designed to form relationships with customers and potential customers using social media. Connecting encourages customers to become brand advocates and share their experiences via social media.

Public relations

The marketing function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies areas within the organization the public may be interested in, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.