PROMOTION MIX

An Element marketing mix Refers to a combination of promotional tools

      • Sales Promotion
      • Advertising,
      • Personal Selling,
      • Public relations

Can be used in different combinations, to achieve its communication objectives of

  • Reminding is used for mature products since it keeps consumers thinking about the product
  • Informing potential customers used to inform consumers about a new product
  • Persuading them to buy, to tell the superiority of the product over its competitors

Advertising:-Impersonal, paid form of communication by the identified sponsor to promote some goods or service through common modes of some channels like ‘newspapers’, ‘magazines’, ‘television’, and ‘radio’.

FEATURES OF ADVERTISING

  1. Paid Form: sponsor has to bear the cost to be paid to various channels of communications
  2. Information: informs the buyers about the benefits they get when they purchase a particular product.
  3. Identified Sponsor: A sponsor may be an individual or a firm that pays for the advertisement. The name of a reputed company may increase sales of products
  4. Non-Personal Presentation: advertising is non-personal.  There is the absence of personal appeal in advertising.

Role of Advertising in Business

  • Research: Motivates firm for research and development activities to find new products and or add value to the existing products. Example mobile firm keeps on adding new features.
  • Ease in Introduction of New Product: A firm can introduce itself and its product to the public through advertising. A new enterprise can't make an impact on possible customers without the help of advertising.
  • Provide employment: Advertising provides direct employment to a large number of people engaged in both electronic and print media
  • Enables Mass Production: Mass production reduces the cost of production per unit by the economical use of various factors of production.
  • Advance standard of living: Convince people to consume the latest things and thereby improves their standard of living.
  • To Promotion Sales: Promotes the sale of products by informing and persuading the people to buy them and helps in winning new customers and maintaining existing customers
  • Support to media: Provides an important source of revenue to the publishers and magazines. It enables them to increase the circulation of their publication by selling them at lower rates.

Personal selling: - Face-to-face communication between a seller and buyer. It involves an oral presentation by salespersons to one or more prospective buyers to make sales.

Features of Personal Selling

  1. Personal Form: direct face-to-face dialogue takes place that involves an interactive relationship between the seller and the buyer.
  2. Development of Relationship: this allows a salesperson to develop personal relationships with the likely customers.

Qualities of good salesmen

  1. Mentally healthy: Should possess certain mental qualities like imagination, initiative, self-confidence, sharp memory, alertness, etc. able to understand the needs and preferences of customers.
  2. Understanding: Should have a sense of understanding to convince the customers to buy. He must persuade the customer to finalize the purchase with a sense of satisfaction.
  3. Flexibility in approach: Should interact with customers with a flexible approach i.e., try to persuade different types of customers for different reasons.
  4. Full Knowledge of the product and the company: should have full knowledge of the product and the company he is representing. He should be able to explain every feature of the product.
  5. Inspired to trust: Should be co-operative and courteous. He should not feel irritated if the buyer puts up many questions even if the questions are irrelevant.
  6. Notable personality and sound health: Should have a good build and be well dressed.  Customers will be impressed by the salesman’s pleasing personality. He is to travel therefore should have good health.
  7. Superior communication skills: Should be good in conversations and able to convince customers and create the need in his mind of the customer.

Difference

PROMOTION

Sales promotion

Refers to short-term incentives, which are designed to encourage the buyers to make immediate purchases of a product or service to boost the sales of a firm.

Methods of sales promotion

  1. Rebate:
  • Under it to clear the excess stock, products are offered at some reduced price.
  • For example, giving a rebate by a car manufacturer to the tune of 12,000/- for a limited period.
  1. Discount:
  • Under this method, the customers are offered products at less than the listed price.
  • For example, giving a discount of 30% on the sale of Liberty Shoes. Similarly giving a discount of 50% + 40% by the KOUTONS.
  1. Refunds:
    • Under this method, some part of the price of an article is refunded to the customer on showing proof of purchase.
    • This is commonly used by food product companies, to boost their sales.
    • For example, refunding an amount of 5/- on showing the empty packet of the product price 100/-.
  2. Product Combination: Under this method, along with the main product some other product is offered to the customer as a gift. The following are some examples:
    • Offer of a pack of ½ kg of rice with the purchase of a bag of Atta (wheat flour),
    • Get 128 KB Memory Card Free with a Digi cam’ or Buy a TV of 25+ and Get a Vacuum Cleaner Free
  3. Quantity Gift:
    • Under this method, some extra quantity of the main product is passed on as a gift to the customers.
    • For example, 25% extra toothpaste in a packet of 200 gm toothpaste. Similarly, a gift of one RICH LOOK shirt on the purchase of two shirts.
  4. Instant Draw and Assigned Gift:
    • Under this method, a customer is asked to scratch a card on the purchase of a product and the name of the product is inscribed thereupon which is immediately offered to the customer as a gift.
    •  For example, on buying a car when the card is scratched such gifts are offered – TV, Refrigerator, Computer, Mixer, Dinner Set, Wristwatch, T-shirt, Iron Press, etc.
  5. Lucky Draw:
    • Under this method, the customers of a particular product are offered gifts on a fixed date and the winners are decided by the draw of lots.
    •  While purchasing the product, the customers are given a coupon with a specific number printed on it. Based on this number alone, the buyer claims to have won the gift.
    • For example, the ‘Buy a bathing soap and get a gold coin’ offer can be used under this method.
  6. Usable Benefits:
    • Under this method, coupons are distributed among the consumers on behalf of the producer. A coupon is a kind of certificate telling that the product mentioned therein can be obtained at a special discount.
    •  It means that if a customer has a coupon for some product he will get the discount mentioned therein whenever he buys it. Possession of a coupon motivates the consumer to buy the product, even when he does not need it.
    • Such coupons are published in newspapers and magazines.
  1. Full Finance @ 0%:-
    • Under this method, the product is sold and money is received in installments at a 0% rate of interest.
    • The seller determines the number of installments in which the price of the product will be recovered from the customer.
    • No interest is charged on these installments.
  2. Samples or Sampling:-
  • Under this method, the producer distributes free samples of his product among the consumers. This method is used mostly in the case of products of daily use, e.g., Washing Powder, Tea, Toothpaste, etc.
  • Thus, the consumers willy-nilly make use of the free sample. If it satisfies them, they buy it and in this way, sales are increased.
  1. Contests:
    • Some producers organize contests with a view to popularizing their products.
    • Consumers taking part in the contest are asked to answer some very simple questions on a form and forward the same to the company.
    • Result is declared on the basis of all the forms received by a particular date

Public Relations Tools

Meaning - involves a variety of programs to promote and protect a company’s image or its products to strengthen relations with various stakeholders like customers, shareholders, employees, suppliers, investors, etc.

Public relations help in achieving the following marketing objectives:

  1. Building awareness: Public relations department can place stories and dramatize the product in the media. This will build marketplace excitement before the product reaches the market or media advertising takes place. This usually creates a favorable impression on the target customer.
  2. Building credibility: If news about a product comes in the media whether print or electronic it always lends credibility and people believe in the product since it is in the news.
  3. Stimulates sales force: It becomes easier for the sales force to deal with the retailers and convince dealers if they have already heard about the product in the news before it is launched. Retailers and dealers also feel it is easier to sell the product to the ultimate consumer.
  4. Lowers promotion costs: Maintaining good public relations costs much less than advertising and direct mail. However, it requires a lot of communication and interpersonal skills to convince the media to give space or time for the organization and its product.

The public relations department performs five functions:

  1. Press relations:
    • Information about the organization needs to be presented in a positive manner in the press.
    • Generating news requires skill in developing and researching a story and getting the media to accept press releases is a difficult task.
    • The public relations department is in contact with the media to present facts and a correct picture of the company.
  2. Product publicity:
    • New products require special effort to publicize and the company has to sponsor such programs.
    • The public relations department manages the sponsoring of such events.
    • The company can draw attention to new products by arranging sports and cultural events like news conferences, seminars, and exhibitions.
  3. Corporate Communication:
    • The image of the organization needs to be promoted through communicating with the public and the employees within the organization.
    • This is usually done with the help of a newsletter, annual reports, brochures, articles and audio-visual materials. Companies rely on these materials to reach and influence their target markets.
    • Speeches by the company’s executives at a meeting of trade associations or trade fairs can boost the company’s image.
  4. Lobbying:
    • The organization has to deal with government officials and different ministers in charge of corporate affairs, industry, and finance with respect to policies relating to business and the economy.
    • The government also wants to maintain a healthy relationship with associations of commerce and industry while formulating industrial, telecom, taxation policies, etc.
    • The public relations department then has to be positive in promoting regulations that affect them.
  5. Counseling:
  • The company can build goodwill by contributing money and time to certain causes like the environment, wildlife, children’s rights, education, etc.
  • Such cause-related activities help in promoting public relations and building goodwill.