PROMOTIONS
Sales promotion is a marketing discipline that utilizes a variety of incentive techniques to structure sales-related programs targeted to consumers, trade, and/or sales levels that generate a specific, measurable action or response for a product or service.
It offers an extra incentive for consumers, sales reps and trade members to act. It can be price reductions, free product, cash prizes, premiums, special events, contests, etc.
Companies have shifted more and more advertising dollars into sales promotions.
1. Seeking short term profits
2. More accountability for the dollars spent
3. Changes in the marketplace
Consumer Promotions
Consumer sales promotions are intended to “presell” an item or brand
Coupons - legal certificates that grant specific savings on selected products. Used to encourage trial and induce brand switching.
Contests - require participants to compete for a prize or prizes boased on some sort of skill or ability.
Sweepstakes - require only that participants submit their names to be included in a drawing or other chance selection. A game is a type of sweepstake.
Contests/Sweepstakes generate high degree of consumer involvement, revive lagging sales, create interest in low-interest product.
Refunds/Rebates - offer to return a certain amount of money to the consumer who purchases the product. There’s usually a deadline. They are attractive because they eliminate the waste of coupons.
Premium is a tangible reward for performing a particular act, usually buying something.
Premiums usually are free, they are used to enhance an ad campaign or brand image.
Direct premiums - incentive is given at time of purchase.
Mail premiums or self-liquidators - require some proof of purchase and payment be mailed in before the consumer receives the premium.
Sampling - allows the consumer to experience the product or service. It is used to introduce a new or modified product or dislodge a market leader. The sample must sell itself.
TRADE PROMOTIONS
Sales promotions directed at the trade designed to push the product through the channel.
Point of purchase display - POP - a manufacturer designed display that is distributed to retailers who use it to call their customers’ attention to product promotions.
Retailer (dealer) kits - materials to support retailers in their sales efforts. The kits contain product specifications, how-to-set up display/window, authorized dealer stickers, ad slicks (existing ads that the retailer can run in a local paper or use in a mailer).
Contests/Sweepstakes - advertisers create these to motivate resellers.
Trade Shows/Exhibits - many industries present and sell their merchandise at trade shows.
Trade Deal - retailer agrees to give the manufacturer’s product a special promotional effort that they would not normally receive in exchange for buying allowances and advertising allowances.
Event marketing - a brand is linked to an event to create experiences for customers and associate the brand personality with a certain lifestyle.
Sponsorships - a company sponsors an event or supports a charity to increase perceived value of the sponsor’s brand in the consumer’s mind.
Specialty advertising - includes everything from hats with logos to T-shirts and mousepads.
Interactive and Internet promotions include prepaid phonecards, 800 and 900 number programs, sweepstakes, software promotions (download and test), travel discounts, etc.
Licensing - a company rents the brand name to other companies allowing them to use its logo on their products.
Loyalty program - designed to keep and reward customers for their patronage. Frequent flyer programs. Most are long term, point-based incentive programs.
Co -marketing - manufacturers develop marketing communications programs with their strongest retailers instead of for them. These programs are designed to build stronger relationships between manufacturers and retailers.
Co-branding - when two companies come together to offer a product. Both companies are equally present in the product’s design and promotion.
PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations is a management function practiced by a wide range of organizations -companies, government, trade and professional organizations, nonprofit, labor unions, politicians, organized sports, and the media.
Its goal is to achieve effective relationships with various audiences (publics) to manage the organizations image and reputation.
It’s publics may be external :
*Customers
*the news media
* the investment community
*the general public
* the government
And internal
*investors
*employees
Public Relations differs from advertising in how they use the media, level of control they have over message delivery, and their perceived credibility.
1. Publicity - seek to persuade media to carry their stories.
2. Control - there is no guarantee that all or even part of a story will appear in the media. There is risk that the story may be rewritten so it no longer means what the strategist intended.
3. Credibility - the public trusts the media more than they do advertisers.
Marketing Public Relations (MPR) - advertising and public relations overlap, integrate both functions
Public Affairs
Public Affairs programs monitor public opinion about issues that are central to the organizations interest and develop programs to communicate to and with the public about these issues. Activities include government relations as well as lobbying.
Public opinion, a belief, based not necessarily on fact but on conception or evaluation of an event, person, institution or product.
Issues Management
Public relations practitioners advise senior management about public opinion about certain issues.
Image and Reputation
An organizations policies and actions determine its reputation, the general opinion the public holds about a company’s identity and practices. A reputation management program is created to strengthen the trust that stakeholders have in the organization.
Relationship Management
Government - communicating with government bodies who approval is needed for corporate actions.
Media - developing media contacts - knowing who in the media might be interested in the organizations story.
Employee - keeps employees informed.
Financial - creation of annual report for publicly held companies, communication efforts aimed at financial publications, meetings with investors and analysists.
Crisis Management
Managing a crisis - the public relations team has to be able to deal with the press and all stakeholders involved when a crisis occurs.
Public Relations Tools
Controlled Media include: house ads, public service ads, corporate or institutional ads, publications, speakers, photographs and films, displays, exhibits and staged events.
Uncontrolled Media: news release, press conferences.
Web based communication is both controlled and uncontrolled.
Non Profit Public Relations
Non profit public relations uses noncommercial advertising and other types of communication to affect attitudes or behaviors about some idea or cause.
Cause marketing - adopting a good cause and sponsoring its fund-raising and other efforts. It’s short term. Doing good things and getting credit for it.
Mission marketing - linking a company’s underlying business philosophy and core values to causes that connects the company’s interests. Long Term. The Body Shop, Ben and Jerry’s ice cream.
Public Relations is evaluated based on:
1. Outputs - how many brochures went out, how much media coverage did we get.
2. Outcomes - did the attitude change, did the behaviors change.