Promotional Mix

1. Promotional Mix • Marketing Mix: • Product • Price • Promotion • Place • Promotional Mix: • Public Relations & Publicity • Advertising • Sales Promotions • Personal Selling

2. Promotion Goal #1: To Inform • To inform potential and current customers of a new product of service or an improvement to an existing product • Usually takes place during the introduction stage of the product life cycle • During this stage a great deal of emphasis is placed on providing information to the customer • Expectation is that the information will help consumers make more intelligent purchasing decisions • Some products & services require complex and detailed promotion • Examples - automobiles, electronic equipment, services • Established products also use promotion to inform • When a product is improved or reformulated • Arm & Hammer used promotion to encourage people to put baking soda in their refrigerators, dresser drawers, toothpaste…

3. Goal #2: To Persuade • Attempts to encourage a customer to take a specific action, such as purchasing a product • Example - encouraging people to purchase a healthier brand of bread or cereal • Usually occurs during the growth stage of a product life cycle • At this point, customers have a general awareness of the product and how it can fulfill their needs • Moves from informing customers about a product to persuading them to buy • Marketer emphasizes the product’s advantages over competitors • Persuasive promotions often include coupons, rebates, or free samples to provide additional incentives to buy • Persuasion is used throughout product life cycle for products that are competitive and similar to other brands

4. Goal #3: To Remind • Remind customers about existing products on the market • Remind customers about how good things taste, how attractive products look, or how companies have satisfied needs and wants in the past • Used in the maturity stage “Classics” theme to remind adults of what mom used to serve “Eat them again for the first time”

5. Elements in Promotional Mix • Public Relations & Publicity • Public relations – any activity designed to create a favorable attitude toward a business, its products, or its policies • Publicity – a specific kind of public relations that involves placing positive and newsworthy information about a business, its products, or its policies in the media. • Advantage: FREE! • Advantage: Viewed to be more objective than traditional advertising because publicity is “credible”

6. Elements in Promotional Mix • Advertising – any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor • Can be found everywhere… • Print: newspaper, magazines • Over the air: television, radio, web • Signage: billboards, events • One-way communication • From advertiser TO customer • No two-way interaction • Businesses spend $200 billion/year on various types of advertising

7. Elements in Promotional Mix • Sales promotion – represents all marketing activities, other than personal selling, advertising, and PR, that are used to stimulate consumer purchasing and sales effectiveness • Often a short-term incentive offered to encourage buying a good or service • Examples? • Objectives: to increase sales, to inform customers about new products, and to create a positive store or corporate image

8. Elements in Promotional Mix • Personal selling – requires individuals to make contact with potential buyers in order to complete a sale once a customer is attracted to a business by another element in the promotional mix • The MOST expensive form of promotion, but… • The MOST personal because it requires direct, personal contact • $$$