MARKETING COMMUNCATION MIX

Marketing
Marketing is a broad business function that encompasses product research and

development, merchandising and distribution processes, pricing, as well as

communication or promotion. According to the American Marketing Association

(AMA) Board of Directors, marketing is the activity, set of institutions, and

processes for creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging offerings that

have value for customers, clients, partners, and society at large. Schiffman and

Kanuk (1994) define marketing as a concept which they insist is about a company

determining accurately, the needs and wants of specific target markets and

delivering the desired satisfactions better than the competition. They also say that

a marketer should make what it can sell, instead of trying to sell what it has made.

Perreault and McCarthy (1996) posit that marketing is about analysing the needs of

consumers of a particular product, deciding the range of need for this product,

determining amount of interests for now and the future, and providing access to the

product. They also talk about the price to sell the product in order to make profit

as well as ensuring that consumers get to know about the product. Interestingly they

have also included other tennis racket manufacturers as constituting part of a

racket manufacturer’s consideration. Perreault and McCarthy thus conclude that

marketing is both a set of activities performed by organisations as well as a social

process. The inclusion of a social process in the definition submits to marketing

serving a social and economic benefit for the whole society.

Marketing can therefore, be said to be about exchanges, conversations and

interventions to improve the quality of goods and services as well as to obtain some

benefits.
Marketing Communication Mix
Marketing communications are channels and tools that a company uses to

communicate the necessary message to the target group. They encompass public

relations, digital marketing, sales promotion, branding, advertising, packaging, social

media and so on. Marketing communication allows customers to understand a company

and the product it offers and a brand to reduce the sales cycle.

A successful company needs well-researched and well-developed marketing strategy

as this helps the company to reach their customers. As an essential part of a

company’s marketing strategy, marketing communications mix, sometimes also called

the promotional mix, refers to the specific methods that are used to promote a

company or its products to specific customers. In other words, it comprises of the

various ways that a company can communicate with its audience. These tools will help

your company to reach out to their customer base, raise awareness of their

product/brand and drive sustained purchases of their product or service offerings.

It is very important to consider the relative strengths and weaknesses of each tool

of marketing communication mix while deciding how to utilize each element to achieve

your marketing objectives and goals effectively.

Elements of Marketing Communication Mix

1. Advertising
Typically, the most prominent component of the communication mix is advertising.

Marketing and advertising are usually confused as the same thing. Advertising

encompasses all messages that a company pays to deliver through a medium to a

specific audience. Companies sometimes allocate a sizable portion of their marketing

budget to the advertising function because it contains the majority of sponsored

messages. Although it can be expensive, since the advertiser is paying the television

or radio station, print magazine, or website for placement, they ultimately have

control over the message that is being sent.

The most dependable and efficient method of attracting and keeping clients'

attention is through advertising. To communicate with its audience—whether it be

clients or the wider public—advertising mostly employs mass media channels.

Companies should ensure that their message is focused as effectively as possible to

their customers while developing their advertising strategy. For instance, a certain

business does not need to run commercials during football games if it sells cosmetics.

Another example would be if you are a local real-estate management company with a

single physical location, you would not want to spend your time worrying about

national advertising, it would not only be out of your budget but ineffective. Instead,

focusing efforts on local and regional publications will yield more results.

2. Public Relations
Public Relations according to The British Institute of Public Relations (BIPR) is “the

deliberate, planned, and sustained effort to establish and maintain mutual

understanding between an organisation and its publics.” It is the ability to generate

interest about a business, service, or product through media outlets at very little to

no cost. At the world assembly of National Public Relations Associations, in Mexico

City, Mexico, in 1978, public relations was defined as “the art and social science of

analysing trends, predicting their consequences, counselling organisation’s leaders

and implementing a planned programme of action which will serve both the

organisation and the public interest.”

Public Relations is also the art of spreading the news about a product or service in

the public domain so that some hype is created and people talk to each other about

it. The main purpose of this tool is to build goodwill towards a company, product or

service so that customers will think more favourably of the company and be more

likely to purchase the product. This includes using press releases, product launches,

celebrity endorsements or even event sponsorships, to build trust and goodwill for

the company by presenting the company’s products and services in a positive light.

Public Relations turn brand messages into stories that appeal to the media and target

audiences by turning them into compelling stories. News, strategies, and campaigns

are amplified through partnerships with newspapers, journalists, and other relevant

organisations to create a positive view of the company. As part of the marketing

communication mix, public relations play a vital role because a strong brand image

can be built, and a brand can release information slowly, keeping the public's

attention.

3. Sales Promotions
This is a reliable tool adopted by companies to attract the attention of customers

by offering strong purchase incentives. Sales promotion includes a variety of

formats like premiums, coupons, buy one-get one free offers, product samples,

contests, displays or other incentives and demonstrations. It can be also be used

toward employees of a specific organization or business. For example, offering your

employees a bonus or prize in a sales contest, rewarding them for signing up

customers to your service or bringing in new customers to buy your products. The

expenses in sales promotion is lower and the investment is very less because it gets

the product moving. This helps stimulate quick response and is used to accelerate
short-term sales. Therefore, it is not effective for building long-term brand

preferences.

There are two major types of sales promotion. They include consumer sales

promotion and trade sales promotion. Consumer sales promotion focuses on the

ultimate user or consumer of the product or service while trade sales promotion

focuses on the retailers, wholesalers, distributors and other business buyers. While

the consumer is induced to buy and consume more whether he needs it or not, the

trade sales promotion encourages the retailer, distributor or wholesaler to stock

more of the same goods, thereby helping the manufacturer to empty his warehouse.

Each of these types of sales promotions has its own specific objectives and

techniques of achieving them.

4. Personal Selling
Personal selling involves communicating directly either verbally (face to face) or in

writing (via emails, social media and text messages) and it is considered one of the

most reliable modes of communication. Personal selling is includes setting sales

appointments and meetings, making presentations and any type of one-on-one

communication to reach targeted customers and strengthen a company’s relationship

with customers. Personal selling also allows companies to get for feedback and make

adjustments. This is a relationship-oriented approach. Targeted buyers become

more attentive and sales force represents a long-term commitment. This is also most

expensive of the promotional mix tools. If a company wants to communicate the

benefits of its products, persuade and convert the customer, then personal selling

with hand-picked and trained executives is the best option.

5. Direct Marketing Communication

Direct marketing can be said to be interactive communication with a company’s

target audience where the company’s message seeks a response from them i.e the

audience. The most common formats used for direct marketing include E-mail and

social media. These messages are sent to target customers with special offers or

calls to action. This is also used to know the response of selected customers for new

product launches. Other examples of direct marketing communication are online or

print surveys and infomercials.

Direct marketing is any form of communication targeted at the audience regardless

of medium. Three characteristics distinguish direct marketing from any form of

communication delivery method:

i. Direct marketing has to be directed toward an individual within the target

audience regardless of delivery method. This can be done through direct mail

or email.

ii. Direct marketing has to have a specific call to action, meaning that it instructs

its recipient to take some action, such as call a phone number, mail in a

response card, or fill out an online form for further information or to make a

purchase.

iii. Direct marketing requires data that can be tracked and measured from its

target audience or customers so that adjustments can be made in future

contacts.

When developing a marketing strategy, it is important to keep in mind what

customers like and dislike about products and services. Asking questions like “Who

is my target audience?” and “what is the best way to promote?” will keep one on the

right track. As a marketing expert, it is expected to understand the importance of

the marketing communication mix when it comes to marketing strategy. However,

having a thorough understanding of the market, taking the services offered by the

competitors into account, and acting accordingly to that understanding, is essential.