Promoting Products

What Is Promotion?
• Aspect of the marketing mix concerned with the most
effective techniques for selling a product

• Promotion is persuasive communication that motivates

people to buy whatever an organization is selling—goods,
services, or ideas
• A company’s promotional strategy defines the direction and
scope of the promotional activities that will be implemented
to meet marketing objectives.
 Information and Exchange Values
Promotions seek to accomplish four goals:
– Make potential customers aware of products
– Make them knowledgeable about products
– Persuade them to like products
– Persuade them to purchase products
 Promotional Objectives
• Communicating Information
• Positioning Products
– Positioning is the process of establishing an identifiable
product image in the minds of consumers
• Adding Value
• Controlling Sales Volume
 Promotional Strategies
• Pull strategy appeals directly to consumers
who will demand the product form retailers

Push strategy encourages wholesalers or

retailers to market products to consumers
The primary difference between push and
pull marketing lies in how consumers are
approached. In push marketing, the idea is
to promote products by pushing them
onto people. ... On the other hand, in
pull marketing, the idea is to establish a
loyal following and draw consumers to the
products.
 The Promotional Mix
Four types of promotional tools:
– Advertising
– Personal Selling
– Sales Promotions
– Publicity and
Public Relations
 Factors Relating to Promotional Mix
• Market-related factors influence the promotion mix.
• The best combination of promotional tools will depend on many factors,
such as:
i. The nature of the product
ii.The Target Audience
iii. Promotion and the Buyer Decision Process. This is the five-step
process. Marketers match promotion efforts with different stages of
the buying decision process.
iv. The Promotional Mix Budget. The combined costs of personal selling,
advertising, sales promotion, and public relations must fall within the
budgeted amount and be balanced to have the desired effects on
attitudes and purchasing decisions.
 The Target Audience: Promotion and the
Buyer Decision Process
Five stages in the buyer decision process:

1. Buyers must recognize the need to make a purchase.

2. Buyers want to learn more about available products.
3. Buyers compare competing products.
4. Buyers choose products and purchase them.
5. Buyers evaluate products after purchase.

Promotional methods can be developed and tailored

accordingly
 The Consumer Buying Process and the
Promotional Mix
Problem/Need recognition
Problem need recognition
•Develop a need or a problem and
we need something to fulfill it
Information search •Some type of tension
•Generate problem or a need
•Marketing and specifically
Evaluation of alternatives advertising is very creative in
developing a need
•Fancy car commercial or a brand
Purchase Decision new house with various designs
•Electronics
•Item we are using is insufficient
•Fill a void or gap
Post purchase
Behavior
 The Consumer Buying Process and the
Promotional Mix
Information search
• Number of different sources
to address a particular issue
• Identify possible solution
• Looking for something specific
• Family, friends, websites and
advertisements
• Problem with a vehicle: try
and repair it
• Buy a new one
• Purchase a bicycle
Evaluation of alternatives
• Trying to evaluate different
possible sources at our
disposal
• Taking the information you
have: through a criteria
• Price and warranty for example
• Based on experience
• Weigh them ( pros and cons)
• Best use for the money
• What is the best one for us
 The Consumer Buying Process and the
Promotional Mix

Purchase decisions Post purchase behavior

• Actual purchase : based on
attributes
• Rational motives: evaluation on
cost versus benefits
• Likeability
• Prestige factor: will a consumer
feel important
• Emotional motives: attachment
to the product
• Cognitive dissonance: buyer’s
remorse
• Tendency for consumers to rethink :
if the product really works
• Evaluate if we made the right
purchase/ is the process working out
• Disconnect : that will increase the
cognitive dissonance
• Greater the expense the more like
consumer will be involved in this
process
• Significant expenditure and time
 How can cognitive dissonance be reduced

• Personalized letters in the mail

• Stating the benefits of the purchase
• Familiarizes the customer with their purchase
• Minimize the extent to which consumers engage in
cognitive dissonance
 What Is Advertising?

Promotional tool consisting of paid, non

personal communication used by an identified
sponsor to inform an audience about a
product
 What Is Advertising?
(1) the best form of promotion for reaching mass
audiences quickly at a low per-person cost.
(2) gives the organization the greatest control over
the message
(3) promotes goods, services, or ideas, using a full
range of creative approaches and media to
convey your message.
(4) must conform to the law, as well as the ethical
and moral standards of the medium and trade
associations
 Advertising Strategies
• Persuasive advertising
seeks to influence consumers to buy a
company’s products rather than its rivals’
• Comparative advertising
directly compares two or more products
• Reminder advertising
helps to keep the product name in the
consumer’s mind
 Persuasive Ads
• Persuasion using trust:
– The "trusted authority" character has been ubiquitous in advertising since the dawn of
television.
– the doctor-looking character with the stethoscope draped around her neck, that
provides "expert" testimony and recommends Product A.
• Persuasion Using Logic
– Logical persuasion uses hard data -- research results, facts and figures -- as evidence of
believability.
– Logical persuasion requires fully attentive audiences with fully engaged brains to absorb
inputs based on logic
– Advertisers often combine logic with trust or emotional appeals to evade mental filters.
• Persuasion Using Emotion
– An appeal to emotion is the preferred persuasion strategy for many advertisers.
– TV commercials that arouse emotions
–  anger, love, joy, fear, confidence, guilt 
 Advertising strategies: Example
• Persuasive Advertising: Sensodyne Toothpaste example
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuu19ux51wA

• Comparative Advertising: Detergents ( Ariel)

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ARzTvyO1O5E
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMXw_SKqZ20

• Reminder Advertising: Coca Cola

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBrClv-pRxQ
 What Is Advertising Media?
Variety of communication devices for carrying a
seller’s message to potential customers
 Advertising Media
– Television
Television sometimes leads viewers to confuse commercials because of
their brevity and their great number.
– Newspapers
– Direct Mail
Direct mail has the largest advance costs of any technique but the highest
cost-effectiveness
– Radio
. Radio ads are quite inexpensive but easy for consumers to ignore.
– Magazines
Huge variety of magazines makes for a high level of ready market
segmentation
– Outdoor Advertising
Billboards, signs, ads on buses, taxis, stadiums, etc. are inexpensive and
have high repeat exposure. It's growing faster than newspapers, magazines,
and television and offers animation and changing images.
Determinants of the Media Mix
• The characteristics of the target audience and
the types of media that will reach it are
determined
• The choice of media is also determined by what
it is expected to do
• Reach
refers to the total number of households that will
be exposed to a message at least once in a
given time period
• Frequency
• is the average number of times that each
household in the population is exposed to the
message.
 What Is an Advertising Campaign?
Arrangement of ads in selected media to reach targeted
audiences. It may focus on a common theme and one
or few brands or products, or be directed at a
particular segment of the population.
Example: (Ariel: share the load)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NnumwhVFavA
• Idea: The laundry detergent brand set out to change a
cultural inequality in India, where women do the
laundry in 95% of the households. The goal of the
campaign was to have men share the job.
 Example: (Ariel: share the load)
• Strategy: The company conducted a survey which found the majority of
women felt they had a second job at home doing the household chores.
Alongside the debate in the media about the results of the survey, the
brand partnered with clothing brands to get them to place tags in clothes
saying: "This fabric can be washed by both men and women." It also
convinced dating sites to use the "Share the Load" slogan as a woman's
selection criteria.
• Effectiveness: The brand doubled its sales targets and 28% of people who
watched the ad recalled it. The campaign had a sizable impact on India's
culture where 1.57 million pledged to do the laundry.
 What Is an Advertising Agency?
Independent company that provides some or all
of a client firm’s advertising needs
 What Is Personal Selling?
• Promotional tool in which a salesperson
communicates one-on-one with potential customers

• It is the most expensive form of promotion per contact. Most

companies spend twice as much on personal selling as on all
other marketing activities combined. Expenses include
salespeople's compensation and overhead, usually travel,
food, lodging
 Personal Selling Situations
• Retail selling
is selling a consumer product for the buyer’s
personal or household use
• Industrial selling
is selling products to other businesses, either
for the purpose of manufacturing other
products or for resale
 The Personal Selling Process
1. Prospecting and Qualifying
the process of identifying potential customers; qualifying identifies those who
have the authority to buy and the ability to pay.
• establishing a booth at trade shows and exhibitions
• getting the names of the prospects from existing customers
• Using the telephone, mail and the internet to find leads

2. Approaching
the all-important first few minutes of contact with a qualified prospect.
• The salesperson should properly approach the prospects. He should know how to greet the buyer
before starting his conversation.
• The salesperson should be properly dressed which coincides with the temperament of the buyer.
• The opening line should be positive.

3. Presenting and Demonstrating

a full explanation of the product, its features, and its uses, linking its benefits
to the prospect's needs
• the presentation should gain attention, hoLd interest, arouse desire and obtain the action of the buyer
 The Personal Selling Process
4.Handling Objections
Objections show the prospect is interested and pinpoint the parts of the presentation with which
the buyer has a problem. The salesperson must work to overcome these objections
• Salesperson should overcome these objections by adopting a positive approach.
• He must convert the objections into reasons for buying.
5.Closing
the most critical part of the selling process in which the salesperson asks the prospect to buy the
product
•  salesperson closes the sale at the right moment.
• A salesperson can successfully close the sale by studying the body language and the statements
made by the buyers. 
6.Following Up
a key activity for relationship marketing in which sellers supply after-sale support that provides
convenience and added value.
• The salesperson can ensure customer satisfaction by properly attending matters which are
important to the customers.
• Thus, follow up is necessary if the salesperson wants to ensure repeat purchase .
 What Is Telemarketing?
• Use of telephone solicitations to conduct the personal
selling process

Example: Banking Industry

Credit card
Credit history
 What Is a Sales Promotion?
• Short-term promotional activity designed to
stimulate consumer buying or cooperation
from distributors, sales agents or other
members of the trade
• consumer promotion, aimed at the
final consumer
• trade promotion, aimed at wholesalers
and retailers.
 Types of Sales Promotions
• Coupons are certificates entitling bearers to savings off regular
prices
• Point-of-Purchase (POP) displays are used to grab customers’
attention as they move through stores. Point of Purchase (POP)
operate primarily with the goal of encouraging your customers
to impulse buy through specific, pin-pointed retail
merchandising.
• However, Point of Sale Displays are conveniently located where
the customer will pay for their items.
• A point-of-sale display (POS display) is a specialized form of sales
promotion that is found near, on, or next to a checkout counter (the "point of
sale"). They are intended to draw the customers' attention to products, which
may be new products, or on special offer, and are also used to promote special
events, e.g. seasonal or holiday-time sales.
 Types of Sales Promotions
• Premiums are gifts given to consumers in return for
buying a specified product. Premiums are
promotional items — toys, collectables, souvenirs and
household products — that are linked to a product,
and often require box tops, tokens or proofs of
purchase to acquire. The consumer generally has to
pay at least the shipping and handling costs to receive
the premium.
• Trade shows are sponsored by industries for
members and customers
• Contests are used to induce sales among customers
 What Is Publicity?
• Promotional tool in which information about a
company or product that is transmitted by general
mass media
• Publicity is free, but you have little or no control of
the content and delivery.
• Be aware, there is both good and bad publicity
 What Is Public Relations?
• Company-influenced publicity directed at
building goodwill with the public or dealing
with unfavorable events
 Public Relations
• Smart companies know they need to maintain positive relations with
their communities, investors, industry analysts, government agencies,
and the news media.
• Companies seek favorable publicity to create interest in their
products.
• Companies with a good public image are more attractive to investors.
• Press relations refers to the process of communicating with reporters
and editors from newspapers, magazines, and radio and television
networks and stations.
• News releases are brief statements or video programs released to the
press announcing new products, management changes, sales
performance, and other potential news items; also called a press
release..
 International Promotional Strategies
• Emergence of the Global Perspective
– Global perspective is a philosophy that directs marketing
toward a worldwide rather than local or regional markets
• The Movement toward Global Advertising
– Four factors to consider:
• Product Variations
• Language Differences
– Cultural Receptiveness
– Image Differences
• Universal Messages and Regional Advertising Skills
Distributing Products
 What Is the Distribution Mix?

The combination of distribution channels by

which a seller gets its product to end users
 What Is a Distribution Channel?

Network of interdependent companies through

which a product passes from producer to end
user
In simple terms….
Route that a product takes from where it is
produced to where it is consumed
Intermediaries and Distribution Channels
• Intermediaries
(once called middlemen) help to distribute a
producer’s goods
– Wholesalers
– are intermediaries who sell products to other
businesses for resale to final consumers
– Retailers
– sell products directly to consumers
 Intermediaries and Middlemen
•  Middlemen, also referred to as intermediaries, play a vital
part in ensuring that the distribution channel between the
producer and the consumer is complete
Direct and indirect distribution
• Indirect Distribution
• Indirect distribution involves
distributing your product by the use of
an intermediary for example a
manufacturer selling to a wholesaler
and then on to the retailer.
• Direct Distribution
• Direct distribution involves distributing
direct from the manufacturer to the
consumer For example Dell Computers
providing directly to its target
customers. The advantage of direct
distribution is that it gives a
manufacturer complete control over
their product
 How do distribution channels add value?
• What is the strategy of distribution?
– Right product
– Right person
– Right place
– Right time

– Consumed
– Or purchased to be consumed
– Through market segmentation we have developed a set of characteristics which
our customers share
– We know which products are going to ultimately fit with their wants and needs
– We know ultimately how to promote them
– We have to place our products in convenient locations where our consumers are
going to shop at the right time
 How do distribution channels add value?
–numerous different locations
–One intermediary will ship to different location
–Minimize our cost
–Walmart handles their own distribution
–Distribution facilities located in different areas
–They ship to those location and from there they truck out different
areas
• Reduce storage cost
– Don’t have to store inventory
– Common for retailers to utilize wholesalers
– Have to insure the goods (for damage)
– Use more space
 Types of intermediaries

producer Wholesalers retailers

• Purchase the good

• Buy products from from the wholesaler
Creates the
producers • Sell the goods to the
products or • Sell them to other
service end user
businesses • Retailers provide a
• Non-final users valuable service which
is brand recognition
• Example: Walmart
• Has a wide consumer
base
• Have the necessary
means to market
product and services
• Extend the reach
 Agents/brokers
• Do not take possessions of goods
• Don’t take ownership
• Facilitate the transactions and connect buyers and sellers
• Arrange the transactions
• Take commissions

• These intermediaries have legal authority to act on behalf of the

manufacturer or producer. Agents and brokers never take title to the
products they handle and perform fewer services than wholesalers and
distributors. Their primary function is to bring buyers and sellers together.
For example, real estate agents and insurance agents don’t own the items
that are sold, but they receive a commission for putting buyers and sellers
together.
 Types of retailers
• Store retailers (Bricks and Mortar)
– Department stores :A department store is a set-up which offers wide range of products
to the end-users under one roof. In a department store, the consumers can get almost
all the products they aspire to shop at one place only. 
– Supermarkets: A retail store which generally sells food products and household items,
properly placed and arranged in specific sections is called a supermarket.
– Specialty Stores: Specialty store would specialize in a particular product and would not
sell anything else apart from the specific range. Specialty stores sell only selective items
of one particular brand to the consumers and primarily focus on high customer
satisfaction.

• Non store
– Online
– Direct selling
– Vending machines ( buy head phones, sodas, chips)
 The Pros and Cons of Non direct Distribution

Each link in the distribution chain makes a profit by

charging a commission.
The more members in the channel—the more
intermediaries—the higher the final price.
Some companies take a direct route in order to help
maintain low cost
 What Is Physical Distribution?
• Activities needed to move a product efficiently from
manufacturer to consumer
 Means of transportation
• Factors in choosing  Major transportation
transportation modes:
methods:  Trucks
– Cost  Railroads
– Nature of the product  Planes
– Distance  Water carriers
– Speed  Pipelines
– Customer wants and
needs
 Distribution Strategies
Exclusive distribution is a strategy by
Intensive distribution is a which a manufacturer grants exclusive
strategy by which a rights to only one wholesaler or retailers in
a specific geographical area for distribution
product is distributed and selling of a product
through as many Involves limiting distribution to a single
outlet. The product is usually highly priced,
channels as possible and requires the intermediary to place
much detail in its sell. 
For example snacks such
High end luxury cars…
as chocolates, soft drinks
and crisps Rolex watches wants a distributor in region A.
Now, Rolex knows that it cannot have showrooms
everywhere in Region A because it will dilute
Brand equity:the commercial value that the brand equity. So ROLEX appoints an exclusive
derives from consumer perception of the distributor for Region A.
brand name of a particular product or service,
rather than from the product or service itself.
 Distribution Strategies
Selective Distribution
This basically involves using more than one, but lesser than all the
intermediaries who carry the company’s products. Mostly furniture, television
and home appliance brands are distributed in this manner.
Selective distribution is a distribution approach where selective and few
outlets are chosen through which the product is made available to the
customers.  A few outlets with calculated potential are identified and then
they are given the rights to stock and sell the offerings of a company.
 Selective Distribution

• Selective distribution is common with products such as

computers, televisions household appliances, where
consumers are willing to shop around and where
manufacturers want a large geographical spread.
• Another example for this could be clothing. If you observe the
availability of brands like Louis Philippe or Van Huesen, you
will observe that these brands are available in their exclusive
show rooms and also in a few high end stores in malls.