A. Promotion
Promotion
is one of the market mix elements, and
a term used frequently in marketing. The
specification of five promotional mix or
promotional plan. These elements are personal selling, advertising, sales
promotion, direct marketing,
and publicity. A promotional mix specifies how
much attention to pay to each of the five subcategories, and how much money to
budget for each. A promotional plan can have a wide range of objectives,
including: sales increases, new product acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning,
competitive retaliations, or creation of a corporate image. Fundamentally, however there are
three basic objectives of promotion. These are:
- To present information to consumers as well as others.
- To increase demand.
- To differentiate a product.
There are different ways to promote
a product in different areas of media. Promoters use internet advertisement,
special events, endorsements, and newspapers to advertise their product. Many
times with the purchase of a product there is an incentive like discounts, free
items, or a contest. This is to increase the sales of a given product.
B.
Communicating information promotion
The job of
marketing is to identify consumer wants and then satisfy these wants with the
right kind of products, at the right place and at the right price. The
purpose of promotion in the marketing function is to convey to customers about
the features of the product and how it will satisfy consumer wants or any other
relevant information needed by consumers to affect sales. For example, if
a refrigerator manufacturer is planning to offer off-season discount, it
is essential to communicate to potential customers about the extent of
discount, period during which discount is available, name of the stores where
it is available etc. If all such information is not communicated to
potential customers, lowering of prices will not be beneficial to either the
consumer or the manufacturer. Promotion is, thus, an essential part of
the marketing function as it is essentially communication.
C.
Persuasive Promotion
Promotion
is persuasive communication in any free enterprise system where firms develop and
offer a wide range of new and better products, there are full of messages and
distractions of all sorts. Consumer often have to select the products
from among a wise range of competing products. As consumers do not have
time and energy to compare the competing products physically, they turn to
advertisements for product information. The present business environment
being highly competitive, each firm wants the customers to buy its brand. Thus,
persuasion is another goal of promotion. In other words, promotion is
persuasive communication.
D. Sales promotion
Sales promotion is an important component of a small
business's overall marketing strategy, along with advertising, public
relations, and personal selling. The American Marketing Association (AMA)
defines sales promotion as "media and nonmedia marketing pressure applied
for a predetermined, limited period of time in order to
stimulate trial, increase consumer demand, or improve product quality."
But this definition does not capture all the elements of modern sales promotion.
One should add that effective sales promotion increases the basic value of a
product for a limited time and directly stimulates consumer purchasing, selling
effectiveness, or the effort of the sales force. It can be used to inform,
persuade, and remind target customers about the business
and its marketing mix. Some common types of sales promotion include samples, coupons, sweepstakes, contests, in-store
displays, trade shows, price-off deals, premiums, and rebates.
Businesses can target sales promotions at
three different audiences: consumers, resellers, and the company's own sales
force. Sales promotion acts as a competitive weapon by providing an extra incentive for the target audience to purchase
or support one brand over another. It is particularly effective in spurring
product trial and unplanned purchases. Most marketers believe
that a given product or service has an established perceived price or value,
and they use sales promotion to change this price-value relationship by
increasing the value and/or lowering the price. Compared to the other
components of the marketing mix (advertising, publicity, and personal selling),
sales promotion usually operates on a shorter time line, uses a more rational
appeal, returns a tangible or real value, fosters an immediate
sale, and contributes highly to profitability.
E. Remiding Information
A marketing strategy typically
consisting of brief messages sent with
the objective of
reminding a target consumer group about
a product or service or of
introducing a new theme into an existing marketing program. Reminder
advertising might be used by a business that has
already invested considerable resources in
initially promoting their
product or service and still wishes to maintain its competitiveness.
F.
Promotion Program
A
health promotion program sometimes known as a wellness program is a type of
employee benefit that encompasses the various efforts companies make to promote
and maintain their employees' health. Examples of health promotion programs
might include company-sponsored smoking cessation training, visits with a
nutritionist to receive information about healthy cooking, discounted fitness
center memberships, or free cholesterol testing.
Offering health promotion programs to employees provides small businesses
with a number of potential benefits. For example, they may decrease their
health care costs, increase worker productivity, reduce absenteeism, and
encourage employee loyalty. In addition to improving their general health,
work-based health promotion programs also make employees feel that the company
is concerned about their welfare, which tends to increase their job
satisfaction. "Keeping your workers healthy year-round is a great way to
decrease absenteeism and improve morale," Ellen Paris wrote in an article
for Entrepreneur. "Free cancer screenings, educational seminars,
and flu shots may not sound like fun perks, but employees appreciate
them."
