Promotional Mix
The Promotional Mix refers to the blend of several promotional tools used by the business to create,
maintain and increase the demand for goods and services. The fourth element of the 4 P’s of Marketing
Mix is the promotion; that focuses on creating the awareness and persuading the customers to initiate
the purchase. The several tools that facilitate the promotion objective of a firm are collectively known as
the Promotion Mix.
Elements of promotional mix
Advertising: The advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of goods and
services by the identified sponsor in the exchange of a fee. Through advertising, the marketer tries to
build a pull strategy; wherein the customer is instigated to try the product at least once.The complete
information along with the attractive graphics of the product or service can be shown to the customers
that grab their attention and influences the purchase decision.
Personal Selling: This is one of the traditional forms of promotional tool wherein the salesman interacts
with the customer directly by visiting them. It is a face to face interaction between the company
representative and the customer with the objective to influence the customer to purchase the product
or services.
Sales Promotion: The sales promotion is the short term incentives given to the customers to have an
increased sale for a given period.Generally, the sales promotion schemes are floated in the market at
the time of festivals or the end of the season. Discounts, Coupons, Payback offers, Freebies, etc. are
some of the sales promotion schemes.With the sales promotion, the company focuses on the increased
short-term profits, by attracting both the existing and the new customers.
Public Relations: The marketers try to build a favourable image in the market by creating relations with
the general public. The companies carry out several public relations campaigns with the objective to
have a support of all the people associated with it either directly or indirectly.The public comprises of
the customers, employees, suppliers, distributors, shareholders, government and the society as a whole.
The publicity is one of the form of public relations that the company may use with the intention to bring
newsworthy information to the public.
E.g. Large Corporates such as Dabur, L&T, Tata Consultancy, Bharti Enterprises, Services, Unitech and
PSU’s such as Indian Oil, GAIL, and NTPC have joined hands with Government to clean up their
surroundings, build toilets and support the swachh Bharat Mission.
Direct Marketing: With the intent of technology, companies reach customers directly without any
intermediaries or any paid medium.The e-mails, text messages, Fax, are some of the tools of direct
marketing. The companies can send emails and messages to the customers if they need to be informed
about the new offerings or the sales promotion schemes.
E.g. The Shopperstop send SMS to its members informing about the season end sales and extra benefits
to the golden card holders.
The role of promotions is an integral part of the marketing mix. In general, promotions tend to focus on
how to attract the attention of consumers and motivate them to take action or make a purchase via
eCommerce or other channels. There are many ways marketers can go about promoting a product or
service, but it requires strategic research into the target audience and where to find them.
The role of promotion in the marketing mix is critical for brands who want to ensure the right consumers
are reached and objectives are met. Brands can achieve this by using strategic tactics to connect with
consumers to generate a response.
Evolution of IMC
During the 1980s, many companies came to see the need for more of a strategic integration of their
promotional tools• To coordinate the use of a variety of promotional tools rather than relying primarily
on media advertising• IMC offers one-stop shopping for all their clients’ promotional needs. 4
5. Relevance of IMC
Better synergy among various promotional functions. Companies can avoid duplication. To maximize
the return on its investment in marketing and promotion Changes in the Target Group (Customers)New
Technological Advancements.
6. Factors responsible for Rapid Growth of IMC Allocation of funds from media advertising to other
forms of promotion, particularly consumer- and trade-oriented sales promotions. A shift from
traditional ways of relying on advertising- focused approaches. A shift in marketplace power from
manufacturers to 6 retailers.
7. Factors responsible for Rapid Growth of IMC .
The rapid growth and development of database marketing.
Demands for greater accountability from advertising agencies and changes in the way agencies are
compensated.
The phenomenal rise of the Internet..
8. The Role of IMC in Branding• People don’t buy products, they buy brands…• Brand Equity & Brand
Identity• Edge to the companies in the Cut throat Competition• Direct connect with the end customer
Behavioral marketing
As opposed to direct marketing, where advertisers send the same message to everyone—and expect a
large portion of those people to reject the message—behavioral marketing takes online information and
uses it to tailor the message to the user.
Behavioral targeting uses web analytics, computer applications and cookies, browsing and search
history, and IP addresses, to create user profiles of individual consumers. With that information, the
website’s ad server will then generate relevant and targeted content or advertisements that appeals to
their interests. (See also Closed-Loop Marketing)
For example, those who visit the automotive section of a general news site will start seeing car ads as
they browse other sections of that site—and those ads will change and become more “targeted” over
time.
Persuasive Communication
Persuasive Communication is an act of influencing the consumers favorably to a particular product or
service that involves communication factors such as the communicator, message, the manner the
message is delivered, and the consumers.
Source Factors - Source means the person involved in communicating a marketing message, either
directly orindirectly.A direct source is a spokesperson who delivers a message and/or demonstrates a
product orservice. An indirect source, say, a model, doesn’t actually deliver a message but draws
attention toand/or enhances the appearance of the ad. Source Credibility Credibility is the extent to
which the recipient sees the source as havingrelevant knowledge, skill, or experience and trusts the
source to give unbiased,objective information. There are two important dimensions to credibility,
expertiseand trustworthiness. Low credibility source may be as effective as a high credibility source is
the sleeper effect, whereby the persuasiveness of a message increases with the passage of time.
Message factors – Message Structure Marketing communications usually consist of a number of
message points that the communicator wants to get across. An important aspect of message strategy is
knowing the best way to communicate these points and overcome any opposing viewpoints audience
members may hold. Order of Presentation Presenting the strongest arguments at the beginning of the
message assumes a primacy effect is operating, whereby information presented first is most effective.
Putting the strong points at the end assumes a recency effect, whereby the last arguments presented
are most persuasive effect. Conclusion Drawing Marketing communicators must decide whether their
messages should explicitly draw a firm conclusion or allow receivers to draw their own conclusions.
Channel Factors - Information received from personal influence channels is generally more persuasive
than information received via the mass media. Effects of Context and Environment A qualitative media
effect is the influence the medium has on a message. The image of the media vehicle can affect
reactions to the message. A media environment can also be created by the nature of the program in
which a commercial appears. Clutter Another aspect of the media environment, which is important to
advertisers, is the problem of clutter, which has been defined as the amount of advertising in a medium.
STP Marketing stands for segmentation, targeting and positioning. STP Marketing makes the process of
marketing easy. It is very easy to understand and apply in business.
The main goal of STP Marketing is to attract the customer and not only to attract the customer but also
getting the right customer who will be interested in our product
Market segmentation is the research that defines whether the business divides its consumers or
demographic into smaller groups based on features such as age, income, personality traits or behaviour.
Types of Segmentation
1. Demographic SEGMENTATION (what)-
Age: – 0-5,5-10, 10-15,15-25, 25-35,40 above
Gender:- male ,female
Income:-high income group
Middle income group
Low income group
Family status:– 0-1,1-2, 2-4,above 4
Occupation:– Professional, Self-employed, Student, retired etc.
Marital status:– single, married,
Religion:– Hindu, Muslim, Sikh, christen
2. Geographic segmentation( where)-
it is based on country, state, region (metro city, urban city, rural city).
3. Geo-demographic segmentation –
a combination of demographic and geographic.
4. Behavioural segmentation(how) –
It is based on lifestyle ( habits, attitude, traits) need-based, customer loyalty.
5. Psychographic (who) –
based on personality traits, beliefs, values, attitude, in
Target marketing is niche-specific marketing. The niche is not based on products but customers. You
have to identify your potential customers who will purchase your product based on their needs.. You
can’t sell your product to all people because they are not interested in purchasing from you. That’s
where target marketing works. So Targeting the Second step of STP Marketing.
Target marketing is niche-specific marketing. The niche is not based on products but customers. You
have to identify your potential customers who will purchase your product based on their needs. There
are around 7 billion people on earth. You can’t sell your product to all people because they are not
interested in purchasing from you. That’s where target marketing works. So Targeting the Second step
of STP Marketing
Undifferentiated marketing
Differentiated marketing
Concentrated or focused marketing
Customized marketing
What is Positioning In simple words, positioning in the market means where your product stands in the
market. it means how our product stands different from other products in the market and how it is
better than our competitor’s product.
i. Understand audience persona
ii. Prices and discounts
iii. Quality
v. Technology
Marketing communication objectives are long-term goals where marketing campaigns are intended to
drive up the value of your brand over time. In contrast to sales promotions, which are short-term
inducements to buy, communication goals succeed when you persuade customers through consistent
reinforcement that your brand has benefits they want or need.
Increase Awareness
Influence Purchase Intent
Stimulate Trial Purchase
Drive Brand Switching
A marketing communication budget provides a formal process for planning, tracking and measuring the
impact of your expenditures on marketing communications activities such as advertising, direct
marketing, online or events. The budget sets out the funding required to meet your communications
objectives and provides a method of managing the expenditure over a budget year.
Scope
Time
Efficiencies
Tracking
Ad Agency:An ad agency is a service organization that specialize in planning &
executing advertising programme for its client.“
The role of an ad agency:An organization hire ad agency because of following reasonService of
highly skilled individuals
• Specialize in their respective field
• They have good bunch of artist, writer, Media analyst, Researcher
• All person have specific knowledge skill & Experience
• Specialized in particular domain
• They can provide object view point, not related to company politics & unbiased
• Experience in working in diverse set of marketing field.
5. Types of Ad agency:It can be from one man to big organization. Broadly it is of 4 types
• Full-Services Agencies
• Creative Boutiques
• Media Buying Services
Basic Principles of Client-Agency Relationship :
These principles are:
(i) The agency avoids advertising a close substitute competing product. The client, too, avoids engaging
the services of another competing agency.
(ii) The agency receives the green signal from the client for all the expenses incurred on its advertising.
(iii) The agency keeps the media commission for itself and the client undertakes to foot the bill
promptly.
(iv) If the media grants any cash discount, it is passed on to the client.
(v) The agency is not taken to task for media lapses in terms of scheduling, positioning, etc.
Media Planning - A series of decisions involving the delivery of messages to audiences. Media Objectives
- Goals to be attained by the media strategy and program. Media Strategy - Decisions on how the media
objectives can be attained. Media - The various categories of delivery systems, including broadcast and
print media. Broadcast Media - Either radio or television network or local station broadcasts.
3. Media Terminology
Print Media - Publications such as newspapers and magazines.
Media Vehicle - The specific message carrier, such as the Washington Post or 60 Minutes.
Coverage - The potential audience that might receive the message through the the vehicle.
Reach - The actual number of individual audience members reached at least once by the vehicle in a
given period of time.
Frequency - The number of times the receiver is exposed to vehicle in a specific time period.
4. Problems in Media Planning Lack of information
Inconsistent terms
Serious time pressure
Measurement problems
5. Developing the Media Plan
Situation Analysis
Marketing Strategy Plan
Creative Strategy Plan
Setting Media Objectives
Determining Media Strategy
Selecting Broad Media Classes Selecting Media Within Class Media Use Decision Media Use Decision
Media Use Decision — Broadcast — Print — Other Media
6. Developing the Media Plan
Analyze the Market
Establish Media Objectives
Develop Media
Strategy Implement
Media Strategy
Evaluate Performance
Reach and Frequency Reach of One Program Reach of Two Programs Total market audience
reached Total market audience reached Duplicated Reach of Both Unduplicated Reach of Both Total
reached with both shows Total reach less duplicate.
Effects of Reach and Frequency 1. One exposure of an ad to a target group within a purchase cycle has
little or no effect in most circumstances. 2. Since one exposure is usually ineffective, the central goal of
productive media planning should be to enhance frequency rather than reach. 3. The evidence suggests
strongly that an exposure frequency of two within a purchase cycle is an effective level. 4. Beyond three
exposures within a brand purchase cycle or over a period of four or even eight weeks, increasing
frequency continues to build advertising effectiveness at a decreasing rate but with no evidence of
decline.
5. Although there are general principles with respect to frequency of exposure and its relationship to
advertising effectiveness, differential effects by brand are equally important 6. Frequency response
principles or generalizations do not vary by medium. 7. The data strongly suggest that wearout is not a
function of too much frequency. It is more of a creative or copy problem.
IMC PARTICIPENTS • Participants in IMC can be divided in five major groups- 1. Advertisers or
Client 2. Advertising agencies. 3. Media organizations. 4. Marketing communication specialist
organizations. 5. Collateral services
1. Advertisers or Client • The Advertisers/Clients, are the key participants in the process. •
Advertisers/Clients have the products, services, or causes to be marketed. • They provide the funds that
pay for advertising and promotions.
• The advertisers assume major responsibility for- – Developing the marketing program and – Making
the final decisions regarding the advertising and promotional program to be employed.
. • The organization may perform most of these efforts itself, – Either through its own advertising
department, or – By setting up an in-house agency
2. Advertising agencies • Many organizations use an advertising agency, • “Advertising agency is an
outside firm that specializes in the creation, production, and/or placement of the communications
message and that may provide other services to facilitate the marketing and promotions process”.
Many large advertisers retain the services of a number of agencies, particularly when they market a
number of products.. 3. Media organizations • The primary function of most media is to provide
information or entertainment to their subscribers, viewers, or readers.
• The media must have editorial or program content that attracts consumers so that advertisers and
their agencies will want to buy time or space with them. • The media’s primary objective is to sell itself
as a way for companies to reach their target markets with their messages effectively.
. 4. Marketing communication specialist organizations • The next group of participants are organizations
that provide specialized marketing communications services. • They include- – Direct-marketing
agencies, – Sales promotion agencies, – Interactive agencies, and – Public relations firms.
• These organizations provide services in their areas of expertise. • A direct-response agency develops
and implements direct-marketing programs. • A sales promotion agencies develop promotional
programs such as- – Contests and, – Premium offers, or Sampling programs.
. • Interactive agencies are being used to develop websites for the Internet. • Public relations firms are
used to generate and manage publicity for a company and its products and services as well as to focus
on its relationships and communications with its relevant publics.
. 5. Collateral services • Collateral services are the wide range of support functions used by
advertisers/agencies/media organizations/and specialized marketing communications firms. • These
individuals and companies perform specialized functions the other participants use in planning and
executing advertising and other promotional functions
The FCB grid or Foote, Cone and Belding model is an integrative approach to interpret the
consumer’s buying behaviour and its implication for adopting suitable advertising strategy. It is depicted
on a matrix with the help of four significant factors, i.e., thinking, feeling, high involvement and low
involvement.
informative (Quadrant 1): The expensive products having a high level of importance to the consumers
and requires intense thinking for decision-making, lies in this category.
Affective (Quadrant 2): The valuable products which hold an emotional attribute and requires consumer
engagement are considered to be affective products.
The buyer follows a feel, learn and do order. That is he/she first develops a connection with the brand or
the product; gains complete knowledge of it; finally buys it.
Habitual (Quadrant 3): This category of products includes everyday essentials. Thus, the customer
experiences a low involvement but analytical decision making while purchasing these items.
The buyer first obtains the product; tries it out and determines whether it solves the purpose or not;
then develops a trust in the brand.
Satisfaction (Quadrant 4): The products whose purchase is driven by the emotions; however, the buying
decision does not require much consumer involvement, lies in this quadrant.
The consumer buys the product; feels positive or negative about the purchase; and then learns about
the product.
The role of imc in brand building the major reasons for the growing importance of integrated marketing
communications over thepast decade is that it plays a major role in the process of developing and
sustaining brand identity andequity. As branding expert Kevin Keller notes, “Building and properly
managing brand equity hasbecome a priority for companies of all sizes, in all types of industries, in all
types of markets.” With moreand more products and services competing for consideration by customers
who have less and less timeto make choices, well-known brands have a major competitive advantage in
today’s marketplace.Building and maintaining brand identity and equity require the creation of well-
known brands that havefavorable, strong, and unique associations in the mind of the consumer.
Sales promotion is one of the forms of promotions or marketing communications used by
organizations to communicate with the marketplace. Together with advertising, public relations and
personal selling – sales promotion makes up the promotions mix or the marketing communications mix
of a company.Sales promotion refers to temporary incentives offered by an organization to either their
customers or their resellers, with the intention of increasing the sales of their products. Therefore, it is
necessary to classify sales promotions into two broad categories – sales promotions aimed at consumers
and sales promotions aimed at distribution channels (which is more commonly referred to as trade
promotion)
TYPES
LOYALTY PROGRAMS
CONTESTS
DISCOUNTS
REBATES
COUPONS
FREE SAMPLES
Pre-Testing • Pre-Testing follows the universal law "Prevention is better than cure". Advertising can be
pretested at several points in the creative development process. • Pre-Testing helps the advertiser to
make a final go or no go decision about finished or nearly finished advertisement. Pre-Testing method
refer to testing the potentiality of a communication message or ad-copy before printing, broadcasting,
or telecasting
Post Testing • Post testing is done to know- to what extent the advertising objectives are achieved.
Following are the types of post testing methods: • Recognition Test: Recognition test involves the ability
of viewers to correctly identify ad, brand, or message they previously exposed to. The types of
recognition test are: • Starch Test - The Starch test is applied only to print ads that have already run. The
interviewer shows each respondent a magazine or newspaper containing the ads being tested. For each
ad the interviewer asks the respondents to reply to ad related questions. • Bruzzone Test - The Bruzzone
test is conducted through mail surveys. Questionnaires containing frames and audio scripts from
television commercials are sent to respondents and respondents are asked whether they recognize the
ad and brand.
Challenges in Market communication
Generating Traffic and Leads
Providing ROI for Your Marketing Activities
Securing Enough Budget
Managing Your Website
Targeting Content for an International Audience
Training Your Team
Hiring Top Talent
Delivering an Account-Based Marketing Strategy
.IMC PLAN
1.Contextual or Situational Analysis
The first stage of the IMC planning process is to conduct a situational/ contextual analysis. This can
involve a SWOT analysis, and an external and internal environmental analysis.
2. Target Markets
You need to decide who your target markets are, map them on a demographic and psychographic level.
Then you need to decide what the benefits are to the consumer and why they would use the product.
3. Communication Objectives
The third step of the IMC planning process is to decide what the communication objectives are. These
are objectives that your company wants to communicate to the public and their target audience. Some
examples of these are;
Develop brand awareness
Change customer beliefs
Enhance brand image
Increase sales
Reinforce purchase decisions
4. Budget
The types of budget that companies have can vary. These can be, a percentage of sales, competitive
partially, percentage of profit, a budget depending on objectives and tasks and how much the company
can afford.
5. Marketing Mix Strategy
The marketing mix is selected in line with the communication objectives and within lesion with the
budget selected.
6. Evaluating the Programme
The final step of the IMC planning process is evaluating the programme. This can be done by certain
social media metrics, by analyzing online traffic with the use of Google analytics, by sales and social
media tools that allow you to track engagement with certain items.
5 Common Factors Influencing Consumer Behavior
Psychological Factors
Social Factors
Cultural Factors
Personal Factors
Economic Factors
Traditional Response Hierarchy Models
The AIDA Model
Attention -> interest -> desire -> action
AIDA model depicts the stages in the personal selling process
The Hierarchy-of-Effects Model
Awareness -> Knowledge -> Liking -> Preference -> Conviction -> Purchase
Hierarchy of effects model shows the process by which advertising works
The Innovation-Adoption Model
Awareness -> Interest -> Evaluation -> Trial -> Adoption
Innovation adoption model shows the stages a consumer passes through in the process of adopting a
new product
The Information-Processing Model
Presentation -> attention -> comprehension -> yielding -> retention -> behavior
Information processing model a model of the process through which a consumer must pass to be
influenced by advertising
The hierarchy models are useful to promotional planners from several perspectives. They delineate the
series of steps or stages potential purchasers often must be taken through to move them from a state of
no or little awareness to the point where they are ready to purchase.
The hierarchy models can also be useful as “intermediate” measures of communication effectiveness.
Knowing where potential buyers are with respect to the various stages of the hierarchy helps the
marketers know the specific communication task that must be performed.
