Ans-1

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This document prepared and presented by
Business Resource Software, Inc.
Marketing Plan
The information for this article was derived from many
sources, including Michael Porter's book Competitive
Advantage and the works of Philip Kotler. Concepts
addressed include 'generic' strategies and strategies for Write a
pricing, distribution, promotion, advertising and market business plan,
segmentation. Factors such as market penetration, evaluate your
market share, profit margins, budgets, financial analysis, strategy, test
capital investment, government actions, demographic product ideas
changes, emerging technology and cultural trends are also
addressed.

There are two major components to your marketing

strategy:

 how your enterprise will address the competitive

marketplace
 how you will implement and support your day to day
operations. Competitive
Advantage:
In today's very competitive marketplace a strategy that Creating and
insures a consistent approach to offering your product or Sustaining
service in a way that will outsell the competition is critical. Superior
However, in concert with defining the marketing strategy Performance
you must also have a well defined methodology for the by Michael E.
day to day process of implementing it. It is of little value Porter
to have a strategy if you lack either the resources or the
expertise to implement it.

In the process of creating a marketing strategy you must

consider many factors. Of those many factors, some are
more important than others. Because each strategy must
address some unique considerations, it is not reasonable
to identify 'every' important factor at a generic level. Kotler on
However, many are common to all marketing strategies. Marketing:
Some of the more critical are described below. How to Create,
Win, and
You begin the creation of your strategy by deciding what Dominate
the overall objective of your enterprise should be. In Markets by
general this falls into one of four categories: Philip Kotler

 If the market is very attractive and your enterprise is

one of the strongest in the industry you will want to
invest your best resources in support of your
offering.
 If the market is very attractive but your enterprise is
one of the weaker ones in the industry you must
concentrate on strengthening the enterprise, using The Internet
your offering as a stepping stone toward this Marketing
objective. Plan: A
 If the market is not especially attractive, but your Practical
enterprise is one of the strongest in the industry then Handbook for
an effective marketing and sales effort for your Creating,
offering will be good for generating near term profits. Implementing
 If the market is not especially attractive and your and Assessing
enterprise is one of the weaker ones in the industry Your Online
you should promote this offering only if it supports a Presence by
more profitable part of your business (for instance, if Kim M. Bayne
this segment completes a product line range) or if it
absorbs some of the overhead costs of a more
 profitable segment. Otherwise, you should determine
the most cost effective way to divest your enterprise
of this offering.

Having selected the direction most beneficial for the

overall interests of the enterprise, the next step is to
choose a strategy for the offering that will be most
effective in the market. This means choosing one of the The Successful
following 'generic' strategies (first described by Michael Marketing
Porter in his work, Competitive Advantage). Plan: A
Disciplined and
 A COST LEADERSHIP STRATEGY is based on the Comprehensive
concept that you can produce and market a good Approach by
quality product or service at a lower cost than your Roman G.
competitors. These low costs should translate to Hiebing, Scott
profit margins that are higher than the industry W. Cooper,
average. Some of the conditions that should exist to Roman, Jr.
support a cost leadership strategy include an on- Hiebing
going availability of operating capital, good process
engineering skills, close management of labor,
products designed for ease of manufacturing and low
cost distribution.
 A DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY is one of creating a
product or service that is perceived as being unique
"throughout the industry". The emphasis can be on
brand image, proprietary technology, special 12 Simple
features, superior service, a strong distributor Steps to a
network or other aspects that might be specific to Winning
your industry. This uniqueness should also translate Marketing Plan
to profit margins that are higher than the industry by Geraldine A.
average. In addition, some of the conditions that Larkin
should exist to support a differentiation strategy
include strong marketing abilities, effective product
engineering, creative personnel, the ability to
See more
perform basic research and a good reputation.
books on the
 A FOCUS STRATEGY may be the most sophisticated
subject of 
of the generic strategies, in that it is a more 'intense'
form of either the cost leadership or differentiation
 strategy. It is designed to address a "focused"
segment of the marketplace, product form or cost
management process and is usually employed when
it isn't appropriate to attempt an 'across the board'
application of cost leadership or differentiation. It is
based on the concept of serving a particular target in
such an exceptional manner, that others cannot
compete. Usually this means addressing a
substantially smaller market segment than others in
the industry, but because of minimal competition,
profit margins can be very high.

Pricing
Having defined the overall offering objective and selecting
the generic strategy you must then decide on a variety of
closely related operational strategies. One of these is how
you will price the offering. A pricing strategy is mostly
influenced by your requirement for net income and your
objectives for long term market control. There are three
basic strategies you can consider.

 A SKIMMING STRATEGY
If your offering has enough differentiation to justify a
high price and you desire quick cash and have
minimal desires for significant market penetration
and control, then you set your prices very high.
 A MARKET PENETRATION STRATEGY
If near term income is not so critical and rapid
market penetration for eventual market control is
desired, then you set your prices very low.
 A COMPARABLE PRICING STRATEGY
If you are not the market leader in your industry
then the leaders will most likely have created a 'price
expectation' in the minds of the marketplace. In this
case you can price your offering comparably to those
of your competitors.

Promotion
To sell an offering you must effectively promote and
advertise it. There are two basic promotion strategies,
PUSH and PULL.

 The PUSH STRATEGY maximizes the use of all

available channels of distribution to "push" the
offering into the marketplace. This usually requires
generous discounts to achieve the objective of giving
the channels incentive to promote the offering, thus
minimizing your need for advertising.
 The PULL STRATEGY requires direct interface with
the end user of the offering. Use of channels of
distribution is minimized during the first stages of
promotion and a major commitment to advertising is
required. The objective is to "pull" the prospects into
the various channel outlets creating a demand the
channels cannot ignore.

There are many strategies for advertising an offering.

Some of these include:

 Product Comparison advertising

In a market where your offering is one of several
providing similar capabilities, if your offering stacks
up well when comparing features then a product
comparison ad can be beneficial.
 Product Benefits advertising
When you want to promote your offering without
comparison to competitors, the product benefits ad is
the correct approach. This is especially beneficial
when you have introduced a new approach to solving
a user need and comparison to the old approaches is
inappropriate.
 Product Family advertising
If your offering is part of a group or family of
offerings that can be of benefit to the customer as a
set, then the product family ad can be of benefit.
 Corporate advertising
 When you have a variety of offerings and your
audience is fairly broad, it is often beneficial to
promote your enterprise identity rather than a
specific offering.

Distribution
You must also select the distribution method(s) you will
use to get the offering into the hands of the customer.
These include:

 On-premise Sales involves the sale of your offering

using a field sales organization that visits the
prospect's facilities to make the sale.
 Direct Sales involves the sale of your offering using a
direct, in-house sales organization that does all
selling through the Internet, telephone or mail order
contact.
 Wholesale Sales involves the sale of your offering
using intermediaries or "middle-men" to distribute
your product or service to the retailers.
 Self-service Retail Sales involves the sale of your
offering using self service retail methods of
distribution.
 Full-service Retail Sales involves the sale of your
offering through a full service retail distribution
channel.

Of course, making a decision about pricing, promotion and

distribution is heavily influenced by some key factors in
the industry and marketplace. These factors should be
analyzed initially to create the strategy and then regularly
monitored for changes. If any of them change
substantially the strategy should be reevaluated.

The Environment
Environmental factors positively or negatively impact the
industry and the market growth potential of your
product/service. Factors to consider include:
  Government actions - Government actions (current
or under consideration) can support or detract from
your strategy. Consider subsidies, safety, efficacy
and operational regulations, licensing requirements,
materials access restrictions and price controls.
 Demographic changes - Anticipated demographic
changes may support or negatively impact the
growth potential of your industry and market. This
includes factors such as education, age, income and
geographic location.
 Emerging technology - Technological changes that
are occurring may or may not favor the actions of
your enterprise.
 Cultural trends - Cultural changes such as fashion
trends and life style trends may or may not support
your offering's penetration of the market

The Prospect
It is essential to understand the market segment(s) as
defined by the prospect characteristics you have selected
as the target for your offering. Factors to consider include:

 The potential for market penetration involves

whether you are selling to past customers or a new
prospect, how aware the prospects are of what you
are offering, competition, growth rate of the industry
and demographics.
 The prospect's willingness to pay higher price
because your offering provides a better solution to
their problem.
 The amount of time it will take the prospect to make
a purchase decision is affected by the prospects
confidence in your offering, the number and quality
of competitive offerings, the number of people
involved in the decision, the urgency of the need for
your offering and the risk involved in making the
purchase decision.
  The prospect's willingness to pay for product value is
determined by their knowledge of competitive
pricing, their ability to pay and their need for
characteristics such as quality, durability, reliability,
ease of use, uniformity and dependability.
 Likelihood of adoption by the prospect is based on
the criticality of the prospect's need, their attitude
about change, the significance of the benefits,
barriers that exist to incorporating the offering into
daily usage and the credibility of the offering.

The Product/Service
You should be thoroughly familiar with the factors that
establish products/services as strong contenders in the
marketplace. Factors to consider include:

 Whether some or all of the technology for the

offering is proprietary to the enterprise.
 The benefits the prospect will derive from use of the
offering.
 The extent to which the offering is differentiated
from the competition.
 The extent to which common introduction problems
can be avoided such as lack of adherence to industry
standards, unavailability of materials, poor quality
control, regulatory problems and the inability to
explain the benefits of the offering to the prospect.
 The potential for product obsolescence as affected by
the enterprise's commitment to product
development, the product's proximity to physical
limits, the ongoing potential for product
improvements, the ability of the enterprise to react
to technological change and the likelihood of
substitute solutions to the prospect's needs.
 Impact on customer's business as measured by costs
of trying out your offering, how quickly the customer
can realize a return from their investment in your
offering, how disruptive the introduction of your
 offering is to the customer's operations and the costs
to switch to your offering.
 The complexity of your offering as measured by the
existence of standard interfaces, difficulty of
installation, number of options, requirement for
support devices, training and technical support and
the requirement for complementary product
interface.

The Competition
It is essential to know who the competition is and to
understand their strengths and weaknesses. Factors to
consider include:

 Each of your competitor's experience, staying power,

market position, strength, predictability and freedom
to abandon the market must be evaluated.

Your Enterprise
An honest appraisal of the strength of your enterprise is a
critical factor in the development of your strategy. Factors
to consider include:

 Enterprise capacity to be leader in low-cost

production considering cost control infrastructure,
cost of materials, economies of scale, management
skills, availability of personnel and compatibility of
manufacturing resources with offering requirements.
 The enterprise's ability to construct entry barriers to
competition such as the creation of high switching
costs, gaining substantial benefit from economies of
scale, exclusive access to or clogging of distribution
channels and the ability to clearly differentiate your
offering from the competition.
 The enterprise's ability to sustain its market position
is determined by the potential for competitive
imitation, resistance to inflation, ability to maintain
high prices, the potential for product obsolescence
 and the 'learning curve' faced by the prospect.
 The prominence of the enterprise.
 The competence of the management team.
 The adequacy of the enterprise's infrastructure in
terms of organization, recruiting capabilities,
employee benefit programs, customer support
facilities and logistical capabilities.
 The freedom of the enterprise to make critical
business decisions without undue influence from
distributors, suppliers, unions, creditors, investors
and other outside influences.
 Freedom from having to deal with legal problems.

Development
A review of the strength and viability of the
product/service development program will heavily
influence the direction of your strategy. Factors to
consider include:

 The strength of the development manager including

experience with personnel management, current and
new technologies, complex projects and the
equipment and tools used by the development
personnel.
 Personnel who understand the relevant technologies
and are able to perform the tasks necessary to meet
the development objectives.
 Adequacy and appropriateness of the development
tools and equipment.
 The necessary funding to achieve the development
objectives.
 Design specifications that are manageable.

Production
You should review your enterprise's production
organization with respect to their ability to cost effectively
produce products/services. The following factors are
considered:
  The strength of production manager including
experience with personnel management, current and
new technologies, complex projects and the
equipment and tools used by the manufacturing
personnel.
 Economies of scale allowing the sharing of
operations, sharing of production and the potential
for vertical integration.
 Technology and production experience
 The necessary production personnel skill level and/or
the enterprise's ability to hire or train qualified
personnel.
 The ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers
bargaining power.
 The ability of the enterprise to control the quality of
raw materials and production.
 Adequate access to raw materials and sub-assembly
production.

Marketing/Sales
The marketing and sales organization is analyzed for its
strengths and current activities. Factors to consider
include:

 Experience of Marketing/Sales manager including

contacts in the industry (prospects, distribution
channels, media), familiarity with advertising and
promotion, personal selling capabilities, general
management skills and a history of profit and loss
responsibilities.
 The ability to generate good publicity as measured
by past successes, contacts in the press, quality of
promotional literature and market education
capabilities.
 Sales promotion techniques such as trade
allowances, special pricing and contests.
 The effectiveness of your distribution channels as
 measured by history of relations, the extent of
channel utilization, financial stability, reputation,
access to prospects and familiarity with your offering.
 Advertising capabilities including media relationships,
advertising budget, past experience, how easily the
offering can be advertised and commitment to
advertising.
 Sales capabilities including availability of personnel,
quality of personnel, location of sales outlets, ability
to generate sales leads, relationship with
distributors, ability to demonstrate the benefits of
the offering and necessary sales support capabilities.
 The appropriateness of the pricing of your offering as
it relates to competition, price sensitivity of the
prospect, prospect's familiarity with the offering and
the current market life cycle stage.

Customer Services
The strength of the customer service function has a strong
influence on long term market success. Factors to
consider include:

 Experience of the Customer Service manager in the

areas of similar offerings and customers, quality
control, technical support, product documentation,
sales and marketing.
 The availability of technical support to service your
offering after it is purchased.
 One or more factors that causes your customer
support to stand out as unique in the eyes of the
customer.
 Accessibility of service outlets for the customer.
 The reputation of the enterprise for customer service.

Conclusion
After defining your strategy you must use the information
you have gathered to determine whether this strategy will
achieve the objective of making your enterprise
competitive in the marketplace. Two of the most
important assessments are described below.
Cost To Enter Market
This is an analysis of the factors that will influence your
costs to achieve significant market penetration. Factors to
consider include:

 Your marketing strength.

 Access to low cost materials and effective production.
 The experience of your enterprise.
 The complexity of introduction problems such as lack
of adherence to industry standards, unavailability of
materials, poor quality control, regulatory problems
and the inability to explain the benefits of the
offering to the prospect.
 The effectiveness of the enterprise infrastructure in
terms of organization, recruiting capabilities,
employee benefit programs, customer support
facilities and logistical capabilities.
 Distribution effectiveness as measured by history of
relations, the extent of channel utilization, financial
stability, reputation, access to prospects and
familiarity with your offering.
 Technological efforts likely to be successful as
measured by the strength of the development
organization.
 The availability of adequate operating capital.

Profit Potential
This is an analysis of the factors that could influence the
potential for generating and maintaining profits over an
extended period. Factors to consider include:

 Potential for competitive retaliation is based on the

competitors resources, commitment to the industry,
cash position and predictability as well as the status
of the market.
 The enterprise's ability to construct entry barriers to
 competition such as the creation of high switching
costs, gaining substantial benefit from economies of
scale, exclusive access to or clogging of distribution
channels and the ability to clearly differentiate your
offering from the competition.
 The intensity of competitive rivalry as measured by
the size and number of competitors, limitations on
exiting the market, differentiation between offerings
and the rapidity of market growth.
 The ability of the enterprise to limit suppliers
bargaining power.
 The enterprise's ability to sustain its market position
is determined by the potential for competitive
imitation, resistance to inflation, ability to maintain
high prices, the potential for product obsolescence
and the 'learning curve' faced by the prospect.
 The availability of substitute solutions to the
prospect's need.
 The prospect's bargaining power as measured by the
ease of switching to an alternative, the cost to look
at alternatives, the cost of the offering, the
differentiation between your offering and the
competition and the degree of the prospect's need.
 Market potential for new products considering market
growth, prospect's need for your offering, the
benefits of the offering, the number of barriers to
immediate use, the credibility of the offering and the
impact on the customer's daily operations.
 The freedom of the enterprise to make critical
business decisions without undue influence from
distributors, suppliers, unions, investors and other
outside influences.

Ans-2
Today, the youth within the age gap of 20 – 30, commonly called the
twentysumthing has become the most profitable segment for marketers.
After all, this slice of the larger young adult market is nearly 38 million
strong (and growing), spends more than $150 billion annually, is
predisposed towards early adoption, and the bulk of its brand loyalties are
still in a state of flux.   Outperform your competition and you’ll generate
immediate gains to the bottom line while building lasting brand loyalties. 
Miss the boat and you risk giving away a priceless competitive advantage.
TODAY’S TWENTYSOMETHINGS
To be successful, packaging must address the unique mindset and leading
behavioral drivers of today’s young adults.  The market’s psyche is driven
by several key factors:
Rapidly Evolving
Young adults are evolving at warp speed in language, lifestyle, usage,
consideration set, and attitudes.  What’s cool today, may be passé
tomorrow: brands can become obsolete faster than a speeding train.
Market Savvy
Today’s young adults are acutely aware that they are a highly desirable
target market.  In a time when advertising has infiltrated pop culture,
twentysomethings are well versed with the dynamics of marketing and
sales: they’ve “been there, done that”.  Don’t be fooled… the market may
look naïve, but it’s composed of highly experienced and enlightened
consumers.
Cynical
Having been touched by crime, AIDS, drugs, corporate downsizing, and an
endless parade of political scandals, twentysomethings expect to be
mugged by marketers.  (Sad, but true.)   Product claims are instantly
interpreted as hype and greeted with intense skepticism.
Time Crunched
Packaging can, and should, help facilitate faster decision-making.  Young
adults live in an accelerated culture where time is a precious commodity. 
No matter what their age or socioeconomic status, they are struggling to
balance work and leisure.   Products and services that deliver increased
productivity or improved quality of life will be duly rewarded.
“Adventure Seeking”
With the advent of the Global Village, young adults are taking full
advantage of what the world has to offer in music, food, culture, fashion,
travel, ad infinitum.  They love to “adventure seek” and have the financial
resources to do so.  Except for a few lucky brands, young adults typically
brand surf from one product to the next.  As such, this audience is usually
the first to adopt a new product, brand, or line extension.
Culturally Diverse
Today’s young adults are the most ethnically diverse group in American
history.  Remember, folks, this is the “MTV Generation”.  A gangster rap
video here, an alternative rock video there, Tommy Hilfiger in the inner city,
FUBU in the suburbs have blurred the lines that once formally separated
one ethnic group from another.  The implications on packaging strategy
have yet to be fully understood.
Sophisticated (Sometimes)
The market is incredibly sophisticated across a variety of product
categories, but by no means all.  The average young adult may be quite
knowledgeable about high involvement categories such as fashion,
electronics, music, computers, and entertainment.  In fact, in such
categories, their role as Early Adopters and Influencers is nothing short of
profound.  Conversely, peripheral categories (read: MOST product
categories) are low involvement and, hence, call for split decision making.  
“Um, I’ll take that… ah, THAT piece of gum please.”  Packaging can play
an instrumental role in young adult purchasing because the market is NOT
as sophisticated about most product categories as it would like you to
believe.
Also, this segment is strongly categorized for having a very strong network
value. Social networks play an important role in this segment.

Ans-3

The 10 elements of good copy (Corbett)

All of the bold elements are required
1. If your advertising is in print, you need a powerful headline or
anopening statement if your advertising is electronic
 According to David Garfinkel, author of Advertising Headlines
That Make You Rich, an effective headline is a simple formula
Present a statement that begs a question. For example, Dale
Carnegie’s “How to win friends and influence people” begs the
question of how to win friends or influence people. A few
examples:
 Real Estate:How to close on your home and make more
moneySelf Defense: How to protect yourself and stay fit
 The number one priority you want to keep in mind is to have a
headline which begs a question and leaves something to be
figured out by your reader.
2. The Basic Story
 This is where you will deliver a one-sentence snapshot of what
your company does. Do you sell cellular phones and electronics?
Maybe it should read, “Get connected instantly to your friends
with our cellular phones”
3. The Proposition
 The proposition should reflect your powerful headline and
provide a justification for your prospects why they should do
business with you. Usually it is delivered in the future tense. A
cellular phone shop might say, “You will be broadcasting your
voice the moment you leave our store”.
4. The Exact Offer
 The exact offer is often times the first part of your guarantee.
State what you promise to do in your copy. There was a
tremendously successful used car commercial running on the Las
Vegas airwaves which read, “”His name is John Barr, he’s gonna
sell you a car”. You cannot get any more spot on than that.
5. A Guarantee
 Don’t promise anything you cannot deliver, but if you can include
a guarantee in your script, do so.
 6. Immediacy
 Call now! Act Now! Time is running out! Can you create a sense
of urgency? This element is only practical if you are issuing a call
to action in your ad copy and might not need to be used for all
advertising copy.
7. Your Name
8. Your Location
9. Your Unique Selling Position
 I discussed this briefly in the last section of, “What is the purpose
of local advertising” and this is mandatory. What perception
are you creating? How are you branding yourself to your local
market? This is what you must communicate
10. Items in your business which need addressing
Four Step Process
To round off today’s post, Corbett discusses a four step method to use when
writing your copy.

1. Get the attention of your target market using your headline

2. Let them know what it is you are offering
3. Develop your proposition with the rest of your ad - get them to act
now
4. Tell your target what you are offering

Ans-4

Media Planning
Definition: The process of establishing the exact media vehicles to be
used for advertising
Choosing which media or type of advertising to use is sometimes tricky for
small firms with limited budgets and know-how. Large-market television
and newspapers are often too expensive for a company that services only
a small area (although local newspapers can be used). Magazines, unless
local, usually cover too much territory to be cost-efficient for a small firm,
although some national publications offer regional or city editions.
Metropolitan radio stations present the same problems as TV and metro
newspapers; however, in smaller markets, the local radio station and
newspaper may sufficiently cover a small firm's audience.
That's why it's important to put together a media plan for your advertising
campaign. The three components of a media plan are as follows:
1. Defining the marketing problem. Do you know where your business is
coming from and where the potential for increased business lies? Do you
know which markets offer the greatest opportunity? Do you need to reach
everybody or only a select group of consumers? How often is the product
used? How much product loyalty exists?
2. Translating the marketing requirements into attainable media
objectives. Do you want to reach lots of people in a wide area (to get the
most out of your advertising dollar)? Then mass media, like newspaper and
radio, might work for you. If your target market is a select group in a
defined geographic area, then direct mail could be your best bet.
3. Defining a media solution by formulating media strategies. Certain
schedules work best with different media. For example, the rule of thumb is
that a print ad must run three times before it gets noticed. Radio advertising
is most effective when run at certain times of the day or around certain
programs, depending on what market you're trying to reach.
Advertising media generally include:

 Television

 Radio

 Newspapers

 Magazines (consumer and trade)

 Outdoor billboards

 Public transportation
 Yellow Pages

 Direct mail

 Specialty advertising (on items such as matchbooks, pencils,

calendars, telephone pads, shopping bags and so on)

 Other media (catalogs, samples, handouts, brochures, newsletters

and so on)

When comparing the cost and effectiveness of various advertising media,

consider the following factors:

 Reach. Expressed as a percentage, reach is the number of

individuals (or homes) you want to expose your product to through
specific media scheduled over a given period of time.

 Frequency. Using specific media, how many times, on average,

should the individuals in your target audience be exposed to your
advertising message? It takes an average of three or more exposures to
an advertising message before consumers take action.

 Cost per thousand. How much will it cost to reach a thousand of

your prospective customers (a method used in comparing print media)?
To determine a publication's cost per thousand, also known as CPM,
divide the cost of the advertising by the publication's circulation in
thousands.

 Cost per point. How much will it cost to buy one rating point for your
target audience, a method used in comparing broadcast media. One
rating point equals 1 percent of your target audience. Divide the cost of
the schedule being considered by the number of rating points it delivers.

 Impact. Does the medium in question offer full opportunities for

appealing to the appropriate senses, such as sight and hearing, in its
graphic design and production quality?

 Selectivity. To what degree can the message be restricted to those

people who are known to be the most logical prospects?
Reach and frequency are important aspects of an advertising plan and are
used to analyze alternative advertising schedules to determine which
produce the best results relative to the media plan's objectives.
Calculate reach and frequency and then compare the two on the basis of
how many people you'll reach with each schedule and the number of times
you'll connect with the average person. Let's say you aired one commercial
in each of four television programs (A, B, C, D), and each program has a
20 rating, resulting in a total of 80 gross rating points. It's possible that
some viewers will see more than one announcement--some viewers of
program A might also see program B, C, or D, or any combination of them.
For example, in a population of 100 TV homes, a total of 40 are exposed to
one or more TV programs. The reach of the four programs combined is
therefore 40 percent (40 homes reached divided by the 100 TV-home
population).
Many researchers have charted the reach achieved with different media
schedules. These tabulations are put into formulas from which you can
estimate the level of delivery (reach) for any given schedule. A reach curve
is the technical term describing how reach changes with increasing use of a
medium. The media salespeople you work with or your advertising agency
can supply you with these reach curves and numbers.
Now let's use the same schedule of one commercial in each of four TV
programs (A, B, C, D) to determine reach versus frequency. In our
example, 17 homes viewed only one program, 11 homes viewed two
programs, seven viewed three programs, and five homes viewed all four
programs. If we add the number of programs each home viewed, the 40
homes in total viewed the equivalent of 80 programs and therefore were
exposed to the equivalent of 80 commercials. By dividing 80 by 40, we
establish that any one home was exposed to an average of two
commercials.
To increase reach, you'd include additional media in your plan or expand
the timing of your message. For example, if you're only buying "drive time"
on the radio, you might also include some daytime and evening spots to
increase your audience. To increase frequency, you'd add spots or
insertions to your existing schedule. For example, if you were running three
insertions in a local magazine, you'd increase that to six insertions so that
your audience would be exposed to your ad more often.
Gross rating points (GRPs) are used to estimate broadcast reach and
frequency from tabulations and formulas. Once your schedule delivery has
been determined from your reach curves, you can obtain your average
frequency by dividing the GRPs by the reach. For example, 200 GRPs
divided by an 80 percent reach equals a 2.5 average frequency.
Frequency is important because it takes a while to build up awareness and
break through the consumer's selection process. People are always
screening out messages they're not interested in, picking up only on those
things that are important to them. Repetition is the key word here. For
frequency, it's much better to advertise regularly in small spaces than it is
to have a one-time expensive advertising extravaganza.

Ans-5

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience

(viewers, readers or listeners) to take some action with respect to products,
ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer
behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and
ideological advertising is also common. Advertising messages are usually
paid for by sponsors and viewed via various media; including traditional
media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor or direct
mail; or new media such as websites and text messages.
Commercial advertisers often seek to generate increased consumption of
their products or services through "branding," which involves the repetition
of an image or product name in an effort to associate certain qualities with
the brand in the minds of consumers. Non-commercial advertisers who
spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service
include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations and
governmental agencies. Nonprofit organizations may rely on free modes of
persuasion, such as a public service announcement.
 Modern advertising developed with the rise of mass production in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. In 2010, spending on advertising was
estimated at more than $300 billion in the United States [1] and $500 billion
worldwide[citation needed].
Internationally, the largest ("big four") advertising conglomerates
are Interpublic, Omnicom, Publicis, and WPP.

Ans -6

Definition of Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to many kinds of incentives and techniques directed
towardsconsumers and traders with the intention to produce immediate or short-
term sales effects.

DEFINITION OF SALES PROMOTION

“Sales promotion includes incentive-offering and interest-creating activities which

are generallyshort-term marketing events other than advertising, personal selling,
publicity and direct marketing. The purpose of sales promotion is to
stimulate, motivate and influence the purchase and other desired behavioral
responses of the firm’s customers.”

Sales promotion offers a direct inducement to act by providing extra worth over

and above what is built into the product at its normal price. These temporary
inducements are offered usually at a time and place where the buying decision is
made. Not only are sales promotions very common in the current competitive
market conditions, they are increasing at a fast pace. These promotions are direct
inducements. In spite of the directness, sales promotions are fairly complicated
and a rich tool of marketing with innumerable creative possibilities limited only by
the imagination of promotion planners. Sales promotion is often referred to by
the names of ‘extra purchase value’ and ‘below-the-line selling’.
Today we find companies in almost all sectors offering some sort of
a promotion scheme. These sectors range from automobiles to beverages, from
financial services to foods, from household durables to services, from household
products to business products, from personal care to textiles and apparel.
Tags: Promotion | Sales Promotion | sales promotion and
marketing | strategy in sales