ORGANISATIONAL STRUCTURE OF A TELEVISION NEWS CHANNEL

The organizational structure of television channel can broadly be divided into the
following three main areas. 

  

–Editorial

–Production

–Technical

Besides these areas there are the other departments which like any other
organization exists viz. accounts, administration, marketing, sales, HR etc.   
However, the above are the three main operational departments.

The position nomenclatures in news channels are not standardized.  For instance
the job role played by a Producer in one organization may be undertaken by a
Director in another and vice-versa.

  

EDITORIAL

The editorial department consists of Reporters, Researchers, People on the desk,

Coordinators, News Editors, News Producers and Anchors.  

–Researchers: This is the starting job in the editorial department.  Nowadays not
many organizations have News Researchers as they expect the Reporter to do his
own research.  The job involves researching a particular subject so that the Reporter
has the background information available when he goes for the coverage.

–Reporters:  This is the most popular role in the editorial department. The Reporter
covers stories on location.  He does the interviews and is the on location director. 
Once back he scripts the story and gets it edited.

–Desk:  The people on the desk have a varied set of roles.  One is to keep
themselves abreast about what is happening all over the world the other is to check
scripts of Reporters for grammatical and factual errors.   Also they ensure that no
important story is left out.
–News Coordinator: Another crucial area in a newsroom is that of the News
Coordinator.  He not only keeps himself abreast of what is happening all over the
country but is also in touch with all his correspondents and stringers on the field.    At
any point of time he knows what his correspondents are doing.

–Editors:  There are mainly two kinds of Editors; Input and Output editors.  The
input ones decide what news items or stories are to be followed whereas the output
ones decide which stories are to be carried in the bulletin ( amongst the stories being
covered).  In some organizations the desk consists of just input editors, output
editors and producers.

–News Producers:  These people help the output editor in executing his decisions. 
Sometimes the output editor and producer is the same person.   The main role of the
editorial producer is to command the bulletin’s run-order.  The run-order is the order
in which stories are to be carried in the bulletin.  It also gives information about the
news story format and its readiness.  Today newsroom automation software are
available which make the process easy.

–Anchors: Also called presenters or hosts.  These are people who come in front of
the camera and introduce a news item. Earlier these people were called News
Readers but this nomenclature has changed with the roles of anchors changing over
the years.  Nowadays all anchors are expected to be journalists and not just read
news.  Hence they are also expected to interview and cross question guests in the
studio.

PRODUCTION

– Director / Producer:  The production unit is headed by the Director.  He decides

the look and feel of the programme and eventually executes what has been finalized
on paper by the News Producer.  In some channel this person is called the producer
of the show.  He also has the task of controlling the Production Control Room (or
PCR) when the news is being compiled.

–Graphics:  The graphics department makes all the graphics and fires them at the
right time under the guidance of the director.

–Lighting Directors:  They light the studio based on the Director’s instructions.

–Assistant Producers: These people assist the director in his work.  The work
could range from compiling the story sent by a stringer, news agency or keep stories
ready for telecast or run the Autocue machine.  Autocue machines are computers
with a see through screen at one side.  The camera can see through and focus on
the anchor whereas the anchor can see a computer screen and read the news.
–Production Assistants:  Junior assistant producers are called Production
Assistants.

TECHNICAL

–Cameramen:  They operate the camera both on location and in studios.

–Sound Recordists:  They record and control sound levels on location and in
studios.

–Video Editors:  These people edit the footage available as per a script.

–Lightmen: They are junior level staff who actually light up a place.

–Vision Mixers:  They are online editors who cut from one camera to another Or
from a camera to a Video Recorder based on the Director’s instructions.  They work
with a series of monitors which are available with him on location.  The Vision Mixing
Console is a machine which makes this possible for the Vision Mixer.

–CCU Operators:  Camera Control Unit Operators match the various cameras in a
studio.  Unmatched cameras will make a programme look unprofessional with
different cameras showing different colour and light balance.

–Maintenance Engineers: They maintain all the equipment

–MCR / VSAT operators: Master Control Room or MCR sends the completed
programme signals to the earth station from which they are sent to the satellite.
They also control the signals coming from other studios and OB Vans (Outside
Broadcast Vans)

–Computer Engineers:  Nowadays the entire operations in a newsroom are

automated hence computer engineers are a part and parcel of any news team.

Last modified: Monday, 31 December 2007, 02:58 PM

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merchandising
  

Definition
Activities aimed at quick retail sale of goods using bundling, display techniques, free samples, on-the-spot
demonstration, pricing, shelf talkers, special offers, and other point-of-sale methods. According to American
Marketing Association, merchandising encompasses "planning involved in marketing the right merchandise or service
at the right place, at the right time, in the right quantities, and at the right price."

Read more: http://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/merchandising.html#ixzz16ZuxItZO

Sponsorship can be defined as follows:

Supporting an event, activity or organisation by providing money or other resources that is

of value to the sponsored event. This is usually in return for advertising space at the event
or as part of the publicity for the event.

There are many kinds of sponsorship:

• Television and radio programme sponsorship (e.g. Cadbury’s sponsor broadcasts of

Coronation Street). The increasing fragmentation of television in the UK through new digital
channels is providing many more opportunities for sponsorship of this kind

• Sports sponsorship: major sporting events have the advantage of being attended and (more
importantly) watched by large numbers of people. They also attract significant media
coverage.

• Arts sponsorship; arts events or organisations are not as well attended as sports events but
are often regarded as more “worthy” and more in keeping with the image of certain
businesses and brands.

• Educational sponsorship; this can take several forms from the sponsoring of individual
students at college through to the provision of books and computers nationwide using the
redemption of product or store-related vouchers (e.g. Tesco’s Computers for Schools)

What is involved in developing a sponsorship promotion?

Smith suggests a six-stage process to decide what and how to sponsor:

(1) Analyse the current situation: look at which other businesses are sponsoring in the target
area. Are competitors already doing this and is it providing them with an advantage?
(2) Define the sponsorship objectives: e.g. raise awareness of the brand; build an image;
promote a new product

(3) Agree the strategy: how does the sponsorship fit in with any other promotional activity?

(4) Develop the tactics: agree the details of what to sponsor, price, timing etc

(5) Define the target audience

(6) Consider what resources are needed to make the sponsorship a success.

Introduction

Personal selling can be defined as follows:

Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention
of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with
the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale"

Personal selling is one of the oldest forms of promotion. It involves the use of a sales force to
support a push strategy (encouraging intermediaries to buy the product) or a pull strategy
(where the role of the sales force may be limited to supporting retailers and providing after-
sales service).

What are the main roles of the sales force?

Kotler describes six main activities of a sales force:

(1) Prospecting - trying to find new customers

(2) Communicating - with existing and potential customers about the product range

(3) Selling - contact with the customer, answering questions and trying to close the sale

(4) Servicing - providing support and service to the customer in the period up to delivery and
also post-sale

(5) Information gathering - obtaining information about the market to feedback into the
marketing planning process

(6) Allocating - in times of product shortage, the sales force may have the power to decide
how available stocks are allocated

What are the advantages of using personal selling as a means of promotion?

• Personal selling is a face-to-face activity; customers therefore obtain a relatively high

degree of personal attention
• The sales message can be customised to meet the needs of the customer

• The two-way nature of the sales process allows the sales team to respond directly and
promptly to customer questions and concerns

• Personal selling is a good way of getting across large amounts of technical or other complex
product information

• The face-to-face sales meeting gives the sales force chance to demonstrate the product

• Frequent meetings between sales force and customer provide an opportunity to build good
long-term relationships

Given that there are many advantages to personal selling, why do more businesses not
maintain a direct sales force?

Main disadvantages of using personal selling

The main disadvantage of personal selling is the cost of employing a sales force. Sales people
are expensive. In addition to the basic pay package, a business needs to provide incentives to
achieve sales (typically this is based on commission and/or bonus arrangements) and the
equipment to make sales calls (car, travel and subsistence costs, mobile phone etc).

In addition, a sales person can only call on one customer at a time. This is not a cost-effective
way of reaching a large audience.

promotion- push and pull strategies

"Push or Pull"?

Marketing theory distinguishes between two main kinds of promotional strategy - "push" and
"pull".

Push

A “push” promotional strategy makes use of a company's sales force and trade promotion
activities to create consumer demand for a product.

The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote it to retailers,
and the retailers promote it to consumers.

A good example of "push" selling is mobile phones, where the major handset manufacturers
such as Nokia promote their products via retailers such as Carphone Warehouse. Personal
selling and trade promotions are often the most effective promotional tools for companies
such as Nokia - for example offering subsidies on the handsets to encourage retailers to sell
higher volumes.
A "push" strategy tries to sell directly to the consumer, bypassing other distribution channels
(e.g. selling insurance or holidays directly). With this type of strategy, consumer promotions
and advertising are the most likely promotional tools.

Pull

A “pull” selling strategy is one that requires high spending on advertising and consumer
promotion to build up consumer demand for a product.

If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers
will ask the wholesalers, and the wholesalers will ask the producers.

A good example of a pull is the heavy advertising and promotion of children's’ toys – mainly
on television. Consider the recent BBC promotional campaign for its new pre-school
programme – the Fimbles. Aimed at two to four-year-olds, 130 episodes of Fimbles have
been made and are featured everyday on digital children's channel CBeebies and BBC2.

As part of the promotional campaign, the BBC has agreed a deal with toy maker Fisher-Price
to market products based on the show, which it hopes will emulate the popularity of the
Tweenies. Under the terms of the deal, Fisher-Price will develop, manufacture and distribute
a range of Fimbles products including soft, plastic and electronic learning toys for the UK
and Ireland.

In 2001, BBC Worldwide (the commercial division of the BBC) achieved sales of £90m from
its children's brands and properties last year. The demand created from broadcasting of the
Fimbles and a major advertising campaign is likely to “pull” demand from children and
encourage retailers to stock Fimbles toys in the stores for Christmas 2002.

promotion - sales promotion

Introduction

A good definition of sales promotion would be as follows:

“An activity designed to boost the sales of a product or service. It may include an advertising
campaign, increased PR activity, a free-sample campaign, offering free gifts or trading
stamps, arranging demonstrations or exhibitions, setting up competitions with attractive
prizes, temporary price reductions, door-to-door calling, telemarketing, personal letters on
other methods”.

More than any other element of the promotional mix, sales promotion is about “action”. It is
about stimulating customers to buy a product. It is not designed to be informative – a role
which advertising is much better suited to.

Sales promotion is commonly referred to as “Below the Line” promotion.

Sales promotion can be directed at:

• The ultimate consumer (a “pull strategy” encouraging purchase)

• The distribution channel (a “push strategy” encouraging the channels to stock the product).
This is usually known as “selling into the trade”

Methods of sales promotion

There are many consumer sales promotional techniques available, summarised in the table
below:

Price promotions

Price promotions are also commonly known as” price discounting”

These offer either (1) a discount to the normal selling price of a product, or (2) more of the
product at the normal price.

Increased sales gained from price promotions are at the expense of a loss in profit – so these
promotions must be used with care.

A producer must also guard against the possible negative effect of discounting on a brand’s
reputation

Coupons

Coupons are another, very versatile, way of offering a discount. Consider the following
examples of the use of coupons:

- On a pack to encourage repeat purchase

- In coupon books sent out in newspapers allowing customers to redeem the coupon at a
retailer
- A cut-out coupon as part of an advert
- On the back of till receipts

The key objective with a coupon promotion is to maximise the redemption rate – this is the
proportion of customers actually using the coupon.

One problem with coupons is that they may simply encourage customers to buy what they
would have bought anyway. Another problem occurs when retailers do not hold sufficient
stocks of the promoted product – causing customer disappointment.

Use of coupon promotions is, therefore, often best for new products or perhaps to encourage
sales of existing products that are slowing down.

Gift with purchase

The “gift with purchase” is a very common promotional technique. It is also known as a
“premium promotion” in that the customer gets something in addition to the main purchase.
This type of promotion is widely used for:

- Subscription-based products (e.g. magazines)

- Consumer luxuries (e.g. perfumes)
Competitions and prizes

Another popular promotion tool with many variants. Most competition and prize promotions
are subject to legal restrictions.

Money refunds

Here, a customer receives a money refund after submitting a proof of purchase to the
manufacturer.
These schemes are often viewed with some suspicion by customers – particularly if the
method of obtaining a refund looks unusual or onerous.

Frequent user / loyalty incentives

Repeat purchases may be stimulated by frequent user incentives. Perhaps the best examples
of this are the many frequent flyer or user schemes used by airlines, train companies, car hire
companies etc.

Point-of-sale displays

Research into customer buying behaviour in retail stores suggests that a significant proportion
of purchases results from promotions that customers see in the store. Attractive, informative
and well-positioned point-of-sale displays are, therefore, very important part of the sales
promotional activity in retail outlets.

advertising- why and what?

Why and what should a business advertise?

Before undertaking an advertising campaign, marketers should be able to answer two key
questions:

(1) Why are we advertising?

(2) What are we advertising?

On the face of it these seem like two fairly obvious questions. But they are significant.
Advertising can be a very expensive promotional tool. It is widely believed that much
advertising spend is wasted. So careful consideration about “Why” and “What” can pay
dividends.

Why advertise?

The following may be good reasons why a business is advertising:

• To create awareness, customer interest or desire

• To boost sales (moving the demand curve to the right)

• To build brand loyalty (or to maintain it at the existing level)

• To launch a new product

• To change customer attitudes – perhaps trying to move a product more “upmarket” or to

dispel some widely held perceptions about the product

• To support the activities of the distribution channel (e.g. supporting a “pull” strategy)

• To build the company or brand image

• To reminds and reassure customers

• To offset competitor advertising – businesses may defend market share by responding to

competitors’ campaigns with their own advertising

• To boost public standing: companies can boost their public standing with advertisements
that link them with generally approved campaigns such as care for the environment

• To support the sales force – advertising can make the job of the sales force easier and more
effective by attracting leads from potential customers and perhaps motivate them by boosting
the profile of the business

Take a look through any magazine and select a sample of adverts. Which of the above
reasons do you think are behind the adverts you choose? Don’t forget that some adverts aim
to achieve multiple objectives.

What to advertise?

Factors that help answer the “what are we advertising”? focus on what the advertising
message should be. In general, there are really only two kinds of effective advertising
message:

Firstly, does the business/product have a Unique Selling Proposition (“USP”)

A unique selling proposition is a customer benefit that no other product can claim

In reality these are rare, although that does not stop marketers from claiming them for their
products.

Secondly, does the thing that is being advertised “add value” and if so, how?

For example, advertising for washing powders will focus on the “added value” created by
whitening agents or the fact that a particular formulation will last longer than the competition
(take a look at the Fairy web site to see if you can spot the other “added value” features
claimed for its products)
Whatever is advertised, it is important that the message is:

• Seen
• Read
• Believed
• Remembered
• Action upon by target customers

promotion - introduction to the

promotional mix
It is not enough for a business to have good products sold at attractive prices. To generate
sales and profits, the benefits of products have to be communicated to customers. In
marketing, this is commonly known as "promotion".

Promotion is all about companies communicating with customers.

A business' total marketing communications programme is called the "promotional mix" and
consists of a blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations tools.
In this revision note, we describe the four key elements of the promotional mix in more
detail.

It is helpful to define the four main elements of the promotional mix before considering their
strengths and limitations.

(1) Advertising

Any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the "prime media": i.e.
television, newspapers, magazines, billboard posters, radio, cinema etc. Advertising is
intended to persuade and to inform. The two basic aspects of advertising are the message
(what you want your communication to say) and the medium (how you get your message
across)

(2) Personal Selling

Oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale.
The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer,
but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale".

(3) Sales Promotion

Providing incentives to customers or to the distribution channel to stimulate demand for a

product.

(4) Publicity

The communication of a product, brand or business by placing information about it in the

media without paying for the time or media space directly. otherwise known as "public
relations" or PR.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Element of the Promotional Mix

Mix Element Advantages Disadvantages

Advertising Good for building awareness Impersonal - cannot answer all a
customer's questions
Effective at reaching a wide audience
Not good at getting customers to
Repetition of main brand and product make a final purchasing decision
positioning helps build customer trust
Personal Selling Highly interactive - lots of Costly - employing a sales force
communication between the buyer has many hidden costs in addition
and seller to wages

Excellent for communicating Not suitable if there are thousands

complex / detailed product of important buyers
information and features

Relationships can be built up -

important if closing the sale make
take a long time
Sales Can stimulate quick increases in sales If used over the long-term,
Promotion by targeting promotional incentives customers may get used to the
on particular products effect

Good short term tactical tool Too much promotion may damage
the brand image
Public Often seen as more "credible" - since Risk of losing control - cannot
Relations the message seems to be coming from always control what other people
a third party (e.g. magazine, write or say about your product
newspaper)

Cheap way of reaching many

customers - if the publicity is
achieved through the right media

promotion - direct marketing

Introduction

Direct marketing is concerned with establishing an individual relationship between the

business offering a product or service and the final customer.

Direct marketing has been defined by the Institute of Direct Marketing as:
The planned recording, analysis and tracking of customer behaviour to develop a
relational marketing strategies

The process of direct marketing covers a wide range of promotional activities you may be
familiar with. These include:

• Direct-response adverts on television and radio

• Mail order catalogues
• E-commerce (you bought this marketing companion following tutor2u’s direct marketing
campaign!)
• Magazine inserts
• Direct mail (sometimes also referred to as “junk mail”)
• Telemarketing

Direct mail

Of the above direct marketing techniques, the one in most widespread use is direct mail.

Direct mail is widely thought of as the most effective medium to achieve a customer sales
response.

Why?

• The advertiser can target a promotional message down to an individual level, and where
possible personalise the message. There are a large number of mailing databases available
that allow businesses to send direct mailing to potential customers based on household
income, interests, occupation and other variables

• Businesses can first test the responsiveness of direct mailing (by sending out a test mailing
to a small, representative sample) before committing to the more significant cost of a larger
campaign

• Direct mailing campaigns are less visible to competitors – it is therefore possible to be more
creative, for longer

However, direct mail has several weaknesses:

• A piece of direct mail is less “interactive” than a television or radio advert, although
creative packaging can still stimulate customer response

• Lead times to produce direct mailing campaigns can be quite long

• There is increasing customer concern with “junk mail” – the receipt of unsolicited mail
which often suggests that the right to individual privacy has been breached.

The Direct marketing database

Direct mailing is based on the “mailing list” – a critical part in the direct marketing process.
The mailing list is a database which collects together details of past, current and potential
customers. A properly managed mailing database enables a business to:
• Focus on the best prospective customers

• Cross-sell related products

• Launch new products to existing customers

How is the mailing database compiled?

The starting point is the existing information the business keeps on its customers. All forms
of communication between a customer and the business need to be recorded so that a
detailed, up-to-date profile can be maintained.

It is also possible to “buy” mailing lists from elsewhere. There are numerous mailing list
owners and brokers who sell lists of names. The Internet, directories, associations and other
sources are good sources.

promotion- the promotional mix

Promotional mix

It is helpful to define the five main elements of the promotional mix before considering their
strengths and limitations.

Advertising

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the

"prime media": i.e. television, newspapers, magazines, billboard posters, radio, cinema etc.
Advertising is intended to persuade and to inform.

The two basic aspects of advertising are the message (what you want your communication to
say) and the medium (how you get your message across)

Direct marketing

Direct marketing creates a direct relationship between the customer and the business on an
individual basis.

Personal Selling

Personal selling refers to oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the
intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a
relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close
the sale".

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion refers to the provision of incentives to customers or to the distribution

channel to stimulate demand for a product.
Public Relations

Public relations is the communication of a product, brand or business by placing information

about it in the media without paying for the time or media space directly

Factors that determine the type of promotional tools used

Each of the above components of the promotional mix has strengths and weaknesses. There
are several factors that should be taken into account in deciding which, and how much of
each tool to use in a promotional marketing campaign:

(1) Resource availability and the cost of each promotional tool

Advertising (particularly on television and in the national newspapers can be very expensive).
The overall resource budget for the promotional campaign will often determine which tools
the business can afford to use.

(2) Market size and concentration

If a market size is small and the number of potential buyers is small, then personal selling
may be the most cost-effective promotional tool.

A good example of this would be businesses selling software systems designed for
supermarket retailers. On the other hand, where markets are geographically disperse or,
where there are substantial numbers of potential customers, advertising is usually the most
effective.

(3) Customer information needs

Some potential customers need to be provided with detailed, complex information to help
them evaluate a purchase (e.g. buyers of equipment for nuclear power stations, or health
service managers investing in the latest medical technology). In this situation, personal
selling is almost always required - often using selling teams rather than just one individual.

By contrast, few consumers need much information about products such as baked beans or
bread. Promotional tools such as brand advertising and sales promotion are much more
effective in this case.

promotion - advertising: introduction

The Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA), the body which represents advertising
agencies, defines advertising as:

"The means of providing the most persuasive possible selling message to the right
prospects at the lowest possible cost".

Kotler and Armstrong provide an alternative definition:

"Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas,
goods and services through mass media such as newspapers, magazines, television or
radio by an identified sponsor".

There are five main stages in a well-managed advertising campaign:

Stage 1: Set Advertising Objectives

An advertising objective is a specific communication task to be achieved with a specific

target audience during a specified period of time. Advertising objectives fall into three main
categories:

(a) To inform - e.g. tell customers about a new product

(b) To persuade - e.g. encourage customers to switch to a different brand

(c) To remind - e.g. remind buyers where to find a product

Stage 2: Set the Advertising Budget

Marketers should remember that the role of advertising is to create demand for a product. The
amount spent on advertising should be relevant to the potential sales impact of the campaign.
This, in turn will reflect the characteristics of the product being advertised.

For example, new products tend to need a larger advertising budget to help build awareness
and to encourage consumers to trial the product. A product that is highly differentiated may
also need more advertising to help set it apart from the competition - emphasising the points
of difference.

Setting the advertising budget is not easy - how can a business predict the right amount to
spend. Which parts of the advertising campaign will work best and which will have relatively
little effect? Often businesses use "rules-of-thumb" (e.g. advertising/sales ratio) as a guide to
set the budget.

Stage 3: Determine the key Advertising Messages

Spending a lot on advertising does not guarantee success (witness the infamous John Cleese
campaign for Sainsbury). Research suggests that the clarity of the advertising message is
often more important than the amount spent. The advertising message must be carefully
targeted to impact the target customer audience. A successful advertising message should
have the following characteristics:

(a) Meaningful - customers should find the message relevant

(b) Distinctive - capture the customer's attention

(c) Believable - a difficult task, since research suggests most consumers doubt the truth of
advertising in general

Stage 4: Decide which Advertising Media to Use

There are a variety of advertising media from which to chose. A campaign may use one or
more of the media alternatives. The key factors in choosing the right media include:

(a) Reach - what proportion of the target customers will be exposed to the advertising?

(b) Frequency - how many times will the target customer be exposed to the advertising
message?

(c) Media Impact - where, if the target customer sees the message - will it have most
impact? For example does an advert promoting holidays for elderly people have more impact
on Television (if so, when and which channels) or in a national newspaper or perhaps a
magazine focused on this segment of the population?

Another key decision in relation to advertising media relates to the timing of the campaign.
Some products are particularly suited to seasonal campaigns on television (e.g. Christmas
hampers) whereas for other products, a regular advertising campaign throughout the year in
media such as newspapers and specialist magazines (e.g. cottage holidays in the Lake
District) is more appropriate.

Stage 5: Evaluate the results of the Advertising Campaign

The evaluation of an advertising campaign should focus on two key areas:

(1) The Communication Effects - is the intended message being communicated effectively
and to the intended audience?

(2) The Sales Effects - has the campaign generated the intended sales growth. This second
area is much more difficult to measure.