VI.

THE PROMOTIONAL MIX: THE TOOLS FOR IMC

The Role of Promotion - Promotion is defined as the coordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up
channels of information and persuasion to sell goods and services or promote an idea. It should be noted
that promotion is best viewed as the communication function of marketing. The discussion of integrated
marketing communications should point how other marketing elements such as brand name, package
design, price or retail outlets implicitly communicate with consumers. However, most of an
organization’s communication with the marketplace takes place through a carefully planned and
controlled promotional program which utilizes elements of the promotional mix. The promotional mix
is defined as the basic tools or elements that are used to accomplish organization’s objectives. The role
and function of each promotional mix element in the marketing program can be discussed along with its
advantages and limitations.

A. Advertising—any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, product,

service, or idea by an identified sponsor.

Advantages
 cost-effective way for communicating, particularly with large audiences
 ability to create images and symbolic appeals and for differentiating similar products and services
 valuable tool for creating and maintaining brand equity
 ability to strike responsive chord with audience through creative advertising
 opportunity to leverage popular advertising campaigns into successful IMC programs which can
generate support from retailers and other trade members
 ability to control the message (what, when and how something is said and where it is delivered)

Disadvantages:
 the cost of producing and placing ads can be very high, particularly television commercials
 it can be difficult to determine the effectiveness of advertising
 there are credibility and image problems associated with advertising
 the vast number of ads has created clutter problems and consumers are not paying attention to much
of the advertising they see and/or hear

The nature and purpose of advertising differs from one industry to another and across various situations
as does its role and function in the promotional program. The common classifications of advertising to the
consumer market include national, retail/local and direct-response advertising as well as primary versus
selective demand advertising. Classifications of advertising to the business and professional market
include industrial, professional and trade advertising. These classifications are described in Figure 1-4.

Professor Notes
B. Direct Marketing—a system of marketing by which organizations communicate directly with
target customers to generate a response and/or a transaction. Direct marketing has not
traditionally been considered an element of the promotional mix. However, because it has
become such an integral part of the integrated marketing communications program of many
organizations, this text views it as a component of the promotional mix.

Advantages:
 changes in society (two-income households, greater use of credit) have made consumers more
receptive to the convenience of direct-marketed products
 allows a company to be very selective and target its marketing communications to specific
customer segments
 messages can be customized to fit the needs of specific market segments
 effectiveness of direct-marketing efforts are easier to assess than other forms of promotion

Disadvantages:
 consumers and businesses are being bombarded with unsolicited mail and phone calls which
makes them less receptive to direct-marketing
 direct marketing has image problems
 problems with clutter as their are too many direct-marketing messages competing for
consumers’ attention

C. Interactive/Internet Marketing – interactive media allow for a back-and-forth flow of

information whereby users can participate in and modify the content of the information they
receive in real time. The major interactive medium is the Internet, which is a global collection of
computer networks linking both public and private computer systems. While the most prevalent
perspective on the Internet is that it is an advertising medium, it is actually a medium that can be
used to for other elements of the promotional mix as well including sales promotion, direct
marketing, and public relations. The rapid penetration of cell phones and smartphones (iPhones,
Blackberries) is leading to a rapid growth in mobile marketing whereby marketing messages are
sent directly to the devices.

Advantages:
 the Internet can be used for a variety of integrated marketing communication functions including
advertising, direct marketing, sales promotion, public relations and selling. The Internet is also
the foundation for social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter which are becoming an
integral part of many marketers IMC programs.
 messages can be tailored to appeal to the specific interests and needs of the target audience
 the interactive nature of the Internet leads to a higher degree of customer involvement when
customers are visiting a web site.
  the Internet makes it possible to provide customers with a great deal of information regarding
product and service descriptions and specifications, purchase information and more. Information
provided by marketers can be updated and changed continually.
 The Internet has tremendous creative potential as a well-designed web site can attract a great deal
of attention and interest among customers and be an effective way to generate interest in a
company as well as its various products and services.
Disadvantages
 the Internet is not yet a complete mass medium as about a quarter of U.S. households do not
have access to the Internet and many do not have broadband access. In some countries this
percentage is much higher.
 there are problems with the Internet as an advertising medium as many Internet users do not
pay attention to banner ads and the click-through rate on most is extremely low.
 there is a great deal of clutter on the Internet which makes it difficult for advertising
messages to be noticed and/or given attention.

D. Sales Promotion—marketing activities that provide extra value or incentive to the sales force,
distributors, or the ultimate consumer and can stimulate immediate sales. Sales promotion is
generally broken into two major categories: consumer-oriented and trade-oriented activities.

Advantages:
 provides extra incentive to consumer or middlemen to purchase or stock and promote a brand
 way of appealing to price sensitive consumer
 way of generating extra interest in product or ads
 effects can often be more directly measured than those of advertising
 can be used as a way of building or reinforcing brand equity

Disadvantages:
 many companies are becoming too reliant on sales promotion and focusing too much
attention on short-run marketing planning and performance
 many forms of sales promotion do not help establish or reinforce brand image and short-term
sales gains are often achieved at the expense of long-term brand equity
 problems with sales promotion clutter as consumers are bombarded with too many coupons,
contests, sweepstakes and other promotional offers
 consumers may become over-reliant on sales promotion incentives which can undermine the
development of favorable attitudes and brand loyalty.
 in some industries promotion wars may develop whereby marketers sales promotion
incentives extensively which results in lower profit margins and makes it difficult to sell
products at full price
 It is important to address the potential terminology problem concerning the use of the terms
promotion and sales promotion. In this text the term promotion represents an element of the
marketing mix by which firms communicate with their customers and includes the various
promotional mix elements. However, many marketing and advertising practitioners use the term
promotion in reference to sales promotion activities. We use the term promotion in the broader
sense. When discussing sales promotion activities, we are referring to this one specific element
of the promotional mix.

E. Publicity/Public Relations

Publicity—nonpersonal communications about an organization, product, service, or idea that is

not directly paid for nor run under identified sponsorship.
Public Relations—a management function which evaluates public attitudes, identifies the public
policies and procedures of an individual or organization with the public interest, and executes a
program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance.

The distinction should be made between publicity and public relations noting that public relations
generally has a broader objective than publicity, as its purpose is to establish and maintain a
positive image of the company among its various publics. Publicity is an important
communications technique used in public relations; however other tools may also be used.

Advantages of Publicity:
 credibility of publicity is usually higher than other forms of marketing communication
 low cost way of communicating
 often has news value and generates word-of-mouth discussion among consumers

Disadvantages of Publicity:
 lack of control over what is said, when, where and how it is said
 can be negative as well as positive

E. Personal Selling—direct person-to-person communication whereby a seller attempts to assist

and/or persuade prospective buyers to purchase a company’s product or service or act on an idea.

Advantages:
 direct contact between buyer and seller allows for more communication flexibility
 can tailor and adapt message to specific needs or situation of the customer
 allows for more immediate and direct feedback
 promotional efforts can be targeted to specific markets and customers who are best prospects
Disadvantages:
 high cost per contact ($155 to $300, depending on the industry)
 expensive way to reach large audiences
 difficult to have consistent and uniform message delivered to all customers
Professor Notes

VI. IMC INVOLVES AUDIENCE CONTACTS

The various promotional mix elements are the major tools that marketers use to communicate with current
and/or prospective customers as well as other relevant audiences. Many companies are taking an
audience contact perspective in developing their IMC programs whereby they consider all of the potential
ways of reaching their target audience with their messages. The various ways that a customer can come
into contact with a company or brand is are shown in Figure 1-5. It is the responsibility of those involved
in the marketing communications planning process to determine how each of these contact tools can be
used to communicate with the target audience and how they can be combined to form an effective IMC
program. New to this edition is a discussion of four basic categories of contact or touch points which
include:

 Company created touch points which are planned marketing communication messages such as
advertisements, web sites, news/press releases, packaging, sales promotion offers and point-of-
purchase display.

 Intrinsic touch points which are interactions that occur with a company or brand during the
process of buying or using a product or service such as discussion with retail sales personnel or
customer service representatives.

 Unexpected touch points which are unanticipated references or information about a company or
brand that a customer or prospect receives that is beyond the control of the organization. This
includes word-of-mouth messages as well as information from various media sources.

 Customer-initiated touch points or interactions that occur whenever a customer or prospect

contacts a company. These contacts often involve inquiries or complaints that must be handled
properly by the company such as through customer service departments.

VII. THE IMC PLANNING PROCESS

Integrated marketing communications management is defined as the process of planning, executing,
evaluating, and controlling the use of the various promotional-mix elements to effectively communicate
with target audiences. It involves coordinating the promotional mix elements to develop a controlled and
integrated program of effective marketing communication. It involves various decision areas such as:

 which promotional tools to use and how to combine them effectively

 determining the size of and distributing the advertising and promotional budget

 determining the influence of various factors on the promotional mix including the type of product,
target market, decision process of the buyer, stage of the product life cycle, and channels of
distribution
This process is guided by the development of the integrated marketing communications plan which
provides the framework for developing, implementing, and controlling an organization’s IMC program
and activities. At this point it is helpful to go through the Integrated Marketing Communications Planning
Model presented in Figure 1-7 of the text.

The steps in the Integrated Marketing Communications Planning Model include:

1. Review of the Marketing Plan – the first step in the IMC planning process is to review the
marketing plan which is a document that describes the overall marketing strategy and programs
developed for an organization, a product/service line, or an individual brand.

2. Promotional Program Situation Analysis

- Internal Analysis
- External Analysis

3. Analysis of the Communications Process – determining how the company can effectively
communicate with customers in the target market. An important part of this stage of the IMC
planning process is developing communication objectives which refer to what the firm seeks to
accomplish with its promotional program.

4. Budget Determination – two basic issues must be addressed with regard to the IMC budget:
 How much money will be spent on marketing communication
 How the money will be allocated across the various IMC tools
5. Developing the Integrated Marketing Communications Program - the most involved and detailed
part of the promotional planning process occurs at this stage as decisions have to be made
regarding the role and importance of each IMC tool and their coordination with one another. Each
IMC tool has its own set of objectives, budget, messaging and media strategy. These include:
 Advertising message and media strategy and tactics
 Direct marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Interactive/Internet Marketing message and media strategy and tactics
 Sales promotion message and media strategy and tactics
 Public relations/publicity strategy and tactics
 Personal selling – sales strategy and tactics
Integrating and Implementing Marketing Communications Strategies – the various IMC tools must be
integrated and steps must be taken to implement them. Most large companies hire external
agencies to plan and develop their creative messages and media strategies as well as to implement
them.

Monitoring, Evaluation and Control – the final stage of the IMC planning process involves monitoring,
evaluating and controlling the promotional program. At this stage, the marketing should be
gathering feedback concerning how well the IMC program is working and whether it is meeting
its objectives. It is important to note that information regarding the results achieved by the IMC
program is used in subsequent IMC planning and strategy development.