UNIT 5: PROMOTION AND RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN MARKETING

MARKS: 08

Sub: Marketing (H+G)

By Sumedha Chakraborty

PART I of Unit 5

PROMOTION

In marketing, promotion refers to any type of marketing communication used to inform or

persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or issue.

The aim of promotion is to increase awareness, create interest, generate sales or create brand
loyalty.

It is one of the basic elements of the market mix, which includes the four Ps, i.e., product, price,
place, and promotion.

Promotion is also one of the elements in the promotional mix or promotional plan.

These are personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing publicity and may also
include event marketing, exhibitions and trade shows.

Promotion covers the methods of communication that a marketer uses to provide information
about its product. Information can be both verbal and visual.

The term promotion derives from the Old French, promocion meaning to "move forward", "push
onward" or to "advance in rank or position" which in turn, comes from the
Latin, promotionem meaning "a moving forward".

The word entered the English language in the 14th century.

Nature and Characteristics of Promotion

(i) Promotion is a form of communication with an additional element of persuasion to
accept ideas, products, services and hence persuasive communication becomes the
heart of promotion, the third element of marketing-mix.
 (ii) Promotion helps people know that the right product at right price is available at the
right place.
(iii) In a competitive market, without promotion, practically no sale is effected.
(iv) Promotion is the process of marketing communication to inform, persuade, remind
and influence consumers in favour of a product or service.
(v) It communicates marketing information to consumers, users and resellers.
(vi) It persuades and convinces the buyer and influences his/her behavior to take the
desired action.
(vii) Promotional efforts act as powerful tools of competition, providing the cutting edge
of its entire marketing programme.
(viii) Promotion is defined as the co-ordinated self-initiated efforts to establish channels of
information and persuasion to facilitate or foster the sale of goods or services, or the
acceptance of ideas.
(ix) It can create and stimulate demand, capture demand from rivals and maintain demand
even against stiff competition.

IMPORTANCE OF PROMOTION:

(i) Promotional activity provides about the characteristics and multi use of the products
of various competition in the market. The customers are attracted to buy the goods on
the basis of such information successfully.
(ii) Promotion helps in filling the gap between producers and consumers.
(iii) Large scale selling is possible with the proper promotional activity.
(iv) The promotional activities increase the standard of living by providing the better
goods at a lower rate due to large scale production and selling.
(v) Promotional activity helps to increase more employment opportunities to the people
who are unemployed, as the promotional activities cannot be performed without the
help of an effective sales force and specialists in various fields.
(vi) It provides good support in selling the different type of goods.
(vii) Promotion helps to increase the speed of the product acceptance.

COMMUNICATION PROCESS:

The term communication process refers to the exchange of information (a message) between two
or more people.

For communication to succeed, both parties must be able to exchange information and
understand each other.
If the flow of information is blocked for some reason or the parties cannot make themselves
understood, then communication fails

Although marketing can take many forms, all marketing is an act of communication. The
fundamental goal of marketing is to deliver a message to potential consumers designed to
convince them to perform a specific action--usually to purchase a particular product or
service. To be an effective marketer, one must have a keen grasp on the effects of different
media on communication and understand how consumers are most likely to interpret various
messages.

TYPES OF PROMOTION:

Advertising
(i) Advertising means to advertise a product, service or a company with the help of television,
radio or social media.
(ii) It helps in spreading awareness about the company, product or service.
(iii) Advertising is communicated through various mass media, including traditional
media such as newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising or direct
mail; and new media such as search results, blogs, social media, websites or text
messages.

Direct Marketing
(i) Direct marketing is a form of advertising where organizations communicate directly
to customers through a variety of media including cell phone text messaging, email,
websites, online adverts, database marketing, fliers, catalog distribution, promotional
letters and targeted television, newspaper and magazine advertisements as well as outdoor
advertising.
(ii) Among practitioners, it is also known as a direct response.
Sales Promotion
(i) Sales promotion uses both media and non-media marketing communications for a pre-
determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or
improve product availability

Personal Selling
(i) Personal Selling is a method where companies send their agents to the consumer to sell the
products personally.

(ii) Here, the feedback is immediate and they also build a trust with the customer which is
very important.

Public Relation
(i) Public relation or PR is the practice of managing the spread of information between an
individual or an organization (such as a business, government agency, or a nonprofit
organization) and the public.
(ii) A successful PR campaign can be really beneficial to the brand of the organization.
 BASIS FOR
ADVERTISING PUBLICITY
COMPARISON

Meaning The activity of generating The activity of providing

advertisements of products information about an
and services to entity, i.e. a product, an
commercialize them is individual or a company to
known as Advertising. make it popular is known
as Publicity.

What is it? It is what the company says It is what others say about
about its product. the product.
 BASIS FOR
ADVERTISING PUBLICITY
COMPARISON

Cost involved Very expensive marketing Free of cost.

tool.

Given by Company and its Third Party

representative

Is it under the Yes No

control of the
company?

Which type of Positive It may be positive or

message it negative.
conveys?

Credibility and Less Comparatively more

Reliability

Focus on Target Audience Awareness

Repeatation Yes No