Text 1: communication versus promotion
How do different organizations communicate with their various publics? Why is information so important? The answer is that the market system, the business system, and the world trade system all need an efficient two-way flow of information among producers, middlemen (for example, wholesalers and retailers), and consumers. That need has led to an explosive growth of computers to handle the information flow. Let's pause and discuss the difference between marketing communication and promotion.
-
Marketing communication is a two - way exchange of information between buyers and sellers. Organizations communicate with various publics. Listening is the key to marketing communications.
-
Promotion is a one-way attempt of marketers (buyers and sellers) to persuade others to participate in an exchange relationship with them. Promoters talk to others.
Marketing communication is a dialogue, and involves talking with. Promotion is talking to. Both are necessary in successful marketing relationship, but the more talking with that occurs, the less talking to is necessary.
Successful marketers have learned that organizations have many "publics" that must be considered in a marketing program. The first "public" is the firm's employees. An internal marketing program is one designed to commit employees to the objectives of the firm. Like all marketing efforts, internal marketing begins with listening and being responsive to employees.
Text 2: marketing communication system (mcs)
A marketing communication system consists of these three steps:
1. Listening to the various publics of an organization. This is called "marketing intelligence" and "marketing research".
-
Responding to that information by designing products and services that those publics want. This is called "corporate responsiveness".
-
Promoting the organization and its product to those publics to let them know that the firm is listening, is responding, and does have the desired products and services.
Text 3: marketing intelligence versus marketing research
Marketing intelligence is a constant stream of information from many sources, many of them unplanned. It consists of compliments and complaints from customers, letters, comments by employees, conversations overheard in airports and millions of other bits and pieces of information packed up by the corporate executives, employees, and friends.
Marketing research, on the other hand, is the 'formal gathering of data and information to learn about specific problems and issues. Marketing research data become part of marketing intelligence. The problem with marketing research as the source for marketing decision making is that research is done infrequently.
Text 4: promotion
After an organizations has listened to its publics, studied its internal records, and its policies and procedures to meet the desires of others, it is ready to promote. Pre-testing of promotional message helps assure the organization that the message will be effective. The elements a promotion manager uses to reach the public is called the promotion mix (see Figure 2).
|
|
The promotional mix.
This figure shows that the product offer is the central focus of the promotional mix. The offer is based on consumer wants and needs. All of the communication elements are designed to promote the exchange of the product offer for something of value.
|
Figure 2.
A promotion mix is some combination of promotional tools (for example advertising, personal selling, public relations, publicity, sales promotion, a good product or service, word-of-mouth) that can be used to communicate to various publics.
Most companies develop a fixed attitude towards promotional expenditure which is often unrelated to its effectiveness.
Research indicates that the distinction between media or above-the-line expenditure (newspapers, magazines, radio, posters, television) and non-media or below-the-line methods (leaflets, point of sale, catalogues, brochures, exhibitions, trade gift) tends to be reflected in long and short term effects on sales; above-the-line expenditure resulting in long - term sales development and below-the-line in short - term changes.
Each public calls for a separate mix. For example, consumers are usually most efficiently reached through advertising. Large organisations are best reached through personal selling. To motivate people to buy now rather than later, sales promotion efforts such as coupons, discounts, special displays, premiums and so on may be used. Publicity adds support to the other efforts and can create a good impression among all publics.