In developing a promotional plan, you must consider your basic
promotional objectives. You also have to develop promotional strategies to reach those objectives. Then as a part of their strategies, they must choose among various promotional
tools that may be used alone or in combination.
You may think that the ultimate objective of any type of promotion is to increase sales. You're right. After all, the goal of any business is to make money, & companies make money by making sales. However, products, & control volume.
- Communication of Information
A very basic objective of promotion is to communicate information from one person or organization to another. Consumers cannot buy a product unless they have been informed about it.
Information may advise customers about the availability of a product. It may educate them on the latest technological advances. Or it may announce the candidacy of someone running for a government office.
Information may be communicated in writing (newspapers & magazines) It may be communicated verbally (in person or over the telephone) Or it may be communicated visually (television, a match book cover, or a billboard). Today, the communication of information regarding a company's products or services is so important that markets try to place it wherever consumers may be.
Another objective of promotion, Product Positioning, is to establish an easily identifiable image of a product in the minds of consumers. For example, by selling only in department stores. Lauder products have positioned themselves as more upscale than cosmetics sold in drugstores. Given all the brands & trademarks in the marketers seek a unique position in buyer's minds.
Positioning a product is difficult because the company is trying to appeal to a specific segment of the market rather than to the market as a whole. First, the company must identify which segments of a market could would be likely purchasers of its product & who is competitors are.
Only then can it focus its promotional strategy on differentiating its product fiom the competition's, while appealing to its target authence.
Another objective of promotions is sales volume control. Many companies such as Hallmark Cards, experience seasonal sales patterns. By increasing its promotional activities in slow periods, the firm can achieve a more stable sales volume throughout the year. As a result, it can keep its production & distribution systems running evenly. Promotions can even turn slow seasons into peak sales periods. For example, greeting card companies & florists together have done much to create Grandparents' day. The result has been increased consumer desire to send cards & flowers to older relatives in the middle of what was a dry for these industries.
Once a firm's promotional objectives are clear, it must develop a promotional strategy to achieve these objective. Promotional strategies may be of the push or pull variety. A company with a Push strategy will aggressively push its product through wholesalers & retailers, who persuade customers to buy it. In contrast, a company with Pull strategy appeals directly to customers who demand the product from retailers, who in turn demand the product fiom wholesalers.
Makers of industrial products most often use a Push strategy and manufacturers of consumer products will often use a Pull strategy. Many large firms use a combination of the two strategies. For example, General Foods uses advertising to create consumer demand (pull) for its cereals. It also pushes wholesalers & retailers to stoke these products. Once the promotional strategy has been determined, it guides the company's choice of promotional objectives & the types promotional communicational tools that will be used.
- Picking the Right Tools for the Promotional Mix
Based on these strategies, the firm must select promotional tools. There are four basis types of promotional; tools: Advertising, Personal selling, Sales promotions, & Publicity/Public relations.
The best combination of these tools- the best promotional mix- depends on many factors. The company's product, the costs of different tools versus the promotional budget.
