APPLIED MARKETING

Session 6

What are marketing communications?

Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform,

persuade and remind consumers, directly or indirectly, about the products and brands

they sell.

IMC builds brands

Table 19.1a Common advertising communication platforms

• Print and broadcast ads• Packaging – outer and

inserts• Motion pictures• Brochures and booklets• Posters and leaflets• Directories

• Reprints of ads• Billboards• Display signs• Point-of-purchase

displays• Audiovisual material• Symbols and logos• Videotapes

Table 19.1b Sales promotion communication platforms

Contests, games, sweepstakes and lotteries

Premiums and gifts Sampling Fairs and trade

shows Exhibits Demonstrations

Coupons Rebates Low-interest

financing Entertainment Trade-in allowances Continuity

programmes Tie-ins

Table 19.1c Events and experiences platforms

Sports Entertainment Festivals Arts Causes Factory tours Company museums Street activities

Table 19.1d Public relation and publicity communication platforms

Press kits Speeches Seminars Annual reports Charitable donations

Publications Community relations Lobbying Identity media Company magazine

Table 19.1e Direct and interactive communication platforms

Catalogues Mailings Telemarketing Electronic shopping Blogs

TV shopping Fax Email Voicemail Websites

Table 19.1 Common communication platforms (continued)

Table 19.1f Other common communication platforms

Word-of-mouth marketing

Person to person Chatrooms Blogs

Personal selling Sales presentations Sales meetings Incentive programmes Samples Fairs and trade shows

Table 19.1 Common communication platforms (continued)

Figure 19.3 Response hierarchy modelsSources: aE. K. Strong (1925) The Psychology of Selling, New York: McGraw-Hill, p. 9; bR. J. Lavidge and G. A. Steiner, (1961) A model for predictive measurements of advertising effectiveness, Journal of Marketing, October, 61; cE. M. Rogers (1962) Diffusion of Innovation, New York: Free Press, pp. 79-86; dVarious sources

Figure 19.2 Elements in the communication process

Field of experience

Receiver’s

field

Sender’s

field

The communications process

Selective attention

Selective distortion

Selective retention

An ideal ad campaign

The right consumer is exposed to the message at the right time and place

The ad causes consumer to pay attention The ad reflects consumer’s level of

understanding and behaviors with product The ad correctly positions brand in terms

of points-of-difference and points-of-parity The ad motivates consumers to consider

purchase of the brand The ad creates strong brand associations

Designing the communications

Message strategy Creative strategy Message source Global adaptation

Advantages to parts of the marketing communications mix

Advertising Pervasiveness Amplified

expressiveness Impersonality

Sales promotion Communication Incentive Invitation

Public relations and publicity High credibility Ability to catch

buyers off guard Dramatisation

Events and experiences Relevant Involving Implicit

Advantages to parts of the marketing communications mix

Direct marketing Customised Up-to-date Interactive

Personal selling Personal interaction Cultivation Response

Word-of-mouth marketing

Credible Personal Timely

Advantages to parts of the marketing communications mix

Cost effectiveness by buyer readiness stage

Figure 19.5 Cost effectiveness of three different communication tools at different buyer readiness stages

Where is the problem?

Advertising objectives

How would you connect these with the Product Life Cycle?

Informative

advertising

Reminder

advertising

Reinforcement

advertising

Persuasive

advertising

Choosing among majormedia types

Target audience and media habits Product characteristics Message characteristics Cost

Slide 19.23

Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen, Marketing Management, 1st Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2009

Measures of audience size

Circulation Audience Effective audience Effective ad-exposed audience Unique visitors

Television

Advantages Reaches broad

spectrum of consumers Low cost per exposure Ability to demonstrate

product use Ability to portray image

and brand personality

Disadvantages Brief Clutter High cost of production High cost of placement Lack of attention by

viewers

Print ads

Advantages Detailed product

information Ability to

communicate user imagery

Flexibility Ability to segment

Disadvantages Passive medium Clutter Unable to

demonstrate product use

Print ad evaluation criteria

Is the message clear at a glance? Is the benefit in the headline? Does the illustration support the headline? Does the first line of the copy support or

explain the headline and illustration? Is the ad easy to read and follow? Is the product easily identified? Is the brand or sponsor clearly identified?

Print ad evaluation -- Stickiness Simplicity, Concreteness, Unexpectedness Credibility – details, statistics, sinatra test,

testible Emotions –imagine yourself, “They

laughed when I sat down at the piano, but when I started to play…”

Stories – Challenge (David and Goliath), Connection (do good story), Creativity (apple on Newton’s head)

Sales promotion tactics

Consumer-directed

Samples Coupons Cash refund offers Price offs Premiums Prizes Patronage rewards Free trials Tie-in promotions

Trade-directed Price offs Allowances Free goods Sales contests Spiffs Trade shows Specialty

advertising

Why sponsor events?

To identify with a particular target market or life style.

To increase brand awareness. To create or reinforce consumer perceptions

of key brand image associations. To enhance corporate image. To create experiences and evoke feelings. To express commitment to community. To entertain key clients or reward employees. To permit merchandising or promotional

opportunities.

Tasks aided by public relations

Launching new products Repositioning a mature product Building interest in a product category Influencing specific target groups Defending products that have

encountered public problems Building the corporate image in a way

that reflects favorable on products

Public relations functions

Press relations Product publicity Corporate communications Lobbying Counselling

Evaluating advertising effectiveness

Communication effect research Consumer feedback method Portfolio tests Laboratory tests

Sales-effect research

What is direct marketing?

Direct marketing is the use of consumer-direct channels to reach and deliver goods and services to customers without using market middlemen.

Direct mail

Catalogs

Telemarketing

Email

Online promotional opportunities Websites Search ads Display ads Viral marketing Internet-specific

ads and videos

Sponsorships Social Media Online

communities Email Mobile marketing

Guerilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy in which low-cost unconventional means (graffiti, sticker bombing, flash mobs) are utilized, often in a localized fashion or large network of individual cells, to convey or promote a product or an idea.

Viral Marketing Techniques that use pre-existing social

networks to produce increases in brand awareness or to achieve other marketing objectives (such as product sales) through self-replicating viral processes, analogous to the spread of viruses 

It can be delivered by word of mouth or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet.

The key to effective viral: Create and execute an idea that's intriguing enough to get consumers to interact. 

Slide 19.43

Kotler, Keller, Brady, Goodman and Hansen, Marketing Management, 1st Edition © Pearson Education Limited 2009

Message source: Tipping Point Products and messages can spread like a

virus Only need a few people, but the right ones:

1. Connectors – know many people, highly networked, social glue, spread message

2. Mavens – information specialists, compulsion to help others make good decisions, data banks

3. Salespeople – persuasive

Place advertising

Billboards Public spaces Product placement Point-of-purchase