Unit VI Promotion 10 Hrs

Level of knowledge: Conceptual

Significance of Integrated Marketing communication, Advertising, sales
promotion, personal selling and sales management. Public and customer
relations, direct and online marketing, multi level marketing-the new marketing
model. Other promotional strategies (Buzz Marketing, Stealth Marketing and
Guerrilla Marketing)

What is importance of 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

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.[2]
A promotional plan specifies how much attention to pay to each of the elements
in the promotional mix, and what proportion of the budget should be allocated to
each element.

Promotion covers the methods of communication that a marketer uses to provide

information about its product. Information can be both verbal and visual.

Functions of Promotion
The most important promotion functions are:
1. Creating an image of prestige, low prices, innovation,
2. Information about the product and its characteristics,
3. Preservation of the popularity of goods (services),
4. Change the way you use the product,
5. The creation of enthusiasm among market participants,
6. Convince buyers to move to more expensive goods,
7. Answers to consumer questions,
8. Favourable information about the company.

The company’s promotion plan usually allocates separate goods and services to
push consumers from awareness to buying. However, the company can also try to
express its general image, position on a particular issue, take part in local life or
have an impact on society.
A good promotion plan links goods, distribution, and marketing and price
components of marketing.
Informing, Persuading, Reminding
Promotion implies any form of actions used by the firm to inform, persuade and
remind consumers about their products, services, images, ideas, social activities.
The firm can transmit the messages it needs through brand names, packaging,
shop windows, personal sales, industry exhibitions, lotteries, mass media, direct
mail messages, outdoor ads, magazines and other forms. These messages can
focus on information, persuasion, fear, sociability, product performance, humor
or comparisons with competitors.
The consumers need to be informed, about new products and their characteristics,
while they do not have any relation to it.
For products that consumers are well aware of, the main thing in promotion is the
transformation of knowledge about the goods into a benevolent attitude towards
it.
For the products firmly established in the market, the emphasis is on reminding -
strengthening the existing attitude of consumers

What Are the Benefits of Promotion?

• First of all, increasing the brand awareness among consumers.
• Provide relevant information
• Increase in potential customers and traffic of customers
• Increase in profits and sales
• The introduction of products in a constantly competitive market with the
help of promotions.

Effective Marketing Communication Strategy

Many companies spend a large amount of time and money on product collateral,
PR campaigns and on other option but with that either companies do not reach
and properly deliver their message to their target customers or cannot achieve
their business objectives and goals. However, those companies make Effective
Marketing Communication Strategies, differentiates themselves from the
competitors, as well as an effective Marketing Communication Strategy is also
serve as a means of establishing meaningful connections with prospects and
customers.
The development of effective marketing communications strategies involves five
steps:
1. Identify the Target Audience
2. Determining the Communication Goals & Objectives
3. Designing a Compelling Message
4. Select Communications Channels
5. Feedback of communication Strategy
Advertising, Sales promotion, Personal Selling and Sales Management.

Marketing Communication Mix

What exactly is the marketing communication mix?

The marketing communication mix refers to a set of tools used to promote
services or products to a target set of customers. The key is in the name –
communication, meaning a list of important principles and factors that go into the
act of promoting those products and services.
Here are the twelve factors commonly associated with the marketing
communication mix:
1. Selling (personal selling)
2. Advertising
3. Sales promotion
4. Direct marketing
5. Publicity and public relations
6. Sponsorship
7. Exhibitions
8. Packaging
9. Point-of-sale merchandising
10. Word of mouth
11. Internet/Social Media Marketing
12. Corporate Identity/image
Twelve factors of the marketing communication mix

1. Selling
Selling refers to the process of making the sale of your product/service. This
includes your employees who are sales people and the sales tactics they would
use to present your product or service.
In a larger organization, this might include your sales manager and sales people
who may go out into the field and knock on doors, or visit businesses, or even on
the sales floor of your business as in an auto dealership. In a small sized or family
business, selling may be undertaken by a cashier, for example in the case of a
small retail store or family owned restaurant. The cashier may double as the sales
person, making menu suggestions in the case of the restaurant.
You don’t have to be a large company to organize and plan an effective sales
strategy. You can be a small retail store with one shop and have a sales strategy
where every employee is a participant, helping generate sales for the business.

2. Advertising
Advertising is defined as the action of calling something to the attention of the
public especially by paid announcements. Advertisement can be considered an
umbrella factor of the communications mix that covers various other factors, such
as PR, word-of-mouth, and sponsorship, just to name a few.

Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of a

product by an identified sponsor. In developing an advertising program,
marketing managers must always start by identifying the target market and buyer
motives. Then they can make the five major decisions, known as "the five Ms":
Mission, Money, Message, Media, and Measurement.

However, for discussion purposes, I will define advertising as any of those

announcements that are paid and available through print media, broadcast media,
or online banner advertising that presents an offer or helps position a product or
service.
While large organizations can spend millions of dollars on advertising in national
magazines, newspapers, and television, small businesses can also employ
advertising tactics on the local level without spending a fortune.
For example, if you are a local property management company with a single
physical location, you would not want to spend your time worrying about
national advertising, it would not only be out of your budget but ineffective.
Instead, focus your efforts on local and regional publications. You can also run
commercials on your local cable company at affordable rates, targeting your local
area.
 Setting the Objectives
An advertising objective (or advertising goal) is a specific communications task
and achievement level to be accomplished with a specific audience in a specific
period of time. We can classify advertising objectives according to whether their
aim is to inform, persuade, remain, or reinforce.

• Informative advertising aims to create brand awareness and knowledge of

new products or new features of existing product.
• Persuasive advertising aims to create liking, preference, conviction, and
purchase of a product or service.
• Reminder advertising aims to stimulate repeat purchase of products and
services.
• Reinforcement advertising aims to convince current purchasers that they
made the right choice.

Deciding on the Advertising Budget

Here are five specific factors to consider when setting the advertising budget.

1. Stage in the product life cycle -- New products typically merit large
budgets to build awareness and to gain consumer trial.
2. Market share and consumer base -- High-market-share brands usually
require less advertising expenditure as a percentage of sales to maintain share.
3. Competition and clutter -- In a market with many competitors and high
advertising spending, a brand must advertise more heavily to be heard.
4. Advertising frequency -- The number of repetitions needed to put the
brand's message across to consumers has an obvious impact on the advertising
budget.
5. Product substitutability -- Brands in less-differentiated or commodity-like
product classes (beer, soft drinks), require heavy advertising to establish a unique
image.
Developing the Advertising Campaign
In designing an ad campaign, marketers employ both art and science to develop
the message strategy or positioning of an ad -- what the ad attempts to convey
about the brand -- and its creative strategy -- how the ad expresses the brand
claims. Advertisers go through three steps: message generation and evaluation,
creative development and execution, and social-responsibility review.

Deciding on Media and Measuring Effectiveness

After choosing the message, the next task is to choose media to carry it. The steps
here are deciding on desired reach, frequency, and impact; choosing among major
media type; selecting specific media vehicles; deciding on media timing; and
deciding on geographical media allocation. Then the marketer evaluates the result
of these decisions.
3. Sales promotion
Sales promotion, a key ingredient in marketing campaigns, consists of a
collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker or
greater purchase of particular products or services by consumers or the trade.
Whereas advertising offers a reason to buy, sales promotion offers an incentive.

Sales promotion includes tools for consumer promotion (samples, coupons, cash
refund offers, prices off, premiums, prizes, patronage rewards, free trials,
warranties, tie-in promotions, cross-promotions, point-of-purchase displays, and
demonstrations), trade promotion (prices off, advertising and display allowances,
and free goods), and business and sales force promotion (trade shows and
conventions, contests for sales reps, and specialty advertising).

Sales Promotion Objectives

Sales promotion can be used to achieve a variety of objectives. Sales promotions
often attract brand switchers, who are primarily looking for low price, good
value, or premiums. In addition to brand switching, consumers may engage in
stockpiling -- purchasing earlier than usual (purchase acceleration) or purchasing
extra quantities -- although sales may then hit a post promotion dip.

Advertising versus Promotion

Several factors have contributed to the growth of sales promotion expenditures as
a percentage of the overall communication budget, particularly in consumer
markets. Promotion became more accepted by top management as an effective
sales tool, the number of brands increased, competitors used promotions
frequently, many brands were seen as similar, consumers became more price-
oriented, the trade demanded more deals from manufacturers, and advertising
efficiency declined. Small-share competitors may find it advantageous to use
sales promotion, because they cannot afford to match the market leaders' large
advertising budgets, nor can they obtain shelf space without offering trade
allowances or stimulate consumer trial without offering incentives. The upshot is
that many consumer-packaged-goods companies feel forced to use more sales
promotion than they wish.

Major Decisions
In using sale promotion, a company must establish its objectives, select the tools,
develop the program, pre-test the program, implement and control it, and evaluate
the results.

Examples of sales promotion includes coupons, buy one, get one free offers,
product samples, contests and prizes to name a few.
Yes, sales promotion is part of the 7Ps of marketing, but can also be part of the
communication mix because it is a specific “promotion” type.
While under the marketing mix, the sales promotion is mainly directed at the
consumer, however, it can be used toward employees of a specific organization or
business. For example, offering your employees a bonus or prize in a sales
contest, rewarding them for signing up customers to their service or bringing in
new customers to buy their products.
Small businesses can also employ sales promotions just as the big boys do.
An example I recently came across was for a local hair cutting salon. The salon is
located in a local shopping centre and offers 50% haircuts to patrons who bring in
a coupon. The catch is, the coupons are located in other business establishments
within the same shopping centre. Each business promotes other businesses in the
centre and offers coupons to entice consumers to purchase products or services.

4. Direct marketing
Direct marketing is any form of communication directed toward the individual
regardless of medium. There are three characteristics that distinguish direct
marketing from any form of communication delivery method:
1. Direct marketing has to be directed toward an individual within the target
audience regardless of delivery method. This can be done so through direct mail
or email.
2. Direct marketing has to have a specific call to action, meaning that it
instructs it’s recipient to take some action, such as call a phone number, mail in a
response card, or fill out an online form for further information or to make a
purchase.
3. Direct marketing requires data that can be tracked and measured from its
target audience or customers so that adjustments can be made in future contacts.
There’s a lot that goes into a direct mail campaign along with testing your
message, but it can be used with great success for both large and small
companies. When it comes to smaller businesses, they can leverage a direct
marketing campaign quite easily and one that won’t break the bank.
For example, a local bicycle shop can implement a direct marketing campaign by
collecting email addresses from local residents who purchase something from the
shop. The incentive to give their email address to the bicycle shop could be a
10% or more discount on future purchases or to receive future email promotions
and the monthly newsletter the bike shop emails.
So what we have here is a combination of direct marketing, internet marketing
(I’ll delve into that later…) and sales promotion, combined into one pretty
package.

5. Publicity (& public relations)

Publicity/public relations refers to the ability to generate interest about your
business, service, or product through media outlets at very little to no cost.
You may have heard the saying “bad publicity is better than no publicity,” and
though that may sound logical, I would rather strive for positive publicity.
Generating publicity is typically done through well crafted press releases and sent
to various publications that may have an interest in your product or service.
Small businesses can take advantage of generating publicity through local
magazines or newspapers since the local paper or publication is more readily
available to the local business, more so than larger publications. Examples of
news worthy of a press release by a local business could be an announcement for
a local veterinary hospital offering free vaccination to pet owners, or a restaurant
sponsoring a free entertainment night.

6. Sponsorship
Becoming part of a personally relevant moment in consumer's lives through
events and experiences can broaden and deepen a company or brand's
relationship with the target market. Daily encounters with brands may also affect
consumers' brand attitudes and beliefs. Atmospheres are "packaged
environments" that create or reinforce leanings toward product purchase.

Marketers report a number of reasons to sponsor events:

1. To identify with a particular target market or lifestyle -- Customers can be

targeted geographically, demographically, psychographically, or behaviourally
according to events.
2. To increase salience of company or product name -- Sponsorship often
offers sustained exposure to a brand, a necessary condition to reinforce brand
salience.
3. To create or reinforce perceptions of key brand image associations --
Events themselves have associations that help to create or reinforce brand
associations.
4. To enhance corporate image -- Sponsorship can improve perceptions that
the company is likable and prestigious.
5. To create experiences and evoke feelings -- The feelings engendered by an
exciting or rewarding event may indirectly link to the brand.
6. To express commitment to the community or on social issues -- cause-
related marketing sponsors non-profit organizations and charities.
7. To entertain key clients or reward key employees -- Many events include
lavish hospitality tents and other special services or activities only for sponsors
and their guests, to build goodwill and establish valuable business contacts.
8. To permit merchandising or promotional opportunities -- Many marketers
tie contests or sweepstakes, in-store merchandising, direct response, or other
marketing activities with an event.
Major Sponsorship Decisions
Marketing sponsorships successful requires choosing the appropriate events,
designing the optimal sponsorship program, and measuring the effects of
sponsorship.
• Choosing event opportunities -- The event must fit with the brand's
marketing objectives and communication strategy, attract the desired target
market, generate sufficient awareness and favorable attributions, posses the
desired image, and be capable of creating the desired effects.
• Designing sponsorship programs -- Many marketers believe the marketing
program accompanying an event sponsorship ultimately determines its success.
• Measuring sponsorship activities -- It's a challenge to measure the success
of events. The supply-side measurement method focuses on potential exposure to
the brand by assessing the extent of media coverage, and the demand-side method
focus on exposure reported by consumers, as well as resulting attitudes and
intentions toward the sponsor.

Creating Experiences
A large part of local, grassroots marketing is experiential marketing, which not
only communicates features and benefits but also connects a product or service
with unique and interesting experiences. "The idea is not to sell something, but to
demonstrate how a brand can enrich a customer's life." Consumers seem to
appreciate that.

Sponsorship refers to supporting an event, person, or activity financially or

through some other means, such as products.
Larger companies will often sponsor sporting venues, like the Staples Center in
Los Angeles, or sports teams like that in auto racing where you see each racing
team will have one major sponsor and many smaller sponsors. These companies
like to align themselves with winning teams and in return the winning, and not so
winning, teams receive large sums of cash to support their teams for equipment
and travel.
But sponsorship isn’t limited to only larger companies. Small companies can
participate in this form of advertising. Local sports teams like little league
baseball teams often seek out sponsors, or local clubs like a woman’s club often
seek out local businesses to sponsor an event. You may also want to check with
your local city activities coordinator to see if you can participate in a sponsorship
for upcoming city activities.

7. Exhibitions
Every industry has an annual or bi-annual trade show convention where the
organization rents out space to vendors in the industry who in turn showcase their
latest products or services and take the opportunity to meet current and potential
customers. These conventions or trade shows can get very expensive and
elaborate. However, there are smaller shows that offer affordable solutions for
small businesses. Typically the local Chamber of Commerce holds an annual
exhibition or two where local businesses can attend. There may be other, local,
professional organizations which hold exhibitions annually in your community.

8. Packaging
Packaging refers to the enclosing and containment of goods within a box, or other
material for display and sale. However, packaging can also refer to presentation
folders in the case of a service oriented business.
For example, if you are a local medical facility, your packaging may include a
presentation folder and additional flyers and brochures enclosed within the
presentation folder. Your packaging or folder design is critical in how your
customers view your brand identity and company. Creating a QR code for your
packaging that connects to your website, resource pages or social media could be
an effective touchpoint for customer engagement and improved customer success.
Keeping things professional helps promote a more positive and favorable view of
your business.
In working with a local taco shop restaurant, they began making homemade salsa.
When I met with the owners, they were placing their salsa in regular jars, with
just a label that listed the mildness or spiciness of the salsa. It goes without saying
that this package is bad since there is no hint at the name of the restaurant and
even its logo. In this case, we were eager to change the label adding the
identification signs.

9. Point-of-sale merchandising
Point-of-sale merchandise is exactly as it sounds like: merchandise that sits
where the sale is taking place.
For most stores, you see quite a bit of merchandise sitting next to the register
where customers are checking out and paying for their goods. The idea here is
that you will pick up the item at the last minute in an impulse and purchase the
item. You see this a lot with magazines, candy and gum products, and various
other small sized items.

10. Word of mouth

Word of mouth marketing is perhaps the least expensive form of advertising a
business can engage in, that’s because it’s free!
It can also be the most challenging form of advertising and that’s because you are
not in control of who says what to whom about your business.
However, there are some factors that you can employ that can help generate a
favorable word of mouth campaign:
1. Get your customers to try your product or service. If they don’t know what
you are offering or selling, then they can not talk about your business.
2. Have impeccable customer service and treat your customers with respect.
You want to make your customers feel welcomed in your place of business. I
have often told each of my clients that the company in their industry who wins at
the customer service game is the company who will be the most successful and
that’s because their customers will tell others, who will tell others, and so on.
3. Allow your customers to be involved in the decision making process of
your company. This can be done through surveys, either in store or online.
4. Stay in touch with your customers. Provide them with news about your
company or special offers on a regular basis. This can be done through traditional
direct mailings or via email newsletters.

11. Social media marketing

Ever since the explosion of the internet in the late 1990′s, many businesses have
turned toward marketing their products and services online. With 78% of the
North American population on the internet, it would be in your best interest to
have, at minimum, a web presence.
Internet marketing encompasses Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising, banner
advertising, email marketing and newsletters, as well as social media, including
having a presence on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, for
example.
While many businesses do have a presence online, I always advocate a strong,
traditional print marketing campaign to compliment your online marketing
campaign and that’s because not everyone online accesses their internet on a daily
basis. Plus, using traditional print media can help drive traffic to your website.

12. Brand identity & image

Your brand identity or corporate image refers to your company’s visual appeal.
From the company logo to the colours used in the logo and marketing collateral,
all communicate the company identity.
Businesses who have a consistent look throughout their marketing collateral tend
to be viewed more favourably. Customers tend to see these businesses with a
consistent image to be more serious and organized over their counterparts who
tend to be eclectic in their marketing collateral design.

Significance of Integrated Marketing communication,

Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications
Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is an approach used by
organizations to brand and coordinate their communication efforts. The American
Association of Advertising Agencies defines IMC as “a comprehensive plan
that evaluates the strategic roles of a variety of communication disciplines
and combines these disciplines to provide clarity, consistency and maximum
communication impact.” The primary idea behind an IMC strategy is to create a
seamless experience for consumers across different aspects of the marketing mix.
The brand’s core image and messaging are reinforced as each marketing
communication channel works together as parts of a unified whole rather than in
isolation.

The Shift from Fragmented to Integrated Marketing Communications

Prior to the emergence of integrated marketing communications during the 1990s,
mass communications—the practice of relaying information to large segments of
the population through television, radio, and other media—dominated marketing.
Marketing was a one-way feed. Advertisers broadcasted their offerings and value
propositions with little regard for the diverse needs, tastes, and values of
consumers.
Often, this “one size fits all” approach was costly and uninformative due to the
lack of tools for measuring results in terms of sales. But as methods for collecting
and analyzing consumer data through single-source technology such as store
scanners improved, marketers were increasingly able to correlate promotional
activities with consumer purchasing patterns. Companies also began to downsize
their operations and expand marketing tasks within their organizations.
Advertising agencies were also expected to understand and provide all marketing
functions, not just advertising, for their clients.
Today, corporate marketing budgets are allocated toward trade promotions,
consumer promotions, branding, public relations, and advertising. The allocation
of communication budgets away from mass media and traditional advertising has
raised the importance of IMC importance for effective marketing. Now,
marketing is viewed more as a two-way conversation between marketers and
consumers. This transition in the advertising and media industries can be
summarized by the following market trends:
 a shift from mass media advertising to multiple forms of communication
 the growing popularity of more specialized (niche) media, which considers
individualized patterns of consumption and increased segmentation of
consumer tastes and preferences
 the move from a manufacturer-dominated market to a retailer-dominated,
consumer-controlled market
 the growing use of data-based marketing as opposed to general-focus
advertising and marketing
 greater business accountability, particularly in advertising
 performance-based compensation within organizations, which helps
increase sales and benefits in companies
  unlimited Internet access and greater online availability of goods and
services
 a larger focus on developing marketing communications activities that
produce value for target audiences while increasing benefits and reducing
costs

The Tools of Integrated Marketing Communications

The IMC process generally begins with an integrated marketing communications
plan that describes the different types of marketing, advertising, and sales tools
that will be used during campaigns. These are largely promotional tools, which
include everything from search engine optimization (SEO) tactics and banner
advertisements to webinars and blogs. Traditional marketing communication
elements such as newspapers, billboards, and magazines may also be used to
inform and persuade consumers. Marketers must also decide on the appropriate
combination of traditional and digital communications for their target audience to
build a strong brand-consumer relationship. Regardless of the brand’s
promotional mix, it is important that marketers ensure their messaging is
consistent and credible across all communication channels.

Benefits of Integrated Marketing Communications

With so many products and services to choose from, consumers are often
overwhelmed by the vast number of advertisements flooding both online and
offline communication channels. Marketing messages run the risk of being
overlooked and ignored if they are not relevant to consumers’ needs and wants.

One of the major benefits of integrated marketing communications is that

marketers can clearly and effectively communicate their brand’s story and
messaging across several communication channels to create brand awareness.
IMC is also more cost-effective than mass media since consumers are likely to
interact with brands across various forums and digital interfaces. As consumers
spend more time on computers and mobile devices, marketers seek to weave
together multiple exposures to their brands using different touch points.
Companies can then view the performance of their communication tactics as a
whole instead of as fragmented pieces.

The other benefit of integrated marketing communications is that it creates a

competitive advantage for companies looking to boost their sales and profits. This
is especially useful for small- or mid-sized firms with limited staff and marketing
budgets. IMC immerses customers in communications and helps them move
through the various stages of the buying process. The organization
simultaneously consolidates its image, develops a dialogue, and nurtures its
relationship with customers throughout the exchange. IMC can be instrumental in
creating a seamless purchasing experience that spurs customers to become loyal,
lifelong customers.

IMC, The new media and challenges in tapping them

Integrated campaigns call for a blend of consistent and complementary
communications. For digital marketers today, there's a plethora of platforms to
choose from to develop your multi-disciplined approach and it's not something
that you can ignore, with 72% of customers wanting to connect with brands
through integrated campaigns.
Not sure where to start? We've gathered some best in class examples to inspire
your strategy and help you leverage the best of both traditional and digital
techniques.
Traditional Versus New Media and Their Relationship
Today we see an unprecedented shift in marketing, and as consumers and
professionals in almost any sphere, we have no choice but to go along with it.
This is probably not a problem for millennial and younger generations who have
been raised in a digital age, but digital marketing may not work so well for an
older demographic.
Given this basic fact about the two different interfaces, is there much of a need
for an integrated or blended approach? The answer is yes. This is because
consumers still crave variety. Many still watch regular TV, still get the papers
delivered, listen to the radio on the drive to work, and still pick up flyers at
community events.

What is an Integrated Marketing Campaign?

But it’s not just one or the other; the idea of creating an integrated campaign is
one that blends several elements of each, including public relations, direct
marketing, social media, TV ads, YouTube, and so on.
An integrated marketing campaign can take on many forms, but the idea behind
them is that they typically result in more than one outcome – so for instance, an
x% boost in followers plus y attendance at a certain event.

Case Study Examples of Integrated Strategies

Here are some digital and traditional media case studies that demonstrate just
how effective an integrated approach has the potential to be when strategically
executed.
1. Apple
Apple does a great job of offering a consistent, integrated marketing strategy that
combines beautiful storefronts with a heavy web-based business, each matching
the design of the other. There’s a consistency here that is not only recognizable
but comforting: when you walk down the street, you know what it is, and when
you go online, you know where you’re going.
 2. Old Spice
The “Old Spice Man” campaign took off online shortly after the TV ad first came
out. Combining brilliant copy and quirky social strategies, the timing was
priceless and well targeted. The company had previously relied on mainly TV and
movie ads, which gave it a certain level of visual familiarity. It was only after it
started to integrate various social strategies as well as banner and video ads that it
started to bring plenty of attention back to the brand via the website.

3. Porsche
Whether we’re “car people” or not, most of us can’t resist admiring the smooth
lines of a beautiful and high-quality car like a Porsche. And in the past couple of
years, they’ve been moving away from traditional marketing and using an
innovative integrated approach via social media to bring people together in real
life. Porsche used a combination of events, social, video, and radio to generate a
buzz around their products. They were extremely active on platforms like
Instagram and Twitter to create real-time experiences for their fans, and they even
included streaming after the event alongside 360-degree video to connect.

Why Internet Marketing should be a Focus

Here are a few of the key reasons why online marketing rules:
1. Digital Marketing Casts a Wide Net at a Fraction of the Cost
Large companies back in the day used to spend millions of dollars on advertising
campaigns (more if they were global) that may or may not pay off. Today, it’s
possible to reach a global audience essentially for free and in a matter of seconds.
So, companies who are wondering how much of their budget they should put
towards digital marketing probably don’t need to worry too much since it’s
generally a low risk, high reward type of transition.
2. Interactive Engagement
Today there are more and more opportunities to interact with audiences from any
location through social marketing but also through innovative personal messaging
techniques such as chatbots. VR is another example of experiential marketing that
can work wonders for brands.
3. Accurate Tracking of Customer Metrics
These types of digital campaigns allow so much data to be tracked easily which
can inform future business plans as well. So, you not only get to measure how
successful the campaign is, you get to collect a whole bunch of customer
information as you do it. Back in the day, there was no way to do this as
accurately or quickly.
Public and Customer Relations
What is Publicity?
A major element of public relations is publicity. It implies communication about
a product or organization by the placing of news about it in the media
without paying for time and space directly.

Though a company can manage to get talked about in the media without doing
anything which is newsworthy, it will not help its cause if the readers or the
viewers do not find the story about the company stimulating enough to toke a
note of it and register it in their minds. A big portion of the publicity budget is
spend on maintaining relations with media with the hope that the media will
feature the company more frequently and prominently.

This is wasteful. Instead the company should expand its resources in staging
events, building associations, and doing other things depending upon the type of
business the company is in, that the public would be genuinely interested in
knowing about.

Savvy companies know the triggering points of public and the media attention
and conduct themselves in a manner that invites the attention of the public and
media. Their publicity endeavour does not end with courting the media. Media,
anyway, will carry the stories that its readers and viewers will wont to read and
view.

Not only must the company relate constructively to customers, suppliers, and
dealers, it must also relate to a large number of interested publics. A public is any
group that has an actual or potential interest or impact on a company's ability to
achieve its objectives. Public relations (PR) includes a variety of programs to
promote or protect a company's image or individual products.

They perform the following five functions:

1. Press relations -- Presenting news and information about the organization
in the most positive light
2. Product publicity -- Sponsoring efforts to publicize specific products
3. Corporate communications -- Promoting understanding of the organization
through internal and external communications
4. Lobbying -- Dealing with legislators and government officials to promote
or defeat legislation and regulation
5. Counselling -- Advising management about public, issues, and company
position and image during good times and bad
Marketing Public Relations
Many companies are turning to marketing public relations (MPR) to support
corporate or product promotion and image making. MPR, like financial PR and
community PR, serves a special constituency, the marketing department. MPR
goes beyond simple publicity and plays an important role in the following tasks:

• 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 favorably on its
products.

Major Decisions in Marketing PR

In considering when and how to use MPR, management must establish the
marketing objectives, choose the PR messages and vehicles, implement the plan
carefully, and evaluate the results.

Tasks of Publicity Department

 Responding to requests from media which requires availability of well-
organized information of the company.
 Supplying the media with information on events and occurrences relevant
to the organization. This requires developed internal communication
channels and knowledge of the media.
 Stimulating the media to carry the information and viewpoint of the
organization. This requires creative development of ideas, developing close
relationships with media people and understanding their needs and
motivations.

Characteristics of Publicity
One important task is to supply information to important stakeholders.
Information dissemination may be through news releases, news conferences,
interviews, feature articles, seminars and conferences.
Publicity has five important characteristics:
1. Credible message: The message has a higher credibility than advertising
as it appears to the reader to have been written independently by a media
person than by on advertiser. Because of the high credibility it is more
persuasive than a similar message in an advertisement.
2. No media cost: Since space or time in a media is not bought, there is no
direct media cost; but someone has to write the news release, take part in
 interviews or organize the news conference. This may be organized
internally by a press officer or publicity department or externally by a
public relations agency.
3. Loss of control of publication: Unlike advertising there is no guarantee
that the news item will be published. The decision is in the hands of the
editor and not with the organization. A key factor is whether the item is
judged to be newsworthy. The item must be distinctive in the sense of
having news value. The topic of the news item must be of interest to the
publication’s readers.
4. Loss of control of content: There is no way of ensuring that the viewpoint
of the company is reflected in the published article.
5. Loss of control of timing: An ad campaign can be coordinated to achieve
maximum impact. The timing of publication of the news item cannot be
controlled.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the combination of practices,

strategies and technologies that companies use to manage and analyze
customer interactions and data throughout the customer lifecycle.

The goal is to improve customer service relationships and assist in customer

retention and drive sales growth. CRM systems compile customer data across
different channels, or points of contact, between the customer and the company,
which could include the company's website, telephone, live chat, direct mail,
marketing materials and social networks. CRM systems can also give customer-
facing staff members detailed information on customers' personal information,
purchase history, buying preferences and concerns.

Benefits of CRM
1. Improves Customer Service
CRM manages all your contacts and aggregates lead and customer information to
build profiles of everyone you interact with. This gives you easy access to
important information on customer behavior like purchase records and previous
communications with contacts across different channels (social media, chat,
email, etc.). Customers won’t have to repeat their stories over and over to you,
and you’ll be able to address issues with best practice and less effort for improved
customer loyalty.
 2. Increase in Sales
Streamlining and improving the sales process, building a sales pipeline,
automating tasks, and analyzing your sales data will inevitably lead to one
outcome—increased sales and sales productivity. CRM allows you to have all
your customer-facing voice, chat, social media, and email touch points accessible
in one place. You’ll clinch more deals by building a repeatable, proven sales
process, and delivering the right message on the right channel at just the right
time.

3. Retain More Customers

Retention and churn rates are extremely important determiners for a company’s
success; customer churn is a major obstacle to business growth. CRM tools like
sentiment analysis, automated ticketing, and customer support and customer
service automation can dramatically improve your retention by letting human
agents defuse problems. Analytics tools that look at customer life cycle can show
you when churn happens and why, so you can identify and address pain points.

4. Better Analytics
Analytical CRM tools make your data available, intelligible, and relevant to your
business needs. All your heaps of sales data, finance data, and marketing data
flow into CRM to become visible metrics, with data warehousing and data
mining there to make sense of everything. The net benefit is customer acquisition,
customer retention, and better data management.

5. Higher Efficiency
Having all your major day-to-day business functions in one place makes for
better workflow, easier collaboration between team members, and better project
management. Task automation eliminates menial, repetitive work and gives more
time for the cognitive tasks humans are best at. Dashboards and analytics will
help you gain insights into your work and optimize all kinds of business
processes.

6. Better knowledge sharing

Miscommunication and lack of information transfer are two major time-wasters.
When people take time self-learning to do things other team members already
know how to do, or work on redundant tasks, you’re losing a lot of hours per
week. Collaborative CRM tools can streamline your teamwork by letting you
build a knowledge base, establish best practice workflows, and allowing for
frictionless communication between team members.

7. More transparency
CRM allows you to foster greater transparency in your organization by assigning
tasks, showing work, and delineating exactly who is who and who is doing what.
If your main concern is sales, you can make use of performance tracking for
individual sales agents. CRM allows everyone in your organization to gain
visibility on your business processes, fostering more mutual understanding and
collaboration.

Components of CRM
At the most basic level, CRM software consolidates customer information and
documents it into a single CRM database so business users can more easily
access and manage it.

Over time, many additional functions have been added to CRM systems to make
them more useful. Some of these functions include recording various customer
interactions over email, phone, social media or other channels; depending on
system capabilities, automating various workflow automation processes, such as
tasks, calendars and alerts; and giving managers the ability to track performance
and productivity based on information logged within the system.

Direct and online marketing,

Direct Marketing:
Direct marketing is, sometimes, known as direct-order marketing, too. It is at-
home shopping system. Direct marketing is playing a broader role for building
long-term relationships with the customers (direct relationship marketing). It is
the way of dealing with customers directly, bypassing middlemen. It is a direct
channel of ordering and distribution.

The Direct Marketing Association defines the term as:

“Direct Marketing is an interactive marketing system that uses one or more
advertising media to effect measurable response and/ or transaction at any
location.” E (electronic)-commerce and Electronic market provide a support to
describe needed products and services, allow buyers to search information and
make queries, identify products they need and want, and place order using credit
card. The product is then delivered physically to the customer at home or office
(in case of software, it is send electronically to a customer’s computer).

Methods/Channels of Direct Marketing:

Different methods are used for direct marketing. These methods are used for
getting information, sending orders, or lodging complaints.
Most widely used methods for direct marketing involve:

1. Selling products by sales force or face-to-face selling.

2. Face-to-face selling at company’s showrooms or retail outlets.
3. Direct mail to company for ordering or information (direct mail marketing).
4. Fax mail or E-mail to company for placing order or getting information
5. On-line marketing/cyber marketing. Connecting PCs with websites for
dealings.
6. M-mail (mobile mail) or MMS/SMS through mobile phone.
7. Kiosk marketing (customer-order-placing machines). Electronic Kiosk
provides needed information to customers and accepts orders from customers.
8. Automatic vending machine (for products like cold drinks, cigarette, travel
tickets, candy, coffee, money etc.)
9. Telemarketing and voice mail, etc.

Cyber or Online Marketing:

Cyber marketing is one of the options for direct marketing. It is also known as
online marketing, e (electronic)-marketing, e-commerce, Internet marketing, or,
simply, Net marketing. Cyber marketing is the latest marketing development.

It is a type of arrangement by which buyers and sellers can meet through

electronic line via computers and modems. It is the method connecting marketers
and customers through Internet. Both parties can exchange information necessary
to arrive at exchange. Here, ordering and paying are made online. Normally,
commercial online channels and Internet are used for online marketing. Cyber
marketing is used for both promotion tool as well as distribution tool. It can be
used for marketing research purpose, too.

Cyber marketing concerns with information technology. The main purpose is to

exchange information. So, we can define it as: Cyber marketing is an
integrated form of Internet technology and direct marketing, used to find
out profitable customers and develop rich contacts with them. Through
contacts, one can know who, when, why, and with which conditions want to deal
with business firm.

In short, it can be defined as: Cyber marketing is a system or arrangement of

conducting marketing transactions through Internet Technology.

Marketers (and customers) who want to practice cyber marketing require the
latest computer with appropriate operating system and necessary software
(programmes like web browser), modem, speakers, Internet connection, and
primary knowledge of operating computer and Internet surfing.

Through online marketing, except software or programme, only information is

exchanged, or order is placed. Actual delivery of physical products is made
through different delivery systems (like post, courier, and person) with
appropriate mode of transportation.

Online marketing is one that a person can reach the company via computer and
modem. A modem connects the computer to a telephone (landline as well as
mobile) line or data card so that the computer users (marketers and customers)
can reach various online services.

Online marketing only facilitates electronic transactions, but not delivery of

physical products. Physical delivery can be made by any mode like person,
transport agency, airline, rail, or private agencies. However, software can be sent
directly to customer’s computer.

Online Marketing Activities:

Online marketing involves following activities:
1. Collecting information (marketing research),
2. Sending information and promoting products,
3. Evaluation and selecting the right products,
4. Requesting quarries, seeking guidance and clarifications,
5. Lodging complaints,
6. Placing orders or making transactions – buying and selling,
7. Billing and paying,
8. Building, maintaining, and improving relationships with customers and other
publics, etc.

Applicability:
Nowadays, cyber marketing is widely used for all types of activities, like:
1. Buying and selling goods via Internet.
2. Downloading (sending/receiving) needed programmes or software
3. Medical profession (health care online)
4. Research (investigation) and development activities.
5. Online propaganda of political, social, or religious affairs.
6. Online advertising, publicity, and public relations.
7. Friendship and matrimonial related activities.
8. Banking, insurance, communication, transportation, etc., transactions.
9. Online emergency (fire brigade, police, and medical) services.
10. Investment (stock market -primary and secondary market, mutual fund,
commodity market, savings, etc.)
11. Online education, training, and counseling.
12. Online examination (written tests or oral tests) and evaluation.
13. Online publications of books and articles (e-books and e-articles).
14. Travels and hotels (booking hotels and buying tickets of airways, railways,
roadways, or seaways).
15. Entertainment (movies on demand, Internet games, online contests, and such
other ways of entertainment).

Benefits of Direct and Online Marketing:

Direct and online marketing have been increasingly used for consumable as well
as durable products. Consumers report that direct marketing is fun, convenient,
and hassle-free. It saves time and provides opportunities for a larger selection of
merchandise. Most companies have designed their websites for the purpose. Easy
and affordable excess to Internet made it more popular and, hence, widely used
option to arrive at exchange. This option offers ease, economy, convenience, and
speed in decision, actions, and transactions. It is beneficial to both marketer and
customers.

Benefits of Direct Marketing (Cyber marketing)

1. Wide scope of selection for customers.
2. Presence of company’s product in the global market.
3. Attractive presentation of complete information and all products.
4. Reliable and speedy access to information.
5. High convince.
6. Transaction with secrecy and safety.
7. Cyber marketing is multipurpose tool.
8. Relationship building.
9. No higher costs of approaching and information.
10. Reduced traffic problems and parking problems.
11. Easy access and speedy transactions at lower costs.
12. Less chances of cheating or fraud.
13. Damage-free products.
14. Availability of standard products.
15. Promotion of new products by direct and online marketing.
16. More suitable for demonstration and education. Online and direct marketing
facilitate more convenient demonstration and education of the products.
17. It can be used for establishing good image or improving bad image.
18. Online marketing satisfies the esteem of customers. It is treated as the latest
mode of accessing information about the products at fingertips.

Multi level marketing-the new marketing model.

Multi-level Marketing (MLM) or network marketing, is individuals selling
products to the public - often by word of mouth and direct sales. The main idea
behind the MLM strategy is to promote maximum number of distributors for the
product and exponentially increase the sales force.

The term multi-level marketing refers to the different levels within the pyramid-
like organizational structure. The company's sales manager has a small team of
salaried employees who recruit freelance distributors, who in turn recruit new
partners. When a distributor makes a sale, they receive a commission.
Multilevel marketing is a legitimate business strategy commonly used by
businesses that rely heavily on sales to generate revenue. Unlike traditional sales
channels, multilevel marketing programs use of networks for sales and to recruit
new participants. As such, they're often referred to as network marketing.

Here's how it works: Individuals are brought into the business as contractors,
independent business owners, distributors, or direct salespeople. These people are
then tasked with selling the company's products and/or services to others,
including family and friends. Sales can be done in person or online. They are
given a commission for every sale they make.

Amway
Amway is a well-known direct sales company that uses MLM to generate
revenue. The company, which sells health, beauty, and home care products in
more than 100 countries, regularly reports billions of dollars in sales conducted
by its independent business owners.

Herbalife Nutrition
Herbalife Nutrition is a high-profile MLM company that manufactures and
distributes weight-loss and nutritional products. The company argues that most of
its revenue is from product sales—not recruitment. It also says it offers members
many protections, such as a money-back guarantee, so they will not be stuck with
products they could not sell.

Other MLM Companies: Tupperware, Oriflame, Modicare, etc.

Other promotional strategies
Buzz Marketing,
Buzz marketing is a viral marketing technique focused on maximizing the
word-of-mouth potential of a campaign or product. These strategies can spur
conversations among consumers' family and friends or larger-scale discussions on
social media platforms.

Buzz Marketing is a strategy that thrives in social contagion. This marketing trick
is used to maximize the popularity of campaigns using the world’s oldest way to
share information: word-of-mouth. Buzz Marketing campaigns place their bets on
unusual content to make sure everyone will be talking about it — with little to no
extra cost for a company.
Benefits of Buzz Marketing:
 creating a positive buzz around a brand or product;
 targeting bigger audiences that go beyond a company’s buyer persona;
 generating free publicity for brands.

What are the types of Buzz Marketing?

Buzz Marketing usually starts with a concept or idea that gets people excited,
curious, or intrigued by your brand.
Many companies worldwide use this technique, and, though not always long-
lasting, a Digital Marketing campaign that includes a Buzz Marketing strategy is
an inexpensive way to get people to notice your business.
According to Mark Hughes, the man who invented the term Buzz Marketing,
there are six different ways to build Buzz Marketing campaigns.
That means a good campaign must rely on one of these “wow” factors as its
building block to become widely known on the internet.

1. Taboo: Taboos are triggers that can easily be activated on our brains when
we hear messages that go beyond the ordinary and into the forbidden.
Think, for example, about your reaction whenever someone talks about
cannibalism or any such topic. Whether disgusted or surprised, the truth is we
always have a response (and often an opinion) on such topics. The taboo trigger
in a Digital Marketing campaign can be used to make it more popular.
Controversial topics will give your audience a reason to pick a side and debate,
making it a great tool to use in Buzz Marketing campaigns.

2. Unusual: The unusual is a different trigger, activated once we see

something that is out of the usual.
This is a technique used by popular brands, like Apple, to make sure the release
of a new product, such as an iPad, becomes a conversation topic. The unusual can
be something entirely new and never before seen or just something that is much
better than what is usually offered in a given product category.

3. Remarkable: The remarkable trigger is activated once we see something

that goes above and beyond what brands are used to doing for their
customers.
Like when a brand makes a surprise for a special client or tells an impressive
story to explain its values. The remarkable is easy to perceive because it relies on
the consumer’s satisfaction to happen — humans, as a group, are eager to hear
stories with a happy ending.

4. Outrageous: The outrageous, on the other hand, is probably the most

popular trigger of all.
It takes us by surprise and shocks us, whether positively or negatively, and,
therefore, generates a buzz. You can find plenty of examples of brands that bet on
the outrageous to make sure customers hear about their most recent news. But
beware: sometimes this type of marketing can generate a negative buzz for your
brand if not done carefully.
 5. Hilarious: The hilarious type of Buzz Marketing is the one that relies on
laughter to get the audience’s attention.
It is understandably one of the most popular ways of doing Buzz Marketing as
people are always looking for a reason to laugh and have fun. That’s why this is
the bet of many companies when trying to build a Buzz Marketing campaign.

6. Secret: Last but not least, there is yet another way to make sure people are
interested in and talking about your brand: relying on secrets to get their
attention.
Humans are naturally curious, and when something spikes our interest, we want
to know everything there’s to it. Well-kept secrets or even messages that present
clues to something bigger than what we are seeing before us are a sure way to
generate buzz. A good example is the beginning of Facebook, when you needed
an invitation from another member, to join the social

Stealth Marketing
Stealth marketing is a form of advertising that promotes a product or service
in a subtle or disguised way to create a buzz without being overtly
promotional. This type of marketing is designed to feel like a natural part of a
consumer's environment rather than a forced advertisement.
Stealth marketing is advertising something to a person, without them realising
they’re being marketed to.
It’s a low cost strategy that can be really valuable to a business, but the issue with
stealth marketing is one of ethics.
If you’re watching something on TV and you see a branded product sneakily
placed in the background, that’s a form of advert.
2 Main techniques Involved in Stealth Marketing
1. Product Placement
Product placement is one of the well known and non-traditional advertising
techniques where companies and brands subtly advertise their product through
films, television, and other media channels. It is one of the most common
advertising techniques one can find in tv adds, movies, and tv series where
company pay to media cop[any for placement of their product.
For example Audi or BMW any car company can ask the media company to
place their car in the important scene where the actors coming out of a car to kill
the villain. Many Smartphone companies ask the media company to place their
mobile phones during an important scene.
 2. Undercover Marketing
In undercover marketing tactics, the advertiser introduces a new product to the
customer in a way that does not look like an advertisement. It requires creativity
and unconventional marketing strategies. A creative salesman always tries to
market its product without being noticed. Even if you are hearing a new product
review from other mouths, that is also undercover marketing.
For example, Turi vodka asked highly regarded night club owners to feature Turi
at their night party. Turi hired actors to visit bars and order Turi vodka and
recommend others to have it.

Benefits of Stealth Marketing

Stealth marketing has helped many brands to advertise their products before its
launch. In simple words, we can say it helps in creating pre-launch interest
among users. This particular practice is carried out just to target a group of people
who show interest in the product and let them crave for the product until it is
launched. The day product launches, consumers tend to pay any amount to have
that particular product. These marketing tactics help the company to gain short
term profits.
Stealth Marketing helps in creating a brand image through product placement or
undercover marketing.
It is a Cost-effective practice as it requires more creativity than investment.
Guerilla Marketing
Guerrilla marketing is an advertising strategy that uses unconventional tactics
to delight and attract customers. It is an alternative to traditional marketing,
such as print media, television commercials, billboards, and direct mail.
This newer category of marketing communication involves unconventional,
innovative, and usually low-cost marketing tactics to engage consumers in the
marketing activity, generate attention and achieve maximum exposure for an
organization, its products, and/or services. Generally guerrilla marketing is
experiential: it creates a novel situation or memorable experience consumers
connect to a product or brand.
Pros and cons of guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing is unique in how it interacts with customers in surprising and
participatory ways, but the tactic can come with some potential risks. If you
choose to employ guerrilla marketing for your brand, keep these pros and cons in
mind:

McDonald’s coffeepot. Mondo pasta

Guerilla marketing pros:

 Low budget: Guerrilla marketing can be inexpensive.
 Memorable: There is potential for high impact and reach.
 Fun: You get to be creative and generate unusual ideas to build a brand.
  Gain insights: Based on people’s reactions, you can better understand how
they feel about the brand.
 Go viral: Your campaign could be shared on social media (by the brand or
by participants) for maximum exposure. Media outlets may also generate
attention.
 Build partnerships: You may be able to develop a mutually beneficial
partnership with a location, festival, or another brand.

Guerilla marketing cons:

 Risk of failure: The brand is put on public display, which can backfire if a
poorly executed campaign fails. You could lose money or profits if
unforeseen circumstances arise, such as bad weather or political tensions.
 Can be embarrassing or scary: Some forms of guerrilla marketing employ
ambushing, filming, or scare tactics that might embarrass, annoy, or
frighten people.
 Controversial: You might run into legal issues or negative publicity
depending on the campaign's outcome.
 Lack of approval: If a campaign is too risky or unconventional, it may not
get approved by executives who would rather spend marketing dollars on
more reliable strategies.