4.5c-

• Promotion

  Methods of communicating marketing messages to existing and potential customers, usually with the intention of selling a firm's products
• Aspects of promotion

  • Above the line promotion
  • Below the line promotion
  • Through the line promotion
• Types of promotion


  • Advertising
  • Social media marketing
  • Raising publicity
• Some types of promotion are paid for while some are not
• Key objectives of promotional strategies


  • To inform
  • To persuade
  • To remind
  • To develop brand awareness
  • To attract the attention of customers
• Inform


  Informative promotion activities aim to alert the market about a firm's products, especially new or updated goods and services
• Aim of informative promotion


  Give customers sufficient information to positively influence their purchasing decision
• Persuade


  Persuasive promotion activities aim to convince or encourage customers to make a purchase, switch from rival products, and enhance brand loyalty
• Remind

  Reminder promotion refers to techniques used to retain customer awareness of, and interest in, an established product
• Develop

  Brand development promotional strategies help to build awareness, recognition, and loyalty to the business, its products, and its brands
• Attract


  Promotional activities that aim to attract the attention of customers
• Above the line (ATL) promotion

  Any form of paid-for promotional method through independent mass media sources to promote a business, its products, or its brand
• Main methods of ATL promotion

  • Television advertising
  • Radio advertising
  • Cinema
  • Newspapers
  • Magazines
  • Outdoor advertising
• The vast majority of promotions are of the persuasive kind
• Most promotional campaigns contain an element of all three types of promotion
• Governments and non-profit organisations account for the majority of informative-driven promotional campaigns
• Television advertising

  Expenditure on TV advertising exceeds spending on most other forms of promotion
• Advantages of television advertising

  Exploits the power of combining sound and moving images to bring about powerful messages
• Disadvantages of television advertising

  Huge costs of producing and broadcasting commercials<|>Incredibly short time frame usually within 30 seconds
• Radio advertising

  Time slots are sold to businesses, with peak listening times in the morning and evening rush hour periods
• Advantages of radio advertising

  Ability to reach extremely large audiences<|>Cheaper than TV advertising<|>Doesn't rely on viewers to be immobile in front of the TV screen
• Disadvantages of radio advertising

  Only communicated through audio sound, meaning no visual impact<|>Lower attention levels compared to TV adverts
• Cinema advertising


  Statistics show growing visitor numbers at cinemas around the world
• Advantages of cinema advertising

  Audience directly targeted<|>Can be tailored to specific market segments<|>Cinema screen size can exert more impact<|>Has a captured audience
• Disadvantages of cinema advertising

  Limited audience size compared to that of radio listeners and television viewers
• Newspaper advertising


  Potentially reaching a wide audience yet much cheaper than using TV advertising
• Advantages of newspaper advertising

  Target different markets better
• Disadvantages of newspaper advertising

  High costs for small businesses<|>Short shelf life<|>Unseen unnoticed
• Magazine advertising

  Ability to use high definition, photo quality colour images to capture the audience's attention
• Advantages of magazine advertising

  Targeting the right market segment is possible<|>Longer shelf life than newspapers
• Disadvantages of magazine advertising


  Static, meaning it's quite unusual to place several adverts in the same magazine<|>Long lead-time between submitting an advert and its actual publication
• Outdoor advertising


  Refers to the use of commercial billboards, banners, and posters to promote a business, its products, or its brands
• Advantages of outdoor advertising

  High rate of exposure<|>Transformed to billboards that automatically rotate
• Disadvantages of outdoor advertising


  Difficulty in monitoring and measuring its effectiveness<|>Prone to damage caused by bad weather, vandalism, and graffiti<|>High levels of competition in terms of advertising clutter
• Below the line promotion (BLT) refers to the use of non-mass media promotional activities
• BLT promotion

  Allows the business to have direct control and no commission has been paid to external media agencies
• Main BTL promotional strategies

  • Direct marketing
  • Personal selling
  • Sales promotion
  • Point of sales promotion
  • Publicity and public relations
  • Trade shows
  • Sponsorships
  • Word-of-mouth marketing
  • Guerrilla marketing
  • Packaging
• Direct marketing


  Promotional activities that aim to sell a product straight to a customer rather than using an intermediary
• Advantages of direct marketing

  Keeps a larger share of any financial returns<|>Free to promote its products in a way that it sees fit
• Disadvantages of direct marketing

  Cost of producing and distributing promotional material<|>Public does not enjoy it<|>Does not always reach the right audience