UNIT-III LESSON-6

PROMOTION STRATEGIES
The communication between the product and consumer is through promotional effort. The manufacturer does not know the consumer and vice-versa. The link between the manufacturer, product, channel partners and the consumer, everything is effective through promotional strategies that is taken. The effectiveness of promotional effort will result in more and more sales.

PROMOTION MIX
The marketing manager has to take a decision among various alternatives of marketing communication tools like advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations and direct marketing. Companies can substitute one media alternative with another at different stages of product cycle to suit the marketing objectives. They can also increase spending from one to the other, either within the specified budget or by bringing contingency budgets. The objective of selecting an optimal media mix is to optimize the spending pattern among various channels in achieving the set corporate objectives.

ADVERTISING
Defined as any paid form of non pesonal persuasion and promotion of ideas, goods or services, by an identified sponsor. It is a paid, non-personal (mass) communication with an identified sponsor, with two distrinct goals of informing (for persuasion and to influence) people (communication goal) and increasing sales (sales goal). Advertising is a paid form of communication in which the sponsor or the brand owner has made payments to the media a paid form of communication in which the sponsor or brand owner has made payments to the media to carry the message through their set of media vehicle.

 In a retail, salesman speaks to us at the sales counter, we can call it personal selling, as there is a direct interaction between the seller and buyer. It is a non-personal, as nobody has personally conveyed the message i.e. There is no personal contact between the sponsor and receiver of the message. The presentation of the message is for promoting ideas, places, concepts, persons, parties goods, services and organizations to create awareness and assist the process of consumer decision-making. The awareness may lead to persuasions and hence the consumer may be triggered to take a decision about buying the product or service being advertised.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING
Brand advertising: Almost all kinds of advertisements, brand is a part. In mass media like TV, radio brand advertising is common to build brand identify. National advertising: In the national media like TV, radio. Local advertising: local with vernacular media to influence locals. Retail advertising: In retail shops and dealers point. Nation & destination advertising: To promote tourism (including historical, religious and public important places in the nation) Political advertising : By political parties, politicians, elections, manifesto, achievements etc.,

 Directory advert ages, banner ads, sponsoring: Like yellow pages, special directory of a segment, CDS etc., Social advertising: For aids, women trafficking, police help, polio etc., Direct response advertising: To stimulate sales with attractive offerings. Like coupons, within a given period purchase, gifts etc., Business-to-business advertising : Targeting business organizations, marketers towards appointment as dealers, wholesalers, distributors etc., Or inviting tenders for supply or construction. Institutional advertising : Colleges, universities, charities, large corporates etc., to create good will and reputation, brand building etc.,

 Public services advertisement: Govt. and Govt. sponsored institution for the benefit of general public. Message of help and public relations. Interactive advertising: Given to a limited scope interested individuals by accessing world wide web advertising using web, to the target audience. Out-door advertising:Like home media TV, radio, video, wall painting, hoardings, bulletins, kiosks, mobile van for communicating audience. Electronic advertising: Like TV, radio, video, audio cassettes, electronic display boards, cd ROMs etc., to promote goods or services. In film advertising: Actors are using the product/services in a film during movie.

MEASURING RESULTS
The marketing manager should measure the results of marketing communication programmed so that he can find out the efficiency of the money being spent in achieving the objectives. The objectives of marketing communication are of two folds. 1) communication objectives 2)sales objectives.

 Measurement of audience-exposure: exposure to Consumer a message by message can be measured by taking into account the circulation figures of print media and programmer rating for broadcast media. These figures are conveniently available for newspapers, magazine and for different broadcast media programmer. Measurement of audience attention: these figures are measured by recognition of a message by the audience. Consumers asked whether they have seen a particular message and costumer they associate it with a brand or manufacturer.

 Measurement of audience-comprehension this is measured with the help of aided or unaided recall tests for specific message point in the communication. Researchers probe consumers to determine the level of comprehension of a message. Measurement of audiences message acceptance: This can be done by measuring their attitudes towards the brand before and exposure to ad message. Researchers compare matched groups of consumers exposed to the message and those not exposed to the message to determine the impact of advertisements or audience attitude. Measurement of audiences message-retention: average consumes are likely to retain a message in their memory if it was successful in making an impact. They are also likely to forget messages over time unless they are repeated.

MARKETING ORGANIZATION
Management operations can work through the channels of the organization. An organization is complete circuit of people working with planning, execution and control to meet the desired results. Forming an organization is not easy. You have to formulate departments, sections, channel of communication, allotment of duties, responsibilities and monitoring systems whenever they go out of planning limits, defined powers of the individuals working, the work itself makes the organization functioning. Good results are obtained by a good organization and poor results indicate that there are some corrections require somewhere.

 Departments like marketing research, product development, advertising, public relations occupied by managers. Each function is important and to work in co-ordination. The size of the organization goes by the size of business, policies of the company, area of spread of market, amount of care required etc. There is what is meant by authority a center of power having limitations to take care of a particular area by taking decisions at appropriate time. Authority can be delegated (assigned) to another. However the responsibility remains with the assigned. The decision making process goes by 1. Centralized system, 2. De-centralized system 3 a combination of the two.

 Control strategies There are important factors to concentrate and control closely in a marketing department sales turnover, costs, profits, product or brand awareness which evaluates the organization effectiveness. Sales analysis Is extremely important for evaluation of marketing strategy and programmers. Sales data is available in the company + sales figures of local area covering competitors data too. It is helpful to take decisions on the on-line basis. Market share and product brand performance is assessed from time to time. Market information's are collected which shows the product performance data is passed to research or product development dept.

 Marketing cost analysis We might have got good sales turnover by giving heavy discounts or spent money for promotion etc., but most important is whether we have earned profit or loss. The financial analysts are diagnosing the data with graphs and models. Cost involves salaries, utilities, supplies, insurance for a various areas. It is always compared to a bench mark company or competitors who earns more profit. It helps to cut down cost or postpone expenditures or cut-down the expenses wherever possible. Functional accounts deal with expenditures made to marketing research, personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, storage facility, order processing and customer credit.

 Fixed costs: Rent, salaries, office supplies, utilities like telephone, computers etc., Variable costs: That are directly allocated to perform some specific marketing activity like advertising, campaign, dealers meet, conference, launching product etc. This can be controlled either by reduction or by dropping. Non-traceable: Taxes, interests, salaries to the top management.

MARKETING AUDIT
Audit is inspection and comparing with the planned budget. It evaluates to what extent the planned expenditures are going. Whether frequent changes are happening. It shows in which area the results are better in relation to the expenditures made there and reverse. Audit also reveals the performance of all personnel are involved in the system and also finds whose role and expenditures are effective. Complaints from market indicate the failure of different wings in the marketing division. Whether someone has gone beyond his limit? Weather one has crossed his jurisdiction in his duties and responsibilities that has given cause for cost escalation or failure of a strategy.

Marketing environment audit

1.Economic demographic 2. Technological 3. Political-legal 4. Cultural, 5. Ecological 6. Markets 7. Customers 8. Competitors 9. Distribution and resellers 10. Suppliers 11. Facilitators 12. Publics 13. Business mission 14. Strategy 15. Formal structure 16. Functional efficiency

17. Interface efficiency 18. Marketing information system 19. Marketing planning system 20. Marketing control system 21 new product development 22. Analysis of cost effectiveness 23. Products 24 price 25. Distribution 26. Advertising, sales promotion and publicity 27. Sales force 28. Standard procedure for each activity 29. Performance standards by customer service-activity 30 review and evaluate customer-service personnel 31 identify and evaluate customer-service support system.

MARKETING STRATEGIES
In a complex market situation where a number of factors are influencing decision making, proper strategically decisions are to be taken to reach various kinds of goals. The strategy should result in gains to the company in the long-run and short-run. Market leader strategy : market leader is the one who has a leading market share in a competitive market. One must know his present rank and then work out strategy to rise. Whether it is price, product quality, promotion and whatever, proper diagnose the market behavior.

a) Position defense strategy - strategy to retain the existing rank or position. We must try our best to retain our position and not to fall. b) Flanker strategy; - to capture an untapped area in spite of many competitors in certain distinct segments. c) Confrontation strategy enter into a highly competitive market against a market leader. Sometimes with a new product launch. d) Market expansion strategy to develop and expand the existing market to get higher sales turnover and increase the market share. Sometimes with new product. e) Pre-emptive strategy an offensive strategy to make wide publicity for their new product and enter in a big way in a highly competitive market.

f) Contraction or withdrawal strategy - you may not have enough resources to fight against a new entrant who has more resources to fight. Focus on competitive advantage and propagate. g)Market follower strategies: instead of making confrontation with the market leader, just follow the existing system without many expenses made. h)Counterfeit strategy: making duplicate the products of leader and selling at lower rate through grey market. i)Adapter strategy study the market leaders product, improve it and sell in other market.

MARKET CHALLENGER STRATEGIES

A challenger visualizes capturing the market-share leadership in an industry. A challenger has two basic strategic options to consider. In markets where the share leader and others have already cornered a very large portion of the potential market, here he has no choice for a challenger hut to capture some demand from other competitors existing customers. A challenger could try head-on confrontation with chosen competitor by adopting various marketing activities aimed at giving it an advantage.

 Leapfrog strategy adopted: in an attempt to gain an important advantage over the current competitors. A challenger launches new generation, persuasively differentiated products that are fare more advanced and offer more desirable features and benefits to customers than existing alternatives and take competitors share. Flanking attack strategy: a situation where market is meaningfully divided in more segments and a challenger cannot match the competitor's resources in a frontal attack. When the competitor fall short of stock in one or two segment, make a massive attack showing your capacity and product advantages. Maintain continuous supply.

 Encirclement strategy: to apply this strategy, a challenger needs to develop a varied line of products with desired features to suit the preferences of different market segments. The challenger attempts to surround the target competitors brand from all sides, offering a variety of alternatives to several peripheral segments in the market with varied application or geographic areas and have distinct needs and preferences. Guerilla attack strategy the challenger makes a series of surprise attacks in limited geographic areas against its established target competitors. The whole objective is to demoralize the target competitor and establish safe and lasting foothold.

Niche marketers strategies A niche market is a very small sub-segment of a segment where customers seek a distinctive set of attributes resulting in certain most desired benefits. A niche marketer focuses on customer needs in this small subsegment and customizes its marketing effort to that group of target customers. These customers are prepared to pay a premium rice to the niche marketer who best satisfies their needs. This niche usually does not attract competitors. Toyota cars are environmental friendly. This is the niche. Marketing people should develop more niches to see that stable product and services are offered for which there are no competitors or less competition.