Transcript Marketing Communications Issues

Chapter 10:
Marketing Communications
Programs
Role of Marketing Communications
 more to marketing communications than advertising;
its role is to inform, persuade and remind the customer
 closely related to perception and image: everything we
do communicates
 one of the principal objectives is to create awareness
and to communicate information
 the communications process is essential for a firm to
get its messages across to target segments of the market
Marketing Communications Issues
 we communicate with customers and the public
in many different ways; how do we ensure that
all of those messages are coordinated?
 some of the communications messages sent are
unintentional or informal
 think also about the informal ways that we
communicate and the messages that these send
to customers and others
Marketing Communications Methods
 the marketing communications program may
consist of five approaches:
 personal selling: in person or via technology
 advertising: paid for and in the media
 sales promotion: short-term demand stimulation
 public relations: contribute to positive attitudes
 publicity: stimulating news stories
 all must be coordinated so that consistent messages
are sent concerning the company
Integrated Marketing Communications
 IMC refers to the process of coordinated
communications with customers and others
 in a cluttered communications environment, all
messages should be coordinated
 goal is to produce a consistent and continuous
flow of information tailored to the needs of the
target audience
 achieves a “common look and feel”
The Communications Process
 communications requires a channel, with a sender
and a receiver, to handle the message
 a message is first encoded by the sender
 the communications channel is then used to
deliver the message to the sender
 the sender decodes the message, based on his or
her frame of reference and experience
 may be a need for a response and feedback
 the process can be interrupted by noise
Figure 10-1 The Communication
Process in Marketing Communications
Determining the Mix
 what combination of advertising, sales
promotion, personal selling, publicity, and public
relations will work best?
 factors considered in setting the marketing
communications mix include:
characteristics of the target market
nature of the product or service
life cycle stage of the product or service
budget available to spend
Push or Pull Strategy
 a push strategy directs promotional efforts at channel
members; a pull strategy directs promotion at the end
consumer
 many products, such as business products, are
promoted with a push strategy, involving personal
selling and use of trade promotions
 most consumer products would rely more heavily on
a pull strategy where promotion is directed at the
consumer to stimulate demand
Figure 10-2 Push and Pull Strategies of
Marketing Communications
Setting the Communications Budget
 it is difficult for many firms to set budgets
because results are difficult to measure
 consider the pros and cons of these
approaches to setting promotional budgets:
spend a fixed percentage of sales
spend what we feel we can afford
spend what the competition spends
spend what it takes to achieve objectives
Regulating Marketing
Communications
 advertising and promotional efforts are closely
regulated in Canada at many levels, including
industry voluntary self-regulation
 the federal Competition Act regulates:
false and misleading advertising
“sale price” advertising
contests and games of chance
promotional allowances
“bait and switch” advertising