Promotion is one of the four major variable with which the marketing manager works. That it is only of the four should be stressed again, because many people feel that marketing is equivalent to and only to promotion.

Promotion is more than just advertising or personnel selling. The marketing manager can use publicity, public relations, various other forms of promotion. But most important, the marketing manager must develop a blend of all the possible promotional ingredients in order to accomplish his objectives.

We will underline this blending process throughout our discussion of promotion. From a promotion standpoint, a product may need heavy accent of personnel selling; encyclopedias are an example. But another, such as cigarettes, may be sold primarily by advertising and sales promotion, with little or no special effort by the salesman at the tobacco counter   and   no   other   products   will   fall   between   these extremes, with various blends of mass and personal selling involved.

General speaking, the promotion variable is much more complicated then many people realize.

Broadly speaking, promotion is any method of telling customers about a company's marketing mix. Every marketing institution has a promotional job. The nature of this job depends on the institution the products involved, the firm's objectives and what tools and funds are available.

We will discuss the objectives of promotion, methods of implementing these objectives and ways in which these methods can be blended to obtain effective promotion.

The basic objectives of promotion are to inform, persuade or remind target customers about the company's marketing mix and the company itself. Promotion objectives may be stated generally or very specifically. A firm might seek, for example, to create brand preference or being even more specific, the objective might be to attain a 20 percent preference for brand a over both brands b and c among specific target customers within one year.

11.1. Historical Sketch Of Promotion

Today, there are many facets to the promotional variable, but this was not always so. The vendor in primitive markets counted on his loud voice to attract attention and inform customers of his products and services. If there were many competitors, he might rely upon his own personal magnetism or devise some entertainment (perhaps a magic show) to attract attention to his offerings. He often used persuasion to point out the merits of his products.

As markets evolved into retailing centers, a merchant became even more concerned about attracting trade to his store. Informing customers of his offering was highly important. More widespread promotion was necessary sings on stores or in prominent places around the city and notices in printed matter were used.

When customers were finally attracted to the store, personnel contact was necessary  to inform and persuade them of a product's merit. But even after the customers had been sold once and were satisfied with the service, they were still subject to competitive influences; therefore, the merchant's signs and advertisement reminded customers of the continuing availability of his services. Now, promotion was no longer restricted to the saler's actions. An impersonal type of promotion supplemented his personal efforts.

As markets expanded and the number of competitors increased, the importance of attracting customers grew. Increasing reliance was placed on mass methods of communication. These mass methods were a more economical way of informing the large number of potential customers of the firm's total product.

Still mass methods could not do the whole promotional job. They were used where it was physically and economically impossible to reach each potential customer personally. Once customers were attracted to the seller, he relied on personnel contact and persuasion. But if they could not be upon to come then the seller had to reach out to tell them about his offerings. This has become increasingly necessary as the number of competitors has multiplied.

11.2. The Promotion Job

Effective promotion consists of communicating with others by one or more means. There are four fundamental and interrelated tasks. These are:

1 - to get attention

2-   to hold interest

3-   to arouse desire

4-   to obtain action

These tasks are used and illustrated in subsequent discussion. It is easy to see their relationship to the basic objectives of informing, persuading and reminding. To inform and remind, one must first attract and hold interest and the object to persuasion is to arouse desire and obtain action.

Accomplishing the promotion job sounds simple, yet this is not always the case. There are many possible complications. Often the various levels in the channel must receive different kinds of messages final consumers should be told about the product and it's advantages, while retailers and/or wholesalersneed lo he informed about the marketing mix the firm is offering. The nature of the promotion job depends partly on the type of product and its stage in the life cycle. The specific promotional methods used may depend on the funds available to the marketing manager.

11.3. Promotion Methods

It will be useful to classify promotional methods in three categories as personal selling, mass selling and sales promotion. It is also useful to discuss each in turn.

11.3.1. Personal Selling

Personal selling involves direct face to face relationships between sellers and potential customers. Many factors can complicate this meeting. The needs and preferences of individuals vary greatly; there are group influences, too. For instance, although the wife may do the actual buying, she may be influenced by her husband and children. An industrial buyer may face pressures from many other executives. Competitive conditions may vary from market to market too. A personal salesman must try to adapt to company's marketing mix to the needs and conditions of each little target market. Which may mean, in the extreme, to each potential customer.

Personal selling can add great flexibility to marketing mixes and may be absolutely necessary for some products. It may facilitate a market segmentation policy. Its major disadvantage (the cost per sales contact of all this personal attention) will be discussed later.

11.3.2. Mass Selling

Mass selling seeks to communicate ideas or information to large numbers of customers at the same time. Obviously such a method has less flexibility than personal selling. When the target market is large and dispersed, however, it may be much less expensive than personal selling.

Advertising is the main form of mass selling. Advertising is any paid from of nonpersonal presentation or promotion of ideas, goods or services, by an identified sponsor. It involves the use of such media as the following:

•         Magazines and newspapers,

•         Outdoor posters, signs, skywriting etc.,

•         Novelties (calendars, blotters),

•         Cards (bus, train),

•         Programs and menus,

•         Motion pictures,

•         Direct Mail, E-Mail

•         Store signs,

•         Radio and television,

•         Catalogs, directories and references,

•         Circulars.

Advertising must be paid for by the advertiser. There is however, another form of mass selling which is "free" publicity. Effective publicity and public relations efforts can contribute to mass selling at little or no cost. This is a highly specialized area.

But since publicity normally can not be relied upon for a sustained promotion contribution, depending as it does no free media space together with news worthy and unique times, the subject will not be discussed here.

11.3.3. Sales Promotion

Sales promotion activities can make both personnel and mass selling more effective by coordinating both effects. Sales promotion men may design and arrange for the distribution of novelties, store signs, catalogs, directory references and circulars; they may assist in the development of displays, sales demonstrations, trade show exhibits and other nonrecurring selling efforts. Trade shows are especially important in international marketing.

Sales promotion men often stress the use of point-of-purchase material and premiums. They also develop contests and prepare materials for the training of their own salesmen or their customers' salesmen. They may design the sales portfolios their own salesmen carry with them.

Sales promotion targets: Sales promotion specialists must be flexible, exerting their efforts in the areas which most need improvement. They may tailor their programs for company salesmen, middlemen, consumer or "others" such as engineers, architects and public officials.

11.4. Management Of Various Promotion Methods

Personal selling is usually the responsibility of a sales manager. He may be responsible for implementing place poli­cies and especially building good distribution channels. The sales manager in smaller companies often acts as the marketing manager, directing the whole marketing effort. The branch or field sales manager in larger companies may act as the marketing manager in his own geographical area. Since most sales managers have been personal salesmen, they usually place great confidence in the power of personal contact.

An advertising manager on the other hand, is concerned with mass selling effort. Just as a sales manager puts his faith in personal contact, an advertising manager believes in the power of mass selling. He is a specialist who directs promotion via radio, television, newspapers, magazines, outdoor billboards and other media. He is concerned with choosing the appropriate media and developing the messages to be used. These two jobs, of course, are interrelated. Unlike the sales manager, the advertising manager has no feedback from customers, except through research or the salesmen.

The sales promotion manager often fills gaps left by the sales and advertising managers, while enhancing their effec­tiveness. Nearly everything the sales promotion department does could be done by either the sales or advertising depertmant. But the sales promotion activities are so varied that specialists tend to develop. The sales promotion manager in some companies works for the sales manager, while in others he is moving toward independent status with responsibility only to the marketing manager. He is primarily in a staff position in cither case.

Because of their differences in outlook and experience, advertising, sales and sales promotion managers may have difficulty working with each other as partners or equals, especially when each feels that his approach is the most important. In some companies, they are hardly on speaking terms. It remains the marketing manager's job to weigh the pros and cons of the various approaches and come up with an effective promotional blend, fitting the various departments and personalities into it. All these jobs might have to be carried by one man in a smaller company, of course, perhaps with the title of sales manager. In this case, he is responsible for developing an effective promotion blend.

11.5. Stage of Product in Its Life Cycle

A new product seldom becomes a spectacular success over­night. Usually it must go through the several stages discusses in introduction, market growth, market maturity and sales decline. During these stages, the promotion blends may change to achieve changing promotional objectives.During the introduction stage, the basic objective is to inform. If the product represents an entirely new idea, then it is necessary to sell the basic idea itself. ' The promotion must, in effect "pioneer" acceptance of the product. It attempts to inform potential customers about the existence, advantages and uses of the new product. New deodorants, portable dishwashers and skillets with detachable electric units in the handles are examples of new ideas which had to be introduced to potential customers.

There may be fewer potential customers during this intro­ductory phase and personal selling may be useful, especially for industrial products. It will certain be needed to persuade channel members to carry the new product. Sales promotion may help draw attention to the product. Since there are few competitors, mass selling can concentrate on what is basically an educational job. Early advertisements might be designed to obtain inquiries and uncover potential uses for the product. Then applications can be shown to expand acceptance. Documented case histories may be used with consumer and industrial products; this ,is often a very persuasive type of advertising.

In the market growth stage, competitors begin entering the market and promotional emphasis must begin to stress brand preference. The company must now stimulate selective demand; it must persuade its customers to buy and stay with the company's own product. Now that more potential customers are aware of the product, mass selling may become more economical. But personal salesman must still work in the channels, expanding, distribution and market segmentation efforts are still appropriate.

In the market maturity many more competitors have entered the market and products differ only slightly because most of the companies have settled on similar methods of production and have a clear idea of the most attractive form for the product. There is often a tendency to copy competing features and product differentiation is needed. Promotion usually begins to emphasize psychological differences, becoming persuasive rather than informative.

Mass selling methods may be used for consumer products in this stage. For industrial products, more aggressive personal selling complemented with advertising will be necessary. Early innovators who have achieved a strong customer franchise may be able to use reminder-type promotion. This mass selling approach seek only to remind the customer of the product name and may be considerably less expensive than persuasive efforts.

During the sales decline stage, the amount spend on promo­tion may decrease as firms attempt to cut costs in order to remain profitable. Since the product may still be very acceptable to some target markets, a more specific promo­tional approach may be needed to keep these remaining customers satisfied. Personal selling may be useful here. And the mass selling media must be aimed more carefully. Firms with a strong customer franchise may use reminder-type promotion.

11.6. Target of Promotion

Promotion can directed to four different groups;

♦       Promotion to Final Consumers,

♦       Promotion to Users,

♦       Promotion to Retailers,

♦       Promotion to Wholesalers.

11.6.1. Promotion to Final Consumers

The vast number of potential customers practically forces mass selling into the promotion blends of manufacturers and retails.

It used to be felt that some personal selling was needed at the retail level to make the final sale. Today, however, we are discovering that effective mass selling can establish brand preference to such an extent that little personal selling may be needed for some products. Self-service and discount operations attest to this.

It appears that some consumers try to obtain information about goods they consider buying. If this need can be satisfied through mass communication, it may attract more trade to manufacturers and retailers who fill the need. We noted earlier that there are style leaders or "communicators", to whom others look for guidance and suggestions. If these persons can be reached by mass methods, they in turn will disseminate to other potential customers what they have learned, mass selling is necessary to reach these "communicators" because they are widely dispersed and it is not possible to identify or approach each one individually.

11.6.2. Promotion to Users.

Intermediate users are much less numerous than final consumers and a bland which emphasizes personal selling becomes more practical. Industrial customers may have specific questions or need adjustments in the total product. A personal salesman has greater flexibility in adjusting the companies appeals to suit each customer. He may be able to expand on the subjective qualities of the product, show their importance and finally get action in the form of a completed sale.

Personal selling also becomes more practical as the size of each purchase increases. The typical industrial good purchase is much larger than the typical final customer purchase.

11.6.3. Promotion to Retailers.

Because retailers, like industrial buyers are less numerous than final consumers, it becomes feasible to use more personal selling. Sales promotion activities and some mass selling in trade magazines and newspapers may be used, but the bulk of the  promotion  effort  to retailers  is  usually  made  through personal   sales-men.   Retailers   want   to   know   about   the promotion which will be directed toward the final consumer and their own part in selling the product. Price, cost, normal markups   and   promotional   assistance   are   their   paramount concern. Thus, promotion to retailers is primarily designed to inform. For example, case histories are sometimes used lo show what other retailers have accomplished with a similar offering.

Since the manufacturer or wholesalers' salesman cannot guarantee a profit, the art of persuasion also enters. The pro­ducer and his salesmen must persuade the retailer that demand for the product does exist and that it will be easy for him to make a profit. Sometimes persuasion, takes the form of extra services management advice, promotional aids and demons­trators or special price concessions, advertising allowances, free goods or some other "extra" which makes the offer more attractive. The basis of the argument may be economic, but it may have an emotional frosting especially if the product has reached the market maturity stage when many competitors are offering about the same thing.

A personal salesman is better able to adapt the marketing mix to the needs of each retailer. We saw how food brokers do this for many food manufacturers. Competition often forces drastic modifications in the marketing mix from one geographical territory to another. The mixes used in highly competitive urban areas, for example, may be much more price sensitive than those used in outlying areas.

Promotion directed toward the retailer is designed to establish and maintain good channel relationships. The retailer must believe that the manufacturer or wholesaler has his interest at heart. A high-pressure salesman who loads him with inventory which will not move may make one sale, but he will not be welcomed back. Furthermore, he may have done a disservice to his company, since salers usually are profitable only when the retailer can profit and reorder.A retailer is aware that if consumers do not like a particular product, this may adversely affect their image of his whole assortment. Therefore he is usually more receptive to new offers by sellers with whom he has had favorable experience A seller with a long established relationship with a retailer may simple inform him of new arrangements or products or even rely on reminder-type mass selling. On the other hand, a new­comer may have to do a lot of persuasive personal selling.

11.6.4. Promotion To Wholesalers.

Promotion to wholesalers is very similar to promotion to retailers, expect that wholesalers are less numerous and perhaps even more conscious of demand and cost. They respond to economic arguments. Information about the promotion which the producer intends to direct at retailers and final consumers may be quite important to them. Depending on competitive conditions and demand potential, they may urge a selective or even exclusive distribution policy on the manufacturer. Personal salesmen would be needed to adapt the marketing mix as necessary.

Whenever objective  information cannot be given, than the producer may just use persuasion to convince wholesalers of the desirability of the marketing mix he is offering. Persua­siveness and personality may be especially important if many producers offer very similar mixes.   The promotion may be aimed at convincing the wholesaler that the producer really has the wholesaler's long-run interest at heart and wants to keep him as a channel team member for many years to come. Such promotion might also emphasize the financial strength and stability of the producer and the secure future he can offer the channel members. The likelihood of the development to new and profitable products might also be stressed.

Sometimes the best way to improve the image of the company is through mass selling. Wholesalers may be impressed by a company which advertises in prestigious national media. In fact, manufacturers may place ads in some consumer maga­zines for just that reason and then copies of these ads arc distributed among present and prospective channel members. In the end, however, personal salesmen are still needed to cement the relationship between producer and wholesaler.

11.7. Sales Presentation Uses AIDA Concept

Knowing how to handle individual customers, once they are located is made easier by the findings of psychology and sociology. These show that individuals react differently to different stimuli in different environments. Some people are visually oriented, whereas others react better to stimulation of the other senses hearing, smelling, testing or touching, Group influences may be relevant, too; we saw that the web-of-word-of-mouth may be quite important in the acceptance of innovations.  

The behavioral sciences have not yet been developed to the point where it can be determined which specific combination of stimuli will be most effective on a particular person. As a result, most successful salesmen start with general appeals and then attempt to adapt them during the sales presentation, based upon their own experience with different kinds of people. Furthermore, most customers react to emotional appeals (remember the emotional motives) but seem to want an economic justification for their decision. This leads most salesmen to key their sales presentation to emotional appeals, while at the same time providing an economic basis for buying.

In other words, not knowing what will appeal to the individual buyer, salesmen attempt a wide range of appeals and seek an emotional and/or economic reaction. Eventually, of course, experienced salesmen develop a "sense" of how to vary the blend of appeals for particular prospects.

The "AIDA Concept" is extremely useful as a starting framework for all sales presentations. Recall that AIDA refers to a four step selling procedure;

♦       Attention,

♦       Interest,

♦        Desire,

♦       Action.

11.7.1. Attention;

There is no prescribed, sure way to get a prospect's attention. Much depends on the salesman's instincts and originality, as well as his knowledge of his customers. If a salesman were calling on the same customers frequently, he would have to use a new approach each time. If each call were on a new prospect, a few successful attention gutters would suffice.

The purpose is to focus attention on the salesman and distractthe potential customer from his current thoughts. This mightbe   done   by   an   opening  sentence  suggesting   large   profitpossibilities or cost savings. Perhaps a statement about whatthe prospect's competitors are planning to do will do the trick.A model of the product, a new display case or even a colorfulhal or necktie might be effective. For top-level executives, aportable projector to be used in the projector to be used in thepresentation might be sufficiently different to attract attention.

The attention-getting device should not be elaborate, but rather should be as casual as possible so that the salesman can quickly move on to the next step of creating interest. Importantly, the attention getter should lead logically and naturally into the next step. Otherwise, attention may be followed by a letdown.

11.7.2. Interest.

Creating interest requires more time. The attention getter must he followed up and other appeals brought into play. If the opening device was mentioning competitors of the prospect, an explanation of the competitors’ use of the product might be appropriate. The way the customer might benefit from the use of the product might be sketched. Visual aids might be helpful at this stage, to maintain interest and avoid having the presen­tation cut short. To appeal to the senses, the potential customer might be given the product or a model to handle or in the case of food, to eat. Appeals should be dramatized as well as mentioned, so the customer can see himself or his company) in the picture.

11.7.3.  Desire.

Arousing desire requires more persuasive effort. The salesman might explain specifically how the product would be use in the customer's factory or how it would be purchased by customers of the buyer. A grocer might be shown statistics on successes in other stores and what other grocers say about the product. Specific profit possibilities and turnover fingers may be presented. The company's total product and how it can meet one more of the customer's need must be shown. It is imperative here to determine exactly what are the problems of the potential customer. This feed-back is important in helping close the sale.

11.7.4. Action.

Finally, the salesman will try to summarize the important points he has made, tailor his arguments to the customer's needs and interests and than close the sale. It is interesting to note that one of the most frequent reasons for the loss of a sale is that the salesman never asks for the order. This may be because he does not want to be refused. But closing a sales presentation is also extremely difficult and risky. A direct request for the order is all too easily answered with a "No." Experienced salesmen have generally found ways to get around human inertia and reluctance to make a decision. They may begin to write up the order or ask which of various livery dates would be preferable or inquire about the quantity the customer would like to try in a new display. Then if the customer has been favorably impressed with the presentation, he may be led into taking action without consciously having to make a direct "Yes or No’’ decision something which seems to be extremely difficult for some people.