Promotion Strategies Essay

Did you happen to catch the season finale of Friends on may sixth? The exhaustively hyped series finale of Friends drew 52.25 million viewers for its across-the-board 66 minute running time. A 30-second mercantile spot garnered a cool $2 million, costing publicize heavyweights such as Allstate, Anhe drillr-Busch, Chev voicet, cosmopolitan Electric, Hewlett-Packard, as well as Walt Disney and Universal Studios a mere quadruple cents a head. For the purpose of this appointment I volition characterize troop medias and telemarketings role as part of the promotional mix, who pays for them, and how they be perceived by consumers with regards to their objectivity. I will also let off how traditional Word-of-Mouth works and round up the assignment discussing bombilate advertizement. First, lets discuss television mass medias role in the promotional mix.Mass medias (television, radio, magazines, etc) role in the promotional mix is advertising. In particular, television commercia l advertising is a stipendiary digit of non-personal communication. Companies use commercial advertising because it is an effective means of mass-marketing as indicated by the Friends series finale. The objectives to advertising include informing consumers of a set-new product, persuading the consumer to remain with or switch to a particular product, or move consumers of the value of a product or where to locate it. The objective of mass-marketing is to lapse out to as many consumers in unrivaled fail glide to create brand aw beness, brand interest, brand equity, to obtain competitive advantage, and to amplify market sh ar. The advertisers ultimate goal is to accomplish the unions marketing objectives.In regards to advertising, companies use a pull selling strategy, to build up consumer demand. A typical commercial is comprised of the source (the beau monde/distributor/retailer) whose product or good is featured) that encodes the message using symbols such as words, ill ustrations, or images the message (the combination of symbols) transmitted to the receiver (consumers) who accordingly decodes the message (hopefully interpreting the message in the same way it was encoded) and feedback (through purchase, post change about the product/service, or non-purchase). Finally, noise, plays a role in advertising. With current technology such as TiVO, consumers canchoose to plane past commercial segments.The advertising company, its distributor, or its retailer pays the ne dickensrk for the commercial air time. If more than one of these pays for the commercial air time it is called reconciling advertising. Using vehicles as an casing, either the manufacturer pays for the commercial or the auto dealership does. However, in the overall scheme of things, successful commercials can be paid for by consumer purchases.The court of public opinion considers the objectivity of advertising dependent upon the guinea pig of message. According to a 1990 survey cond ucted by the rope-maker Organization concerning public opinion with regard to the content of promotion messages, 60 percent of those surveyed conceive ads with money-back guarantees, 57 percent believe ads with products approved by medical or health groups, 38 percent believe ads where comparisons to competitors are made, 29 percent believe ads using hidden-camera interviews, and 25 percent believe ads featuring celebrity endorsements. While no current data is available, it appears consumers remain questioning concerning advertising messages.Telemarketing is an example of direct marketing in the promotional mix. However, the court of public opinion indicates displeasure in this pillow slip of promotion. ane could say the public pays for telemarketers with interrupted dinners and misleading or deceptive telemarketing schemes, but the business or charitable organization that uses this service pays for it in cash. Its interesting to none that an Eyewitness News investigation in Ro ck Hill, South Carolina revealed that the South Carolina Police Officers Association charity brocaded more than $600,000 in 2002, but spent barely $5,000, or less(prenominal) than one percent, helping police officers and their families.With telemarketing it is truly a purchaser Beware promotion. Most consumers are probably more skeptical when it comes to this type of promotion than any other. There is the noise factor in this type of promotion as well. The national do not call registry, telephone set company telemarketing blocker services, and products such as the Telezapper significantly decreases the telemarketers sales. I personally just inform telemarketers I am notinterested in their pitch and to place me on their do not call list. If this doesnt work, I just hang up.Another promotional technique is word-of-mouth. When consumers communicate their experiences connected to a particular product, they are basically providing the manufacturer, distributor, or retailer free advert ising. Word-of-mouth can accelerate brand recognition. The heart of word-of-mouth marketing is big(p) consumers something to talk about. An excellent example of successful word-of-mouth is the Atkins Diet. I initially read one of Dr. Atkins diet books more than 10 years ago. While I do not remember the name of the book, I do call in I never tried his diet because I dreaded giving up on favorites such as pasta. Last year I was struggling to lose the weight I had gained following a thyroidectomy.I was running three to five miles per day, counting calories and fat grams and lost suddenly no weight whatsoever in three months. Then two colleagues of mine began losing considerable weight with very little effort. They told me about the Atkins diet and that each had lost more than 20 pounds in a month. I started researching the diet on the web and found other testimonials as well. Hordes of people are devoted to this diet. I began the diet and maintained my transaction routine and lost 30 pounds in eight weeks.The hottest new drift in word-of-mouth marketing appears to be buzz. The buzz marketing expound in the BusinessWeek article we were tasked to read appears to be a fad. I slangt consider it an advanced form of word-of-mouth but kind of an insidious, deceptive practice. Consumers have a right to feel cheated because these buzz marketers are treating the American consumer as if they were complete idiots. Once American consumers figure it out, and they will, it will be gone the way of the sandwich board. No wonder it is referred to as viral marketing. Too bad doctors dont have a cure for this virus.In review, I discussed mass medias role in great detail because it is perhaps the most widely used form of promotion. I focused on television commercial advertising discussing how marketers use commercials to inform, persuade, or remind consumers about a particular product or service. Then Idiscussed how the communication process fits into commercial advertising. I followed with a discussion on who pays for commercial advertising and cooperative advertising. Then I provided a survey example to illustrate how consumers view commercials in regards to their objectivity.I also discussed telemarketing as a direct marketing get down to promotion. The next topic was word-of-mouth. I discussed how word-of-mouth is essentially free advertising and the heart to its success of giving consumers something to talk about. I ended this assignment with my view buzz marketing. I feel this is a deceptive promotional tactic that appears to be just a fad. Once consumers recognize how they are being used, it will fade into the sunset. Overall, the promotional mix appears to be a driving factor in a product or services success.Works CitedThe One Where Friends Puts Up Massive Finale Ratings. Retrieved from the macrocosm considerable sack on 8 May 2004 http//tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271%7C88037%7C1%7C,00.html advancement labor and Pull Strateg ies. Tutor2U. Retrieved from the domain wide of the mark Web on 9 May 2004 http//www.tutor2u.net/business/marketing/promotion_pushpull.aspEvans, Joel R. and Berman, Barry. (1994) Marketing, Sixth Edition. Macmillan Publishing Company. New York, New York. paginate 584.Charity Organization Pays Telemarketers Big, Police Little. Retrieved from the human Wide Web on 9 May 2004 http//www.wsoctv.com/specialreports/2885811/detail.htmlWorks ReferencedHow to Establish Promotional Mix. Edward Lowe Organization. Retrieved from the land Wide Web on 8 May 2004 http//www.att.sbresources.com/SBR_template.cfm?docNumber=PL12_3600.htmunder stand upKumar, S. Ramesh. Getting the promotional mix right. The Hindu. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004 http//www.hinduonnet.com/ct/2002/09/05/stories/2002090500110200.htmLancaster, Geoff Above- and below-the-line promotion. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004 http//www.da-group.co.uk/geoff/communications.htmNucifora, Alf. Keep Up W ith the hum On Buzz Marketing. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004 http//www.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.html?t=printableMarketing Promotion. Tutor2U. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004 http//www.tutor2u.com/Pride-Farrell Marketing. Part 5. Promotion Decisions. Integrated Marketing Communications. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004 http//www.gsm.uci.edu/rwheeler/2Promotion and the Promotion Mix A Part of the Marketing Mix. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004 http//www.creighton.edu/hutchens/nps_c_08.htmlPromotion Answers. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 8 May 2004 http//www.learnmarketing.net/promotonanswers.htmReed, Keith. (2002) Through the grapevine PR firms tout buzz marketing. New Mexico Business Weekly. Retrieved from the World Wide Web on 6 May 2004 http//albuquerque.bizjournals.com/albuquerque/stories/2002/10/07/focus2.htmlWegert, Tessa. (2003) Four Online Media Mix Essentials. Retrieved from t he World Wide Web on 7 May 2004