Marketing communications Flashcards
Describe how the communication process works
The communication process refers to a series of actions or steps taken in order to successfully communicate. It involves several components such as the sender of the communication, the actual message being sent, the encoding of the message, the receiver and the decoding of the message. There are also various channels of communication to consider within the communication process. This refers to the way a message is sent. The overall goal of the communication process is to present an individual or party with information and have them understand it. The sender must choose the most appropriate medium in order for the communication process to have worked successfully.
Name and briefly explain the main elements of the communication process (6 steps)
- Sender: This is the person that is delivering a message to a recipient.
- Message: This refers to the information that the sender is relaying to the receiver.
- Channel of communication: This is the transmission or method of delivering the message.
- Decoding: This is the interpretation of the message. Decoding is performed by the receiver.
- Receiver: The receiver is the person who is getting or receiving the message.
- Feedback: In some instances, the receiver might have feedback or a response for the sender. This starts an interaction.
Name and briefly explain the six main steps in developing effective marketing communication
- Identify the target audience: Audience may be current users or potential buyers, those who make buying decisions and those who influence it.
- Determining the communication objectives
- 1 Buyer-readiness stages: the stages consumers normally pass through on their way to purchase.
- Designing a message
- 1 Message content, structure and format
- 2 AIDA - get Attention, hold Interest, arouse Desire obtain Actions
- Choosing communication channels
Two broad types of communications channels: personal and non-personal. - 1 Personal communication channels: two or more people communicating directly, face-to-face, on the phone, via e-mail etc.
- Communication by the company
- Buzz-marketing
- Word-of-mouth - 2 Non-personal communication channels: media that carry messages without personal contact or feedback.
- Major media
- Atmosphere: designed environments
- Events - Selecting the message source: Messages delivered by highly credible sources are more persuasive, organizations can use spokespersons.
6. Collecting feedback Measuring the effect of the communication effort on the target audience - Exploratory research - Qualitative research - Quantitative research
Describe the three types of appeals for the message content that a marketing manager can use
- Emotional appeals: attempt to stir up either negative or positive emotions that can motivate purchase.
- Moral appeals: are directed to the audiences sense of what is “right” and “proper”
- Rational appeals: relates to the audiences self-interest.
Explain the marketing communications mix
The marketing communication mix, also known as the promotion mix, is the marketer’s tools for communicating with customers and other stakeholders.
• Advertising – Paid form of non personal presentation and promotion
• Sales promotion – Short-term incentives to encourage purchase
• Personal selling: Presentation by the firm’s sales force
• Public relations (PR) – Building good relations
• Direct marketing – Engaging directly with targeted individuals
• Digital marketing – Use of digital channels and platforms such as computers and smart phones.
Explain advertising
Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services
Can be informative, persuasive or a reminder.
Major media types are: Television, digital mobile, and social media, newspapers, direct mail, magazines, radio, outdoor.
+ Effective for reaching a wide audience
+ Possible to repeat a message many times
+ Relevant for building strong image
+ Efficient for triggering quick sales
- Expensive and impersonal
- Limited to one-way communication
Explain sales promotion
Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Some examples of the wide rage of promotion tools are: Samples, coupons, cash refunds (or rebates), price packs, premiums, point-of-purchase (POP) promotions, contests, sweepstakes and games.
+ Effective for attracting attention,
+ Efficient for quick response and boosting sales,
- Short-term effects
- Less effective for building long-term brand preference and customer relationships.
Explain personal selling
Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
The sales force serve as a critical link between a company and its customers.
+ Effective for building up buyers’ preferences and actions.
+ Efficient for observations of buyer behavior and for making quick adjustments.
+ Effective for developing customer relationships and collecting their feedback.
- Requires a long-term commitment by the company.
- Expensive.
- Working in service is demanding. Frontline employees are ‘boundary spanners’ – linking the inside of an organization to the outside world.
- Can lead to role conflict:
▪ Organization/customer: please customers and follow regulations
▪ Person/role: job requires and own personality
▪ Customer/customer: conflicts between customers
-‘Emotional labor’ – gap between actual and displayed feelings.
Explain public relations
Building good relations with the company’s various publics by obtaining favourable publicity, building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavourable rumours, stories and events.
One major tool for PR is news. Others are speeches, special events (e.g. news conferences, press tours and educational programs) and written materials (e.g. annual reports, brochures)
Buzz marketing (social networking processes)
+ Strong impact on public awareness,
+ Highly credible as messages come from a third party
+ Effective for reaching prospects
+ Comparatively low cost
- Often limited and scattered use
Explain direct marketing
Direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and to cultivate lasting customer relationships.
Examples for direct marketing are: direct mail and catalogues, telephone marketing, direct-response television, e-mail marketing.
+ Less public and enabling individual targeting,
+ Immediate and customised with messages tailored for specific customers
+ interactive and allowing a dialogue
- Negative perceptions due to overusing by companies
- Consumer annoyance and low response rates
Explain digital marketing
- Digital devices: smartphones, tablets, computers, gaming devices etc.
- Digital platforms: Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn etc.
- Digital technologies: websites, mobile apps, in-store kiosks etc.
Increasing power of consumers - ”grass roots revolution”.
Influencer Marketing – opinion leaders. Often co-branding.
Explain total marketing communications budget and mix
- Affordable method: the level that management thinks the company can afford.
- Percentage-of-sales method: a certain percentage of current sales, forecasted sales, or the unit sales price.
- Competitive-parity method: a sum matching competitors’ outlays.
- Objective-and-task method: a sum enabling the company to achieve planned objectives with promotion.
