Marketing Mix- Promotion

Question 1

What is promotion?

Answer 1

Promotion is the ways in which the business communicates about the product

Question 2

What are the main types of promotion?

Answer 2

-advertising
-sales promotion
-public relations
-sponsorship
-personal ( direct ) selling
-social media and viral marketing
-direct marketing
-branding

Question 3

What is the main aim of promotion?

Answer 3

-the main aim of promotion is to censure that customers are aware of the existence and positioning of products
-promotion is also used to persuade customers that the product is better than competing products and to remind customers about why they may want to buy

Question 4

What is the promotional mix?

Answer 4

The promotional mix is a combination of promotional methods

Question 5

What is advertising?

Answer 5

-paid for communication in the media e.g Tv and Radio, newspapers and magazines, online, social media, cinema, billboards
-its aim is to inform and persuade

Question 6

What is sales promotion?

Answer 6

-providing incentives to stimulate demand e.g BOGOF, loyalty cards, free gifts, money off coupons

Question 7

What are public relations?

Answer 7

-an attempt to build the image and deputing the product/ business without spending money on advertising e.g getting favourable mentions about the product in a magazine, promoting the social responsibility of the business

Question 8

What is a sponsorship?

Answer 8

-sponsorship is paying to sponsor events, teams or TV programmes etc. It is a form of PR and should benefit the business and the organisation/ individual being sponsored

Question 9

What is personal (direct) selling?

Answer 9

-potential customers are approached directly e.g by telephone, at meetings, in retail outlets and by knocking on doors. It can be to individuals or businesses. High priced, low volume and highly technical products would use this. It is also an important form of promotion for industrial goods where a sales force will make contact with other businesses to sell its goods.

Question 10

What is social media and viral marketing?

Answer 10

-technological development have created opportunities for businesses to promote in different ways.
-social media refers to websites and applications that enable users to create and share content
-businesses can use these to communicate with existing customers as well as to promote their products to potential customers
-social media can be used to increase brand awareness when successful, social media users share the business’ promotional activities, further spreading the message. This is known as ‘viral marketing’

Question 11

What is Direct marketing?

Answer 11

-promotional material directed through mail, email,social media or phone to individual businesses

Question 12

What is branding?

Answer 12

-The process of creating a distinctive and lasting identity in the minds of consumers fine using the name, slogan, design or logo

Question 13

What are the advantages of advertising?

Answer 13

-reaches a wide audience
-builds awareness and brand image
-can be targeted to variety of groups
-business can control the message

Question 14

What are the disadvantages of advertising?

Answer 14

-mass market advertising is expensive
-may not reach the target audience
-can’t answer customer questions
-consumers ‘switch off’ adverts

Question 15

What are the advantages of sales promotion?

Answer 15

-increases sales immediately and possibly dramatically
-encourages customers to try a product or switch brands

Question 16

What are the disadvantages of sales promotion?

Answer 16

-can damage brand image
-customers may have bought anyways
-if used long term customers to get used to it

Question 17

What are the advantages of PR?

Answer 17

-can be seen as more credible if coming via a 3rd party
-cheap easy or reaching customers

Question 18

What are the disadvantages of PR?

Answer 18

-hard to measure effectiveness
-risk of losing control if via a 3rd party

Question 19

What are the advantages of a sponsorship?

Answer 19

-possible wide coverage of brand name
-can target audience a little

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of a sponsorship?

Answer 20

-costly
-not informing about the product

Question 21

What are the advantages of personal selling?

Answer 21

-with good research the firm can target customers
-can explain/ answer questions and therefore close the sale
-potential to develop a relationship with the customer

Question 22

What are the disadvantages of personal selling?

Answer 22

-costly to employ sales force
-can get a reputation for being a nuisance
-difficult to target unless researched properly
-limited number of customers can be met

Question 23

What are the advantages of social media and viral marketing ?

Answer 23

-low cost
-ability to target customers

Question 24

What are the negatives of social media and viral marketing?

Answer 24

-time consuming- managing multiple accounts+ content making
-negative feedback- bad comments- bad reputation

Question 25

What are the benefits of direct marketing?

Answer 25

-can re-establish lapsed customer relationships -builds customer loyalty -generated new businesses -can personalise the message

Question 26

What are the negatives of direct marketing?

Answer 26

-response rates vary -negative image of junk mail -can be expensive to keep an accurate customer database

Question 27

What are the benefits of branding?

Answer 27

-once established, the business can reduce its spending on other promotions -with a recognised name it is more likely the customer will buy for the first time -can create loyalty, repeat purchase and word of mouth advertising -easier to persuade retailers to stick product -makes launch of future products easier -price elasticity of demand will become more inelastic for established brands

Question 28

What are the negatives of branding?

Answer 28

-takes time to establish a brand -costly

Question 29

What factors affect the promotional mix?

Answer 29

-the target audience -finance available -the message the firm wants to convey/positioning -technology available -stage in the product life cycle -competitors

Question 30

What does above the line promotion mean?

Answer 30

-paid for communication in the independent media e.g advertising on TV or in the newspaper. Though it can be targeted, it could be seen by anyone outside the target audience. Advertising is the main method of above -the- line promotion

Question 31

What is below the line promotion?

Answer 31

-below the line promotion are promotional activities where the business has direct control e.g direct mailing and money off coupons. It is aimed directly at the target audience