Promotion/ Marketing Communications

Question 1

What is integrated marketing communications?

Answer 1

Involves developing and implementing various forms of persuasive communication programs with customers and prospects over time.

Question 2

What are the key elements of marketing communications?

Answer 2

1. Affecting purchasing behaviour: need to be persuasive
2. Using all forms of contacts
3. Beginning with the customer/prospect
4. Achieving synergy: coordinated message across various media, achieving synergy. It achieves a stronger brand position, and avoids duplicated effort and contradictory messages.

Question 3

What are the 3 marketing communications decision areas?

Answer 3

1. Media and vehicle selection
2. Message content
3. Establishing the promotional budget & measuring results (or campaign effectiveness)

Question 4

What is media and vehicle selection?

Answer 4

The use of media must be coordinated and driven by campaign objectives. Variation in the use of media can have a powerful impact on campaign performance as memory is enhanced when multiple pathways are created between object (brand) and information to be remembered.

Question 5

What does media and vehicle selection include?

Answer 5

• Advertising (TV, radio, magazines, newspapers)
• Sales Promotion (trade & consumer promotions)
• Publicity (public relations, sponsorships)
• Personal Communications (selling, telemarketing, internet, email, social networking, events)

Question 6

How do firms choose their optimal choice of media?

Answer 6

The optimal choice of media used by firms will depend on the vehicle’s ability
 to convey creative content, meet objectives of brand awareness & brand
 attitude, and ability to achieve desired reach and frequency.
 Firms want to use multiple pathways to enhance memory created between the
 object/brand and the information presented.

Question 7

What influences the choice of communication media?

Answer 7

• stage of PLC

- consumer purchasing decision-making process

Question 8

What are do firms include in their message content?

Answer 8

Driven by their objectives.

Question 9

How does message content contribute to marketing communications? (6)

Answer 9

1. arousing interest
2. (re)positioning
3. informing and educating customers
4. Generate immediate buying reaction
5. confirm purchase decision or remind buyers
6. problems with sales promotion

Question 10

How does message content contribute to repositioning?

Answer 10

If consumer’s associations with the brand are positive, firms should aim to reinforce them. If they are negative, firms should try to change them. Brand positioning leads to convergence toward a set of common values.

Question 11

What does positioning refer to (in message content)?

Answer 11

Positioning refers to the efforts of a firm to develop a set of offering characteristics that are intended to result in favourable and meaningful comparisons relative to competitors’ offers, as well as the seller’s other offerings.

Question 12

How does message content inform and educate customers?

Answer 12

Consumers process the messages of firms’ advertisements depending on their level of involvement with the product (and the message itself may stimulate involvement).


Question 13

What is the elaboration likelihood model?

Answer 13

Elaboration Likelihood Model tells us that when faced with a high involvement purchase decision, consumers use more cognitive effort and use a central route to persuasion (emphasis on information and strong, issue-relevant arguments, make messages that are personally relevant to them). When faced with a low involvement purchase decision, consumers use peripheral cues in evaluating products, and use a peripheral route to persuasion (emphasis on visuals, symbolism, imagery, emotions, music).

Question 14

What is fear appeals?

Answer 14

Fear can be effective when it is moderate and a solution is offered.

Question 15

How does information provided to customers through advertisements generate purchase motivations?

Answer 15

To generate positive purchase motivation, firms’ advertising message should be transformational (using peripheral route to persuasion). To generate negative purchase motivation (to remove a problem), firms’ advertising message should be informational (using central route to persuasion).
(in the “needs recognition” stage of consumer decision-making process model)

Question 16

How does message content generate immediate buying action?

Answer 16

Communications (such as in-store promotions, sales promotions, or pop-up-store displays) is fundamentally aimed at achieving purchasing action at the last minute, or to temporarily alter the value equation close to, or at, point of purchase to encourage action (by driving up the benefits & driving down the costs – e.g. buy 2 for 1).

Question 17

How does message content confirm purchase decision or remind buyers?

Answer 17

Because those messages keep a buyer in touch with the brand over time. Include use of reminder-style advertisements and institutional advertising, which reminds consumers of particular brand attributes, and maintains the brand in their evoked sets.

Question 18

How does message content have problems with sales promotion?

Answer 18

Harms factors that allow a price premium, loyalty and positive WOM. Customers judge lower-priced item to be of lower quality (comparisons) , this can diminish perceived benefits (e.g. taste). Discounting can also decrease perceived efficacy of the product.

Question 19

What determines promotional/advertising budget (campaign effectiveness)?

Answer 19

optimal level of exposures to a message

Question 20

What is effective frequency?

Answer 20

An optimum range of exposures in an advertising cycle that maximises target customers’ disposition to act (or to buy/consider buying a product). Repeated exposure, to some extent, will give consumers time to understand, make meaning of and then hopefully remember the message (retained in memory & evoked set).

Question 21

The optimum level for campaign effectiveness depends on: (5)

Answer 21

1. Audience brand loyalty
2. message creativity
3. potential for interpersonal influence
4. newness of product (teach vs. remind)
5. advertising objectives (hierarchy of effects)

Question 22

How does audience brand loyalty affect optimum level for campaign effectiveness?

Answer 22

if a firm has loyal customers, they won’t need to convince or win them over. Therefore, the range or number of repeated exposures decreases for loyal customers.

Question 23

How does message creativity affect optimum level for campaign effectiveness?

Answer 23

the more creative the message, the less repeated exposures needed, as more creative advertisements are more memorable.

Question 24

How does potential for interpersonal influence affect optimum level for campaign effectiveness?

Answer 24

the firm can decrease the number or range of exposures/advertisements when there is high interpersonal influence; that is, some consumers may be exposed to the product through family, friends or colleague, but not through the advertisements themselves.

Question 25

How does newness of product (teach vs. remind) affect optimum level for campaign effectiveness?

Answer 25

if the product is new, there needs to be repeated exposure, as no one has ever seen it before.

Question 26

How does advertising objectives (hierarchy of effects) affect optimum level for campaign effectiveness?

Answer 26

The further customer’s progress in the decision-making hierarchy, firms want to increase exposure or effective frequency (to provide information, allow them to evaluate alternatives, and remind them the decision is a good one). More exposures are needed to be effective and get consumers through the process.

Question 27

What is minimum effective frequency?

Answer 27

Exposures at which behaviour is activated & is the most cost effective

Question 28

What is maximum effective frequency?

Answer 28

Once one purchase decision is made, all further exposures to the message are wasted. Over exposure to messages may build negative dispositions toward brands (attention wear out = wasted advertising & acceptance wear out = notion of doing damage).