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Marketing has a marketing mix that is made of price, place, promotion, product (know as the four Up’s), that includes people, processes and physical evidence, hen marketing services. , Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade, incite, and remind consumers – directly or indirectly – about the brands they sell. Perhaps no area of marketing has seen more dramatic changes over the years than marketing communications.
As a result, the challenges presently faced by marketers in designing, implementing, and evaluating marketing communication programs are markedly different from those faced by marketers 20 or 30 years ago. One of the most important of these changes is the increase in the number and perversity of communication options available to marketers to reach consumers. Len recent years, the marketing communication environment has How does marketing communications fit in? Marketing communications is ‘promotion’ from the marketing mix.
Why are marketing communications ‘integrated? ‘ Integrated means combine or amalgamate, or put simply the Jigsaw pieces that together make a complete picture. This is so that a single message is conveyed by all marketing communications. Different messages confuse your customers and damage brands. So if a TV advert carries a particular logo, images and message, then all newspaper adverts and point-of-sale materials should carry the same logo, images or message, or one that fits the same theme.
Marketing communications has a mix. Elements of the mix are blended in different quantities in a campaign. The marketing communications mix includes many different elements, and the following list is by no means conclusive. Off It is recognizes that there is some cross over between individual elements (e. G. Is donating computers to schools, by asking shoppers to collect vouchers, public relations or sales promotion? ) Here are the key of the marketing communications mix
One difficult challenge for marketers is the large, diverse means of communication and communication options that are available to support their brands (e. G. TV, print, and interactive advertising; trade and consumer promotions; arts, sports, and cause sponsorships; etc. ). Consequently, marketers must understand what various marketing communication options have to offer and how they should be combined to optimize their marketing communications programs. Towards that goal, this paper considers issues in how to develop, implement, and evaluate an integrated marketing communication program.
Specifically, to provide micro perspectives especially relevant for academic research we introduce the Marketing Communication Tetrahedron as a means of classifying and analyzing factors influencing marketing communication effectiveness along four broad dimensions(I. E. Factors related to the consumer, communication, response, and situation). To provide macro perspectives especially relevant for managerial planning. We provide criteria as to how integrated marketing communication programs can be designed and evaluated as a whole (I. . According to coverage, contribution, commonality, complementarily, robustness, and cost considerations). We also describe how the two perspectives relate and conclude by discussing theoretical and managerial implications and outlining future research directions For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the four “up’s” must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don’t want is extremely expensive and seldom successful.
Marketers depend on marketing research to determine what consumers want and what they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process. Most companies today have a customer orientation (also called customer focus). This imply that the company focuses its activities and products on customer needs. Generally there are two ways of doing this: The customer driven approach and the product innovation approach. Of 50 In the consumer driven approach consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, s driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rational for this approach is that there is no point spending R and D dollars developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures inspire of being technological breakthroughs.
In a product innovation approach the company pursues product innovation, then tries to develop a market for the product. Product innovation drives the process and marketing research is conducted primarily to ensure that a profitable market segment(s) exists for the innovation. The rational is that customers may not know what options will be available to them in the future so we should not expect them to tell us what they will buy in the future. It is claimed that if Edison depended on marketing research he would have produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs.
Many firms, such as research and development focused companies, successfully focus on product innovation. Many purists doubt whether this is really a form of marketing orientation at all, because of the ex post status of consumer research. Some even question whether it is marketing. A relatively new form of marketing uses the Internet and is called internet marketing or more generally e-marketing. It typically tries to perfect the segmentation strategy used in traditional marketing. It targets its audience more precisely, and is sometimes called personalized marketing or one-to-one marketing. Of 50 Four Area Marketing Communication PRICE PLACE PROMOTION PRODUCT off BASIC PRICING STRATEGIES The pricing strategy portion of the marketing plan involves determining how you will price your product or service; the price you charge has to be competitive but still allow you to make a reasonable profit. The keyword here is “reasonable”; you can charge any price you want to, but for every product or service there’s a limit to how much the consumer is willing to pay. Your pricing strategy needs to take this consumer threshold into account.
Basically you set your pricing through a process of calculating your costs, estimating the benefits to consumers, and comparing your products, services, and prices to others that are similar. Set your pricing by examining how much it cost you to produce the product or service and adding a fair price for the benefits that the customer will enjoy. Examining what there are charging for similar products or services will guide you when you’re figuring out what a “fair” price for such benefits would be. You may find it useful to conduct a Breakable Analysis. 7 of 50 There are three basic pricing strategies: skimming, neutral, and penetration.
These pricing strategies represent the three ways in which a pricing manager or executive could look at pricing. Knowing these strategies and teaching them to your sales staff, and letting them know which one they should be using, allows for a unity within the company and a defined, company-wide pricing policy. . Skimming Strategy Skimming is the process of setting high prices based on value. Instead of basing your prices on your competition, a skimming price comes from within the company and the (financial) value your product represents to your customer.
This strategy can be employed in emerging markets, where certain customers will always want the newest, most advanced product available. It also works well in a mature market, where customers have already realized the value of your product and are willing to pay for what they see as a worthwhile investment. Surprisingly, skimming also works n declining markets, as your diehard customers are willing to pay big bucks for what they see as an older but superior product with a dwindling supply. 2.
Neutral Strategy In a neutral strategy, the prices are set by the general market, with your prices Just at your competitors’ prices. The major benefit of a neutral pricing strategy is that it works in all four periods in the lifestyle. The major drawback is that your company is not maximizing its profits by basing price only on the market. Since the strategy is based on the market and not on your product, your company, or the value of either, you’re also not going to gain market share. Essentially, neutral pricing is the safe way to the play the pricing game. Of 50 3. Penetration Strategy A penetration strategy is the price war; this strategy goes for the deepest price cuts, driving at every moment to have your price be the lowest on the market. Penetration strategies only work in one of the four lifestyle periods: growth. During growth, your sales are continuing to expand, as your customers want the newest product but still a product that has already tested by others in the emerging period. This is when your average customer buys a product and when the sales numbers will be the biggest.
A penetration strategy works here, and only here, because you’re attracting customers to a new but proven product with cheap productions. You’re developing relationships with new customers willing to try the new product but who will only come for a lower price. Penetration strategies fail in the other lifestyle periods by leaving possible profits in the hands of the customers. In an emerging market, your product is brand new and customers who want it first should (and will) pay for that right. In a mature market, a price war will simply start the process of endless and useless competition, destroying our profit margin.
In a declining market, only those who still must have your product will purchase it, and Just like in an emerging period, they should (and will) pay for that right. Knowing which pricing strategy works best for your company is an essential tool for any pricing manager and can only be found by recognizing the lifestyle of your products. If your entire sales force is on the same page in recognizing product lifestyles and utilizing pricing strategies, your company will likely see greater returns Price Strategy Objectives Business strategies can also affect price.
Keep in mind each strategy can have multiple effects; some positive, some negative. The company may use pricing strategies seeking to: Maximize Current Profits: Higher prices, at least in the short term, can help improve overall profit margins. Of course, over time high prices may result in significantly fewer transactions and lower revenues. Off Maximize Cash Flow: Lower prices can increase transactions and increase overall revenue and boost cash flow – but possibly at the expense of profitability. Maximize Profit Margins: Higher prices yield higher profit margins, but could affect the quantity of sales.
Maximize Sales Quantity: Lower prices – or product bundles – can increase the total number of items sold and generate discounts or rebates from suppliers or wholesalers. Pricing objectives or goals give direction to the whole pricing process. Determining what your objectives are is the first step in pricing. When deciding on pricing objectives you must consider: 1) the overall financial, marketing, and strategic objectives of the company; 2) the objectives of your product or brand; 3) consumer price elasticity and price points; and 4) the resources you have available.
Some of the more common pricing objectives are: examine long-run profit maximize short-run profit increase sales volume (quantity) increase dollar sales increase market share obtain a target rate of return on investment (ROI) obtain a target rate of return on sales stabilize market or stabilize market price company growth maintain price leadership desensitizing customers to price discourage new entrants into the industry match competitors prices encourage the exit of marginal firms from the industry survival avoid government investigation or intervention obtain or maintain the loyalty and enthusiasm of distributors and other sales personnel 0 of 50 enhance the image of the firm, brand, or product be perceived as “fair” by customers and potential customers create interest and excitement about a product discourage competitors from cutting prices use price to make the product Missile” build store traffic help prepare for the sale of the business (harvesting) social, ethical, or ideological objectives To get competitive advantage Implementation 11 of 50 External Sources and Internal Sources Sources of Marketing Information A variety of sources can be used to obtain the information necessary to fuel a marketing information system. These information sources can be grouped into two main categories: secondary data and primary data. Secondary data were previously collected for another purpose. Primary data are generated for a specific purpose when the information is not available elsewhere. It is normally advisable to search for secondary data before engaging in a primary data collection process. The secondary data may provide the information necessary to make a decision, and even if they don’t, they may be useful in developing the collection process for primary data. Figure 2 illustrates the possible sources of information for marketing decisions.
Secondary Data As mentioned before, this type of data is already available from other sources and summarizes information about operations, marketing, human resource management, financial performance, and other topics of interest to management. A shrewd manager will make a thorough check of all available secondary data sources before undertaking primary data collection. Secondary data can save many personnel hours and a great deal of money. The major advantages of using secondary data are: ; Cost. It is much less expensive to obtain information from existing sources than to evolve entirely new data. These existing sources may require a nominal charge for the information, but it will be much less than the cost of undertaking primary data collection. ; Timeliness. Secondary data are available almost instantaneously.
A manager can have access to data very quickly and therefore does not have to wait weeks or perhaps months for primary data to be collected, analyzed, and summarized. 12 of 50 By using secondary data whenever possible, a manager avoids the frustration of developing the research methodology design, designing the data collection instrument, protesting the instrument, devising a sampling plan, gathering the data, checking all data for accuracy and omissions, analyzing the data, and summarizing and reporting the results. Instead, a manager can merely locate the appropriate source and access the information desired. This process can be completed in a few hours or days, whereas primary data collection can take weeks or months to complete.
However, secondary data collection does have the following disadvantages. ; Limited applicability. A manager has no assurance that information gathered by others will be applicable to a particular hospitality operation. For example, information obtained in New York about the popularity of a specific menu item is not necessarily useful to a manager operating in another part of the country. Information that pertains to one operation may apply only to that operation and be of limited value to anyone else. ; Information may be outdated. Managers need current and accurate information on which to base decisions. All too often, secondary data are not as useful as they might be merely because they are not current.
For example, the results of a consumer attitude survey conducted by a restaurant four years ago would be of limited value to manager making plans today. During the four years, a number of changes in consumer attitudes are likely to have taken place. These changes in attitudes will make the original data outdated and useful only in a historical sense. If a hospitality manager makes use of less-than-timely data, the results are likely to be less than satisfactory. ; Reliability. Whenever a hospitality operator uses secondary data as the basis for a decision, the manager runs the risk that the information may not be reliable and accurate. A manager would do well to determine who collected the data and what