Marketing

1. A marketing channel is a system of marketing institutions that promotes the physical flow of goods and services, along with ownership title, from producer to consumer or business user; also called a distribution channel. The choice of marketing channels should support the firm's overall marketing strategy, for a lawn products business, the best marketing channels would be direct channels, producer to wholesaler to business user, and producer to wholesaler to retailer to consumer. Selling lawn products to a service provider (i.e. gardener, landscaper, etc.) would be a great opportunity for a reverse channel.

2. The coordination of all promotional activities Ð'- media advertising, direct mail, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations Ð'- to produce a unified, customer- focused promotional message is Integrated Marketing Communication. Integrated Marketing Communication uses database technology to refine the marketer's understanding of the target audience, segment this audience and select the best type of media for each segment. With Integrated Marketing Communication, organizations can compile different kinds of data into complete databases with customer information including, names and addresses, demographic data, lifestyle considerations, brand preferences, and buying behavior. During the busy holiday season, a toy company may want to tie in its products with a promotion. For example, General Mills and Nintendo hooked up to print Nintendo video game tips on 11 million fruit snack packages.

3. Advertising is paid, non-personal communication through various media by business firms, not for profit organizations, and individuals who are identified in the advertising message and who hope to inform or persuade members of a particular audience. Public relations are a firm's communications and relationships with its various publics. Sales promotion is marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising, and publicity that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness; this includes displays, trade shows and expositions, demonstrations, and various nonrecurrent selling efforts. I would advertise by using flyers inside the school, sending flyers home to the parents to attract more volunteers. I would also use the t-shirts the volunteers wear to advertise the various companies who donate supplies for our project. Newspapers, radio stations and local television news broadcasts will help in advertising our Global Day of Service. If Asbury Park Press called me for an interview, I would first define the role and scope of the overall public relations and current challenges. Next, I would analyze product features, and choices of messages and media channels, speaking engagements and contests for each market. Then, I would develop messages