The Promotion Mix

The Promotion Mix

This is the total marketing communication programs' available to an organization for communication with its target market.

The objectives of the promotion mix

They are mainly to communicate to customers in order to generate sales and profits by informing them the benefits of the product. The customers may be intermediaries' e.g. advertising agencies, sales people or the end user of the product. End users may continue the communication chain by influencing the decision making of their friends and acquaintances.

To form an effective communications campaign all of the elements of the promotion mix should be well integrated. There are various elements that constitute of the promotion mix and this includes.

1. Advertising

This is any form of paid non-personal communication of ideas or products in the "prime media": i.e. television, newspapers, and magazines, billboard posters, radio, cinema etc. It is used to develop attitudes, create awareness, and transmit information in order to gain a response from the target market. It is intended to persuade and to inform the target market. The basic aspects of advertising are the message and the medium of communication.

2. Personal Selling

This is oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale". It is an effective way to manage personal customer relationships. The sales person acts on behalf of the organization. They are well trained in the approaches and techniques of personal selling. However sales people are very expensive and should only be used where there is a genuine return on investment

3. Sales Promotion

It is aimed at providing incentives to customers or to the distribution channel to stimulate demand for a product. For example the BOGOF promotion, or Buy One Get One Free. Others include coupons, money-off promotions, competitions, free accessories, introductory offers (such as buy digital TV and get free installation), and so on. Sales promotions should be carefully cosseted and compared with the next best alternative, as they are usually expensive.

4. Public Relations

This is the planned communication of a product, brand or business by placing information about it in the media without paying for the time or media space directly. It is viewed to be relatively cheap, but certainly is not cheap. Successful strategies tend to be long-term and plan for all eventualities. All airlines exploit PR e.g. Msafiri for Kenya Airways.

5. Trade Fairs and Exhibitions

Trade Fairs and Exhibitions are very good for making new contacts