integrated marketing communication

1. UNIT – 1 / Introduction to Advertisement
Meaning of Advertising:
 Advertising was originated from a Latin term ―advertire which
means ―to turn to.
 The dictionary meaning of the term advertising is ―to give public
notice or to announce publicly.
Definition of Advertising:
 The American Marketing Association has defined Advertising as ―any
paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of goods,
services or ideas by an identified sponsor.
Scope and importance of advertising
Advertisements are important for:
• standardized products
• products aimed at large markets
• products that have easily communicated features
• products low in price
• products sold through independent channel members and/or are new.
Objectives of Advertising:
There are two types of Advertising Objectives,
I. General Objectives.
II. Specific Objectives.
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2. I. General Objective
a) Stimulating Demand – It can be done in two ways, first the present
users of the product may be persuaded to increase the present rate for
product consumption. Second way is to attract the new users into the
market by telling them the qualities of the product.
b) Increased profits.
II. Specific Objectives of Advertising
a) Preparing ground for new product.
b) Facing competition.
c) Informing the changes to the consumers.
d) Barring new entrants.
e) Creating or enhancing goodwill.
f) To assist salesmen.
g) Expanding the market to new buyers.
h) Reminding customers.
Importance of Advertising:
1. To make an immediate sale.
2. To build primary demand.
3. To introduce a price deal.
4. To inform about a product‘s availability.
5. To build brand recognition or brand insistence.
6. To help salesmen by building an awareness of a product among
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3. retailers.
7. To create a reputation for services, reliability or research strength.
8. To increase market share.
9. To modify existing product‘s availability or features or price.
10.To increase the frequency of use of a product.
11.To build over-all company image.
12.To reach new areas or new segments of population within existing
areas.
13.To develop overseas market.
Social Implications of advertising:
A discussion of the social issues in advertising covers the means of
advertising as well as its effects. the points raised below include questions of
manipulation of consumers against their will .
1. Deception / deceptive advertising :
there should not be misrepresentation to make it appear that it is true. some
advertisements may be deceptive, although technically or literally it may not
be true. the claim may be untrue in the light of prevailing practices.
2. Manipulation :
critics of advertising feels that the freedom of choice of consumers is
restricted by the power of advertising since it can manipulate buyers into
making a decision against their will or interests.
3. taste :
some critics feel that advertising has adverse effects as creative exposition
may not always be in good taste.
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4. 4. Materialism :
advertising is accused of promoting materialism by inducing people to
attach too much importance to the material aspects of life.
5. promoting stereo types :
by portraying certain individuals in certain roles, advertising promotes
stereo types. women are usually portrayed as housewife’s or mothers.
Setting Advertisement Objective
Elements to be Considered In Setting an Objective:
1. Sales as an Objective.
 A convenient and enticing advertising involves a construct like
immediate sales or market share.
 Advertising is one of the many factors that influence sales.
 The effect of advertising on sales occurs in the long run.
2. Operational Objectives.
 When immediate sales are not possible alternative behavioral
patterns or actions or interests of the customers have to be
studied. It will be done by analyzing the communication and
decision process that is affecting the desired behavior.
3. Behavioral Dynamics.
 An understanding of market dynamics is necessary to analyze
the behavior of the customer. Increase in sales can occur
basically from three sources or market condition the first one is
the new customers attracted for the first time, second by
increasing the loyalty of the existing customers and by
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5. inducing the existing customers to use the product more.
4. Using Intervening and Behavioral Variables.
Using advertising measures that intervene between the
incidence of stimulus (advertising) and the ultimate behavioral
response of the customers. Such response measures are called
intervening variables.
5. Specifying the Target Segment.
 Specification of the target audience to whom the
advertising will be directed. Thus advertising should specify
the target audience and how those audiences are to be
influenced by
advertising.
Setting Advertisement Objectives
1. Informative advertising:
 To create awareness of the organization.
 To explain the characteristics of the organization.
 To correct false impressions about the organization.
 To reduce peoples‘ apprehensions or fears about visiting the
organization.
 To build or enhance the organization‘s image or position.
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6. 2. Persuasive advertising:
 To increase customer preference for the organization‘s services.
 To increase customer loyalty to the organization.
 To encourage customers to switch from using a competitive
organization.
 To convince customers to book at the organization now or in the
future.
 To change customers‘ perceptions.
3. Reminder advertising:
 To remind customers about where they can book the organization‘s
services.
 To remind customers about facilities or services that is unique to the
sponsoring organization.
 To remind customers about when they should book or reserve the
organization‘s services.
 To remind customers of the existence of the organization
4. Comparison Advertising:
 Compares one brand with another.
 Educating and increasing the choices among customers.
5. Reinforcement Advertising:
 It aims to convince current purchases that they made the right choice.
Automobile ads often depict satisfied customers enjoying special
features of their new car
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7. Advertising Agency
General Meaning of Advertising Agency
―It is an independent organization that provides one or more specialized
advertising and promotion related services to assist companies in
developing, preparing and executing their advertising and other promotion
programmes. Most large and medium-sized companies usually use an
advertising agency.
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8. Evolution of Advertising Agency
 Volney B Palmer (1840) is the first known person who worked on a
commission basis to sell space in newspapers. During the 1850s, in
Philadelphia, George P Rowell bought large blocks of space from
publishers at quite low rates and, after deducting the agent‘s
commission, paid them in cash. He published a directory of
newspapers in 1869 with their rates for ad space and his own
estimates of their circulation.
 In 1917, newspaper publishers set 15 per cent as the standard agency
commission.
 During the 1980s, there was a wave of acquisitions and mergers of ad
agencies and support organizations to form super-agencies. These
large organizations were formed so that they could provide their
clients integrated marketing services worldwide.
 The major changes in the structure, functioning and the range of
services provided by advertising agencies evolved mainly in the later
part of the 20
th
century. Over 400 advertising agencies are
accredited to the Indian and Eastern Newspapers Society (IENS),
besides many unaccredited agencies.
Reasons or Need for the companies to go for Advertising Agency
 Probably the main reason why companies use outside ad agencies is
because they provide their clients with services of highly skilled
specialists in their chosen fields.
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9. An advertising agency may have personnel that include writers,
artists, media specialists, market research specialists and others with
specific knowledge, skills and experience to help clients, marketing
their products and services.
Agency Remuneration
There are three methods used to compensate the agencies for their varied
services
1. Commission.
 The most traditional method for compensation or remuneration of
advertising agencies for their services is through a ‗Commission
System‘. The agency is paid a fixed commission (usually it is 15 %)
from the media on any advertising space or time purchased for the
advertiser. The rate for outside media is slightly higher (usually it is
16.66 %). This is a simple system to determine the amount of
commission.
2. Negotiated Fee.
 A number of agencies and their clients negotiate some type of fee
system or cost-plus arrangement for compensation. Some use an
incentive-based compensation system combining a fee and system..
‗fixed-fee method‘, the agency charges a fixed monthly fee based on
the work being done. This would apply to all the services provided
and the agency passes on to the client any media commissions earned.
The fee system is used in TV advertising
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10. 3. Percentage Charges.
 When the agency purchases various services from outside providers,
they do not allow the agency a commission and to cover up
administrative costs and reasonable profit for the agency‘s efforts, a
make-up of ‗percentage charges‘ for such services is added to the bill.
These services may include market research, artwork, photography,
printing and other services. The percentage charges range between
17.65 per cent and 20 percent.
 For example, if the agency pays Rs 1, 00,000 for research, 17.65 of
this figure is added to reach a total of Rs 1, 17,650. The agency adds
17.65 percent of this total in the overall bill. Approximately this yields
15 percent commission (17.65 percent of Rs 1, 17,650 = 17, 647.50
and equals to 15 percent of Rs 1, 17,650).
Agency Evaluation or Agency Selection
The process of agency evaluation involves regular assessment of two
aspects of performance area-financial and qualitative.
1. Financial – the financial assessment focuses on how the agency
conducts its business vis-à-vis costs and expenses, the number of
personnel hours charged to an account and what payments are made to
media and other outside service suppliers.
2. Qualitative Assessment – explores the agency‘s efforts devoted to
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11. planning, developing and implementing the client company‘s
advertising campaign and an assessment of the achievements.
 Depending on the importance of advertising in a company‘s
marketing programme, both informal and formal methods of
assessment are used by different companies. Some companies
develop a formal and systematic evaluation method that uses a
ranking scale for creative and media services, such as
‗poor/average/excellent‘ on a scale of 1 to 10. Brand or
promotion managers complete the
advertising agency performance evaluation, usually once a year.
These reports are reviewed with the agency at each annual meeting.
Reasons for Losing Clients
Some of the more common causes that account for agencies losing clients
are
1. The client‘s dissatisfaction with the agency‘s performance with regard
to advertising quality or service.
2. Poor communication between the client and the agency personnel
hinders a good working relationship.
3. Personality clashes between the client and agency personnel.
4. Unrealistic client demands, which reduce the account‘s profitability
for the agency.
5. New managers in client‘s organization may want to use an agency
with which they already have established ties.
6. Often when agencies merge, there is a conflict of interest as two close
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12. competitors may on the merged agency‘s account list.
7. A change in the client‘s marketing strategy
Full-service Agencies
The full-service agency is composed of various departments, each
responsible for providing inputs needed for performing various functions to
serve the client. Functions are as follows:
1. Account Services.
 Account services or account management is responsible for the
relationship between the agency and the client. One or more account
executives are assigned to serve as liaison, depending on the client‘s
size and the advertising budget. The account executive‘s job requires
a high degree of diplomacy and tact as misunderstanding may lead to
loss of account.
2. Marketing Services
 The ‗research department‘ is maintained by the full service agency to
gather and interpret published information (secondary data) or
primary data (first hand information through research) which is useful
in developing advertising for their clients.
3. Creative Services.
 To a large extent, the success of an agency depends on the creative
services department to which is responsible for the creation and
execution of the advertisements. The creative specialists are known as
‗copywriters‘. They are the one who conceive the ideas for the ads
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13. and write the headlines, subheads, and body copy. They are also
involved in determining the theme or basic appeal of the advertising
campaign and often prepare the rough layout of the print ad or
storyboard for TV commercials.
How the Agencies Acquire (get or buy) New Clients
1. Referrals (recommendations):
 Agencies gain new clients as a result of recommendations from
existing satisfied clients, media representatives, and often by smaller
agencies. This requires maintaining good relations with outside
parties.
2. Solicitations:
 This is quite a common method of gaining new clients by smaller
agencies. The top man calls on prospects and seeks accounts. Most
large advertising agencies have new business development group
responsible to seek out and establish contact with new clients, make
cold calls, write request letters and follow up on any leads.
3. Presentations:
 The objective of the business development group is to create
opportunities so that the agency receives invitations from companies
to make presentations. Through presentation, the agency may succeed
in selling its services to new clients. The agency describes its
experience, its personnel and capabilities, procedures and
demonstrates its outstanding work.
Client or Advertiser’s Role in Organizing for Advertising
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14.  The manner in which a company organizes for advertising and other
promotional elements depends on several factors such as company
size, number of products, role of advertising in promotion mix, the
budget and structure of its marketing organization.
 Advertising function is an intimate part of the marketing department.
Many marketing personnel often provide inputs in campaign planning,
agency selection and evaluation of proposed programmes.
 Many companies have an advertising department, headed by a
manager. In multi-product companies, with decentralized marketing,
product management or brand management system operates. Some
large organizations form a separate in-house agency responsible for
advertising and other promotional activities.
Developing an Advertising Campaign
Advertising Campaign - The design of a series of advertisements and
their placement in various advertising media in order to communicate
with a particular target audience.
General Steps in Developing and Implementing an Advertising
Campaign
1. Identify and Analyze Target Audience
 Target audience is the group of people at whom advertisements are
aimed
 Location and geographic distribution
 Distribution of demographic factors
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15.  Lifestyle information
 Consumer attitudes
2. Define Advertising Objectives
 What does the firm hope to accomplish with the campaign?
 Objectives should be clear, precise, and measurable.
 Increased sales (units or dollars) and/or increased product or
brand awareness
3. Create Advertising Platform
 Basic issues or selling points to be included in the advertising
campaign
 Issues in the selection and use of the product that are important to
customers
4. Determine Advertising Appropriation
5. Develop Media Plan
6. Create Advertising Message
7. Execute Campaign
8. Evaluate Advertising Effectiveness
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16. UNIT – 2 ADVERTISEMENT
MEDIA
Media Planning / Media Plan
 A series of decisions involving the delivery of messages to audiences.
 Media plan is the guide for media selection.
 The process of designing a course of action that shows how
advertising time and space will be used to contribute to the
achievement of marketing objectives
 The process of determining media objectives and strategies that show
how advertising time and space can best deliver the advertising
message.
 The media plan is a document that outlines media objectives and
media strategies.
Media Objectives
 Goals to be attained by the media strategy and program. The specific
goals an advertiser has for the media portion of the advertising
program.
Media Strategy
 Decisions on how the media objectives can be attained. Plans of
action for achieving stated media objectives.
Medium / Media / Media Class
 The various general categories of delivery systems, including
broadcast and print media. The general category of media that is
available for communicating with a target audience.
Broadcast Media
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17.  Either radio or television network or local station broadcasts.
Print Media
 Publications such as newspapers and magazines.
Media Vehicle
 The specific message carrier, such as the Newspaper or News at 6:30.
The specific program, station, publication or promotional piece used
to carry an advertising message.
Coverage
 The potential audience that might receive the message through the
vehicle. TV Homes/Households Using Television
Reach
 The actual number of individual audience members reached at least
once by the vehicle in a given period of time.
Frequency
 The number of times the receiver is exposed to a vehicle in a specific
time period.
Advertisement Media Performance:
Performance is typically measured on two dimensions: frequency and spread.
Frequency:
To maximize overall awareness, the advertising must reach the maximum
number of the target audience. there is a limit for the last few per cent of the
general population who don't see the main media advertisers use. these are
more expensive to reach.Reaching 90 per cent can cost double what it costs to
reach 70 per cent, and reaching 95 per cent can double the cost yet again. in
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18. practice.A large budget achieves high coverage—a smaller budget limits the
ambitions of the advertiser.
Spread:
More sophisticated media planners also look at the 'spread' of frequencies.
ideally all of the audience should receive the average number of ots. those who
receive fewer are insufficiently motivated, and extra advertising is wasted on
those who receive more. it is, of course, impossible to achieve this ideal. as
with coverage, the pattern is weighted towards a smaller number—of heavy
viewers, for example—who receive significantly more ots, and away from the
difficult last few percent. however, a good media buyer manages the resulting
spread of frequencies to weigh it close to the average, with as few audience
members as possible below the average.
Types of media and their characteristics:
in terms of overall advertising expenditures, media advertising is still
dominated by press and television, which are of comparable size (by value of
'sales'). posters and radio follow some way behind, with cinema representing a
very specialist medium.
1.Press:
National newspapers - these are still traditionally categorized, from the
media buyer's viewpoint, on the basis of class; even though this is of declining
importance to many advertisers. `quality' newspapers for example, tend to have
a readership profile of in excess of 80 per cent of abc1 readers, though it is
more difficult to segment readerships by age categories. they are obviously best
matched to national advertisers who are happy with black and white
advertisements, although colour is now available - and high-quality colour is
available in some supplements. national newspapers in general, and the quality
press in particular, are supposed to carry more `weight' with their readers (since
they are deliberately read, not treated just as `background'); so that an
advertisement placed in one is taken more seriously than a comparable one in a
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19. regional newspaper, although it may be more transitory (since it is not kept for
reference as some local weeklies may be).
regional newspapers—these may be dailies, which look and perform
much like the nationals, or weeklies, which are more specialized, though they
dominate the classified advertising market. there is usually much more
advertising competing for the reader's attention, and the weekly newspaper is
now largely the province of the 'free-sheet'—typically delivered free to all
homes in a given area—which earn revenue from their high proportion of
advertising, and accordingly having the least `weight' of all.
2.Magazines
These offer a more selective audience (which is more `involved', with
the editorial content at least). magazines are traditionally categorized into
general interest, special interest and trade or technical. the advertiser will,
therefore, be able to select those that match the specific profile demanded by
the advertising strategy. the weight, or `authority', of magazines is
correspondingly high, and they may be kept for a considerable time for use as
reference - and passed to other readers (so that `readership' figures may be
much higher than `circulation' figures). they can offer excellent colour printing;
but, again, the clutter of many competing advertisements may reduce the
impact of the advertiser's message.
trade and technical - in the trade and professional fields there are now a
significant number of 'controlled circulation' magazines. these are like the `free
press', in that they are delivered free to the recipients; but, at least in theory,
those recipients should have been carefully screened to ensure that they are of
value to the advertisers - and the circulation can, if properly controlled,
represent a wide cross-section of the buyers, and influencers, in the advertiser's
target audience. the rates for positioning are usually more varied than for
newspapers, with premiums being paid for facing editorial matter and, of
course, for colour.
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20. 3.Television
This is normally the most expensive medium, and as such is generally
only open to the major advertisers, although some regional contractors offer
more affordable packages to their local advertisers. it offers by far the widest
coverage, particularly at peak hours (roughly 7.00—10.30 p.m.) and especially
of family audiences. offering sight, sound, movement and colour, it has the
greatest impact, especially for those products or services where a
'demonstration' is essential, these messages must be simple and able to
overcome surrounding family life distractions—especially the tv remote.
4.Posters
This is something of a specialist medium, which is generally used in
support of campaigns using other media. on the other hand, some advertisers,
particularly those in brewing and tobacco, have successfully made significant
use of the medium; although, to achieve this, they have developed the requisite
expertise to make efficient use of its peculiarities.
5.Radio
radio advertising has increased greatly in recent years, with the granting of
many more licenses. it typically generates specific audiences at different times
of the day—adults at breakfast, housewives, and commuters during rush hours.
it can be a cost-effective way of reaching these audiences—especially since
production costs are much cheaper than television, though the lack of visual
elements may limit the message.
6.cinema
Though national audience numbers are down, this may be the most
effective medium for extending coverage to younger age groups, since the core
audience is 15 to 24.
7.Internet/web advertising
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21. this rapidly growing marketing force borrows much from the example of
press advertising, but the most effective use—adopted by search engines—is
interactive.
8.Mobile advertising
personal mobile phones have become an attractive advertising media to
network operators, but are relatively unproven and remain in media buyers'
sidelines.
9.Advertising Media Scheduling
scheduling refers to the pattern of advertising timing, represented as plots on a
yearly flowchart. these plots indicate the pattern of scheduled times advertising
must appear to coincide with favorable selling periods. the classic scheduling
models are continuity, flighting and pulsing.
10.Continuity
this model is primarily for non-seasonal products, yet sometimes for seasonal
products. advertising runs steadily with little variation over the campaign
period.
11.Flighting (or "bursting")
in media scheduling for seasonal product categories, flighting involves
intermittent and irregular periods of advertising, alternating with shorter periods
of no advertising at all. for instance, all of 2000 target rating poinered in a
single month, "going dark" for the rest of the year.
12.Pulsing
pulsing combines flighting and continuous scheduling by using a low
advertising level all year round and heavy advertising during peak selling
periods. product categories that are sold year round but experience a surge in
sales at intermittent periods are good candidates for pulsing. for instance,
under-arm deodorants, sell all year, but more in summer months.
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22. Scheduling Strategies for Advertising
Burst campaigns:
Higher quality, more reliable products.” Or, “people think big bank has more services
and products than we do. Things like investments and insurance, even inexpensive
safe deposit boxes. So they think big bank is more convenient.”
The marketing objective and strategy.
The marketing objective is a business goal. For example, “in the first year we want to
capture 10% of the market in six cities.” Or, “our goal is to be profitable in this
country within 6 months.” Or, “we want to increase sales with this product to the
point where profits reach $50,000 per month, and do this in 12 months.”
All of the above, of course, to be accomplished within a budget.
The advertising strategy supports the marketing strategy.
So let’s say we’re selling fred’s farm fresh ice cream. Chocolate, strawberry and
vanilla are flying out of the freezer. But no one wants the prune flavor.
So fred says, “hey, i want my purple prune flavor to add 20% to my sales - not steal
sales from the existing three - or i’m going to dump it in 12 months. Here's one
million dollars to work with. What do you suggest?”
In this case your strategy might be to:
A) re-name the product: prune surprise.
B) re-position it: surprisingly sweet, surprisingly healthy.
C) build a brand based on a fussy old lady, a great cook, who is very demanding: it’s
got to taste great, and be great for your health. Or she's rejects it.
Project the brand with tv ads showing a young mrs. Consumer absentmindedly
reaching for some ice cream at the store. Mrs. Fussy taps her on the shoulder, and she
starts, “oh! You surprised me.”
Mrs. Fussy, “honey, here’s a bigger a surprise …”
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23. D) achieve immediate sales with an in-store promo plan or discount coupons,
something to encourage people to give it a try.
All the while, keep in mind that one single thread you want to weave into all of your
communications; that one most important thing you want to say:
"prune surprise is loaded with healthy fiber, and surprisingly sweet."
That's your position. Here are some more examples:
- satalindo gives you clearer international calls.
- bogasari is the pasta preferred by professional chefs.
- the new tempest goes farther on a tank of gas than any car in its class.
- minibank is small, which makes you big and important, no matter how much you
have in your account.
Message development :
Message Development is the process of creating the
advertising message. advertisers must first determine the desired audience
response and then develop the advertising message to achieve that response.
desired audience response may be to heighten awareness of a product, service,
or general situation, or to inspire an audience action such as voting for a
candidate, placing a telephone order, or going out and purchasing a particular
product. In the creation of the advertising message, message developers talk to
competitors, dealers, and potential customers and then engage in brainstorming
techniques to try to imagine using the product and determine the benefits
sought. the advertising message is very important to the success of the
advertising campaign. it must attract audience attention and communicate
effectively.
Having identified advertising
objectives, the advertising budget must be set. determining exactly how much a
business should spend on advertising to achieve the desired level of sales, is
more an art than a science. commonly, the decision is based on past experience
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24. of expenditure on advertising, and the sales subsequently achieved. there are
however a number of factors that can be considered in setting the advertising
budget.
Types of Advertisement :
advertising persuades members of a particular market to take some form
of action, such as buying a product or service. there are many ways to spread an
advertising message. a good ad campaign incorporates several types of
advertising to get maximum exposure.
1.Television Advertising:
Tv commercials are a popular way to mass-market messages to large
audiences. although this medium has the ability to reach a high number of
potential buyers, it is also one of the most costly forms of advertising. for
example.Infomercials are another form of television advertising. the
infomercial is different than a commercial because it is longer, includes more
product information, and has more of a personal tone. although they are also
costly to produce, infomercials are highly effective in creating impulse buys
because of their demonstrative and persuasive nature
2.Radio advertising:
Radio commercials are an effective way for businesses to target a group
of people based on location or similar tastes. for example, a local night club
seeking college student clientele would probably consider advertising on a local
pop station. likewise, a country and western bar would choose a local country
station.
3.Print advertising
Magazine and newspaper ads are another way to spread the word about a
product or service. print also offers the ability to target a specific audience
based on geography or common interests. print advertising usually includes
larger display ads, as well as classified advertising. the classifieds are typically
very affordable, whereas display ads are a bit more pricey.
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25. 4.Online advertising
Advertising online is an increasingly popular method for promoting a
business. there are many forms of online advertising. banner ads are image ads
displayed on web pages. google adwords is another popular form of online
advertising that matches an ad to an internet user's search inquiry.
social network marketing has been the fastest-growing form of internet
advertising. this includes using sites like facebook, twitter, and linkedin to
promote a product or service. many social networks have advertising available,
such as facebook ads.
5.Billboard advertising
Billboard ads are large advertisements displayed on structures in public
places. most commonly, billboards are located along highways to target passing
motorists. another type of billboard advertising is a mobile banner or billboard.
this can range from the signs seen at major sporting event arenas to billboard
advertisements pasted on the sides of semi trailers.
6.In-store advertising
in-store advertising takes place within a retail store. for example, a company
that produces a new cleaning product might include an end cap display when
they ship the product to stores. this gives the store an attractive display that
draws attention to the new product. other types of in-store advertising include
banners and display cases.
7.Word of mouth advertising
while some may argue that word of mouth is not advertising because it's free,
this form of promotion is one of the most credible and priceless assets of any
business. even if business owners can't buy word of mouth advertising, they can
encourage their customers to tell their friends and family about the great
product or service they purchased.
8.Endorsements
endorsement is similar to word of mouth promotion but typically does cost
money. having a product or service endorsed by a celebrity can increase sales
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26. and product awareness. not every company can afford to have a major a-list
celeb promoting a product, though. for smaller companies, consider using local
celebrities or well-known individuals within the product's niche market. for
example, many equine companies look for professional horse trainers to
endorse their products.
Media Research
 Research is a vital part of marketing and advertising is no
different; advertisers need to know how audiences view, recall and
react to their ads, media owners need to know how many people use
their medium as readers, viewers and listeners, and in general
businesses want to know the profile of the typical user of their
products – who they are, what they do, how they spend their leisure
time and so on.
 The following organizations are integral aspects of advertising
industry research.
I. Media research (for TV, radio etc)
1. Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board (BARB) (www.barb.co.uk)
 BARB used to provide viewing stats for BBC programmes only, but
since 1981 has provided a single system, industry standard audience
measurement service for all UK TV broadcasters and for the
advertising industry.
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27.  BARB figures make it possible for advertisers to identify & deliver a
mass audience. Thanks to BARB, ITV companies know the strength
of their medium and can determine their ad rate cards appropriately.
2. Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) (www.abc.org.uk)
 ABC is independent of media owners, advertising agencies and
advertisers but has members representing all three.
 It provides circulation (sales) figures for papers, magazines, B2B
publications, directories, leaflets, exhibitions and websites. Divided
into two - Business to Business and Newspapers & Consumer
Magazines – it reflects the breadth of the industry.
.
3. Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd (RAJAR) (www.rajar.co.uk)
 RAJAR was formerly another known by a different acronym -
JICRAR - the Joint Industry Committee for Radio Audience Research,
which covered only the independent sector.
 RAJAR, set up in 1992, provides a single audience measurement
system for the BBC and Independent Local Radio (ILR).
4. Cinema and Video Industry Audience Research
(CAVIAR)
CAVIAR was established in 1983 to provide reliable audience figures for
27

28. media planners and cinema owners. It is commissioned and produced
annually by the Cinema Advertising Association on behalf the CAA
The survey provides the industry with key information on cinema going
habits and film viewing in Britain. This includes cinema and specific film
audience profiles; party size & composition; in-depth analysis of the
cinema- goers‘ last visit to the cinema; experience in the cinema complex;
and consumption of other media including viewing of pay-per-view films
and digital TV.
5. Poster Audience Research (POSTAR –formerly OSCAR)
(www.postar.co.uk)
 Until 2004 OSCAR provided information relating to poster sites in the
UK through a programme of continuous field research.
 OSCAR was succeeded by POSTAR which has overhauled the
research and data available for the over 120,000 outdoor panels
throughout the UK. They did this by estimating vehicular and
pedestrian traffic past each of the 100,000 UK roadside billboards.
 POSTAR also provide sample campaigns to enable advertisers to
reach desired audiences in certain areas of the UK.
6. National Readership Survey (NRS) (www.nrs.co.uk)
 NRS is published by National Readership Surveys Limited,
 The NRS helps to establish reader, viewer, and listener profiles. It
provides estimates of the number and nature of the people who read
28

29. Britain‘s newspapers and consumer magazines. Currently the Survey
publishes data covering some 250 newspapers, newspaper
supplements and magazines.
 Its objective is to provide the common currency of readership research
data for newspapers and magazines, by means of a continuous survey
based on interview with a 35,000 panel.
II. Audience profiles (TGI etc)
1. Target Group Index (TGI) (www.tgisurveys.com)
 The TGI, which started in the UK in 1969, is a fast growing
international network of single source market research surveys. It
provides invaluable product, brand, media and attitudinal data in 57
countries around the world.
 It exists to provide the advertising and media industries with a means
of describing target groups for the broad spectrum of consumer goods
and services. Importantly it also allows the identification of potential
strategies for communicating with these audiences. Today, TGI is
used to assist in the understanding of target markets and to aid
marketing and advertising decisions.
2. A Classification of Residential Neighbourhoods (ACORN)
 A socio-economic marketing segmentation system it makes its
classifications based on the latest census figures. ACORN lumps
residences into groups: agricultural (a), better-off council estates (e),
29

30. affluent suburban housing (j), and unclassified housing (u).
III. Industry research
1. British Rate and Data (BRAD) (www.intellagencia.com)
 BRAD, owned by media group EMAP, has existed for 50 years. It
provides accurate, comprehensive advertising information to
advertisers and agencies. It provides over 13,500 entries covering
every media outlet - from papers to hot air balloons.
 BRAD publishes monthly information including ABC figures and
details of advertising rate cards for daily, national, weekly and
regional newspapers and virtually every separate media vehicle
available to advertisers in Britain.
2. Media Expenditure Analysis Ltd (MEAL)
 MEAL as such is no longer in existence, so it has little importance.
UNIT - 3 / INTRODUCTION TO SALES PROMOTION
Definitions
 American Marketing Association defines ―Sales Promotion includes
those sales activities that supplement both personal selling and
advertising and coordinate them and help to make them effective,
such as displays, shows and expositions, demonstrations and other
30

31. non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.‖ (1960)
 Roger A Strang has defined ―Sales Promotions are short-term
incentives or encourage purchase or sale of a product or service.‖
 John A Quelch has defined ―Sales Promotions are temporary
incentives targeted at the trade (called trade promotions). While sales
promotions generally aim to change purchase behavior, they vary in
whether they attempt to persuade trade customers or end consumers
to buy a product for the first time, to buy more, to buy earlier, or to
buy more often.‖
 According to Philip Khotler ―Sales promotion consist of a diverse
collection of incentive tools, mostly short-term, designed to stimulate
quicker and / or greater purchase of particular products / services by
consumers or the trade.‖
 According to Kazmi and Batra ―Sales Promotions include incentive
offering and interest creating activities which are generally short-term
31

32. marketing events other than advertising, personal selling, publicity
and direct marketing. The purpose of sales promotion is to stimulate,
motivate and influence the purchase and other desired behavioral
responses of the firm‘s customers.‖
Objectives of Sales Promotion
1. Increase sales volume.
2. Speed up the sales of slow moving products.
3. To check the fluctuations in sales.
4. Attract new customers.
5. Launch new product and increase trial.
6. Encourage repeat purchase.
7. Clearance of excessive inventories.
8. Motivate dealers to stock and sell more.
9. Encourage dealers to participate in display and sales contests.
10.To gain advantageous shelf-space.
11.To increase store traffic.
12.Improve relationship with dealers.
13.Motivate sales force.
14.To supplement advertising and personal selling efforts.
Factors Influencing Sales Promotion Growth
1. Increasing Competition: After the introduction of economic
32

33. liberalization, competition prevails in almost all goods and services.
Survival of fittest is the only way in this intense domestic (national)
and global (international) competition.
2. Customers have become more price-sensitive: Consumers in
general have become more conscious (alert) about prices. Some
researchers feel that this increased price sensitivity of custo mers is
a
33

34. result of frequent sales promotions because consumers become
conditioned to promotion.
3. Sales Promotions generally create an immediate positive impact
on sales: Advertising, Personal Selling, and other methods of
promotion produce a slower sales response as compared to sales
promotion. Also since sales promotions are mostly for a short
duration, or a specified period, this leads to a sense of urgency in
consumers to buy now.
4. Products have become more standardized: Most brands are being
perceived by consumers to be more or less similar a given price range
because of the inability of manufactures to develop truly
differentiated products.
5. Consumer Acceptance: As competition intensifies, and promotions
proliferate (grow or multiply), consumers have learnt to earn the
rewards of being ―smart shoppers‖. Over a period of time, they have
also learnt that brands on promotion are not necessarily of lower
quality (examples are Nike and Reebok sports footwear, Timex and
Titan watches, Computers, Cell Phones, Four wheeler and Two
wheeler and a large number of other brand name products).
34

35. Consumers have learned that promotions are being extended to many
product categories where such promotions were unheard of before.
35

36. 6. Expectations of price decrease: With the entry of many different
brands of consumer durable products in the same product category,
consumers anticipate that the prices of durable goods will come down.
This encourages them to postpone their purchases. To speed up the
purchase in this segment of consumers, sales promotions, sales
promotions are an effective as well as attractive method.
7. Advertising has become more expensive and less effective: All the
advertising media have become quite expensive. Audio-visual
medium, which is considered as the most effective medium for short-
duration ads, may cost in excess of Rs 1,50,000 for a ten-second
exposure during prime time. In many cases, consumers have reached a
point a point of boredom due to excessive exposure to advertising on
TV. Small companies can‘t afford huge sums of money on
advertising, sales promotion is a more cost-effective promotion
method to produce sales results.
8. Trade has become more powerful: Retailers and wholesalers have
become powerful and find themselves in a position to demand extra
benefits from the companies. They do not hesitate and play off one
manufacturer against another.
9. Emphasis on sales volume: Towards achieving long-term profit
goals, manufactures try to attain high sales volumes. Brand managers
and product managers find themselves under pressures to achieve
short-term sales results for the sake of their carriers. Compared to any
36

37. other promotional method, sales promotion is a more effective
method to generate short-term sales volume.
10. Sales Promotions maximize profits: A number of economic
theories conclude that a company can maximize profits by using sales
promotion. Such promotion can permit price discrimination by
allowing the brand to compete in two or more different market
segments. For example, a premium brand of toilet soap may be on
promoted with different prices in some price sensitive markets while
in the remaining markets it is sold on its normal price.
11. Introducing an element of interest: There are number of
promotions which are often called ‗interest-promotions‘. Some of the
more popular interest-promotion techniques are samples, scratch
cards, contests and sweepstakes, free premiums and mail-in
premiums. These promotions create an element of interest and
excitement; consumers enjoy these and respond enthusiastically to
such promotions.
12. Impulse (desire or urge) buying in increasing: It appears that the
number of marginal customers is on the increase. Displays at the
point-of-purchase lead to impulse buying (unplanned purchases) by
consumers.
13. Sales promotion specialists are available: As a result of economic
liberalization, the number of management institutions has increased.
37

38. This has led to the availability of specialists who are not well paid but
can handle this specialized work more efficiently in the current
market conditions where sales promotion has become more important.
14. Excess stocks: Because of increasing number of brands, it is
becoming difficult for manufactures and dealers to anticipate sales in
the future. This, at times, leads to excess inventories and the quickest
way to clear the piled up inventories is to go for sales promotion.
Roles/purpose of sales promotion i.e., Consumer Promotion and Trade
Promotion
1. Getting customers to try a new service or menu item.
2. Increasing off-peak sales.
3. Increasing sales in periods that coincide with major events, vacations,
or special occasions.
4. Encouraging travel intermediaries to make an effort to sell services.
5. Helping sales representatives get business from prospects.
6. Facilitating intermediary sales.
7. To attract new triers, to reward loyal customers, and to increase the
repurchase rates of occasional users (incentive type promotions).
8. It enables the manufactures to adjust to short-term variations in
supply and demand.
9. To provide effective sales support.
10.To increase the speed of product acceptance.
38

39. Benefits of sales promotion
1. Communication: They gain attention and may lead the consumer to
the product.
2. Incentive: They incorporate some concession, inducement, or
contribution that gives value to the consumer.
3. Invitation: They include a distinct invitation to engage in the
transaction now.
Limitations of Sales promotion
1. There is a feeling that such seasonal sales promotional activities are
mainly intended to sell an inadequate product.
2. The second criticism is that such discounts are not real.
3. These activities are short-lived, so the results realized are also short-
lived. As soon as these concessions are withdrawn, the demand also
reduces.
Sales Promotions Techniques
I. Consumer Sales Promotions
1. Coupons: certificates entitling the bearer to a stated saving on the
purchase of a specific product: mailed, enclosed in other products or
attached to them, or inserted in magazine and newspaper ads.
2. Samples: Offer a free amount of a product or service door to door,
sent in the mail, picked up in a store, attached to another product, or
featured in an advertising offer.
39

40. 3. Price Packs (cents-off deals): Offers to consumers of savings off the
regular price of a product flagged on the label or package. A reduced-
price pack is a single package sold at a reduced price (such as two for
the price of one). A banded pack is two related products banded
together (such as a toothbrush and tooth paste).
4. Cash Refund Offers (rebates): Provide a price reduction after
purchase rather than at the retail shop: consumer sends a specified
―proof of purchase‖ to the manufacturer who ―refunds‖ part of
the
purchase price by mail.
5. Premium (gifts): Merchandise offered at a relatively low cost or free
as an incentive to purchase a particular product. A with-pack premium
accompanies the product inside or on the package. A free in-the-mail
premium is mailed to consumers who send in a proof of purchase,
such as a box top or UPC code. A self-liquidating premium is sold
below its normal retail price to consumers who request it.
6. Prices (contests, sweepstakes, and games): Prizes are offers of the
chance to win cash, trips, of purchasing something. A contest calls
for consumers to submit an entry to be examined by a panel of judges
who will select the best entries. A sweepstakes asks consumers to
submit their names in a drawing. A game presents consumers with
40

41. something every time they buy-bingo numbers, missing letters-which
might help them win a price.
41

42. 7. Free trials: Inviting prospective purchasers to try the product
without cost in the hope that they will buy.
8. Tie-in promotions: Two or more brands or companies team up
on coupons, refunds, and contests to increase pulling power.
9. Trading Stamps: Used by large retailers and companies. Such
stamps are attached with the quantity of purchase. On specified
accumulation these are redeemable (usable) for various products and
services.
II. Trade Promotions
1. Advertising Materials: The advertising materials prepared by the
company such as store signs, banners, shelf signs, boards, etc.,
are distributed to sub-dealers for display purposes. This in fact a
method of advertising.
2. Store Demonstration: In the premises of the wholesaler or the
retailer, the producer‘s sales personnel will conduct special
demonstrations for the company‘s product.
3. Special Displays and Shows: These are seasonal in character but
could be arranged in an elaborate manner and for all the products of a
company. Usually, these are arranged along with trade fairs and
exhibitions.
42

43. 4. Dealer Contests: This is an indirect way of increasing sales. It is
conducted by the manufacturer at a wholesale or retail level.
Such
contests may take the form of window display, internal store display,
sales contests (large sales volume) etc. The winners are rewarded
either in cash or in cash or in some interesting forms. This certainly
involves financial commitments.
5. Dealer Premiums: This is an indirect way of increasing sales. It is
conducted by the manufacturer at a wholesale or retail level. Such
contests may take the form of window display, internal store display,
sales contests (large sales volume etc). The winners are rewarded
either in cash or in some other interesting form.
6. Push Money: Money paid to trade sales force for pushing
additionally a specific product or product line.
7. Trade Allowances: These are temporary price reductions or
reimbursement (Repayment or Compensation or Refund) of expenses
incurred by dealers, in full or part. Following are some of the
allowances:
 Trade or Buying Allowance: On purchase of specified quantity of a
product, price reduction is offered.
 Buy-Back Allowance: A secondary incentive given to traders in
43

44. the form of some money for each additional unit bought over and
above the deal quantity.
 Count & Recount: A specific amount of money is offered after
ascertaining the number of product units sold during a specified
period.
Merchandise or Display Allowance: An allowance given to
trade for arranging desired display and merchandising
effort.
 Cooperative Advertising and Promotion Allowance:
Advertising and promotional costs incurred by the dealer
are shared by the manufacturer at some agreed rate.
Comparison of Sales Promotion with other Promotion Mix Elements
Sales Promotion Campaign
Here are 7 steps to effectively plan and execute a successful
promotion:
1. Name/Theme of Your Promotional Campaign (you can
additionally use slogans or logos if you prefer).
2. Focus on specific products or services according to your
client's needs.
3. Support materials/collateral needed to present your products or
services successfully (posters, fliers, banners, signs, displays, etc.).
4. Get customer communication distributed about the event
(Letters, direct mail, e-blast, e-newsletters, fliers, catalogues, etc.).
5. Have a "push list" of products or services available for all
sales associates.
44

45. 6. Create a clientele file for every customer attending your event.
Not every client is going to buy from you, therefore ask non-
purchasing
7. Follow-up immediately after your event is over, with thank you
notes and/or a courtesy telephone call to all of your customers. This may be
time consuming, but going this extra mile to thank your patrons will
definitely pay off in the long run.
When planning a promotional campaign keep in mind that a
campaign generally consists of three desired outcomes:
Outcome 1: Your promotional message reaches your intended and
targeted audience.
Outcome 2: Your message is understood by your audience.
Outcome 3: Your message stimulates the recipients and they take action.
The question is how do you achieve these outcomes with your
campaign?
The process is easy, but it takes "planning" time.
Here are seven steps that will get your campaign off to the right start.
Step 1: Assess Marketing Communication Opportunities.
It's important in this first step to examine and understand the needs of
your target market. Who is your message going out to? Current users,
influencers among individuals, decision-makers, groups, or the general
public?
Step 2: What Communication Channels Will You Use?
In the first step of planning you should have defined the markets,
products, and environments. This information will assist you in deciding
45

46. which communication channels will be most beneficial. Will you use
personal communication channels such as face to face meeting, telephone
contact, or perhaps a personal sales presentation? Or will the nonpersonal
communication such as newspapers, magazines, or direct mail work
better?
Step 3: Determine Your Objectives
Keep in mind that your objectives in a promotional campaign are slightly
different from your marketing campaign. Promotional objectives should
be stated in terms of long or short-term behaviors by people who have
been exposed to your promotional communication. These objectives must
be clearly stated, measurable, and appropriate to the phase of market
development.
Step 4: Determine Your Promotion Mix
This is where you will need to allocate resources among sales promotion,
advertising, publicity, and of course personal selling. Don't skimp on
either of these areas. You must create an awareness among your buyers in
order for your promotional campaign to succeed. A well rounded
promotion will use all these methods in some capacity.
Step 5: Develop Your Promotional Message
This is the time that you will need to sit down with your team and focus
on the content, appeal, structure, format, and source of the message. Keep
in mind in promotional campaigns appeal and execution always work
together.
Step 6: Develop the Promotion Budget
This is the exciting part. You must now determine the total promotion
budget. This involves determining cost breakdowns per territory and
promotional mix elements. Take some time to break down allocations and
determine the affordability, percent of sales, and competitive parity. By
breaking down these costs you will get a better idea on gauging the
46

47. success potential of your campaign.
Step 7: Determine Campaign Effectiveness
After marketing communications are assigned, the promotional plan must
be formal defined in a written document. In this document you should
include situation analysis, copy platform, timetables for effective
integration of promotional elements with elements in your marketing mix.
You will also need to determine how you will measure the effectiveness
once it is implement. How did the actual performance measure up to
planned objectives. You'll need to gather this information by asking your
target market whether they recognized or recall specific advertising
messages, what they remember about the message, how they felt about
the
message, and if their attitudes toward the company was affected by the
message.
Promotion: Integrated Marketing Communication
Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) involves the idea that a
firm‘s promotional efforts should be coordinated to achieve the best
combined effects of the firm‘s efforts. Resources are allocated to achieve
those outcomes that the firm values the most. Promotion involves a number
of tools we can use to increase demand for our The most well known
component of promotion is advertising, but we can also use tools such as the
following:
Public relations (the firm‘s staff provides information to the media in
the hopes of getting coverage). This strategy has benefits (it is often less
expensive and media coverage is usually more credible than advertising) but
it also entails a risk in that we can‘t control what the media will say. Note
that this is particularly a useful tool for small and growing businesses—
especially those that make a product which is inherently interesting to the
audience.
Trade promotion. Here, the firm offers retailers and wholesalers
47

48. temporary discounts, which may or may not be passed on to the consumer,
to stimulate sales.
Sales promotion. Consumers are given either price discounts, coupons,
or rebates.
Personal selling. Sales people either make ―cold‖ calls on potential
customers and/or respond to inquiries.
In-store displays. Firms often pay a great deal of money to have their
goods displayed prominently in the store. More desirable display spaces
include: end of an aisle, free-standing displays, and near the check-out
counter. Occasionally, a representative may display the product.
PROMOTIONAL OBJECTIVES AND EFFECTIVENESS
Generally, a sequence of events is needed before a consumer will buy a
product. This is known as a ―hierarchy of effects. The consumer must first
be aware that the product exists. He or she must then be motivated to give
some attention to the product and what it may provide. In the next stage, the
need is for the consumer to evaluate the merits of the product, hopefully
giving the product a try. A good experience may lead to continued use.
Note that the consumer must go through the earlier phases before the later
ones can be accomplished.
Different promotional approaches will be appropriate depending on the stage
48

49. of the consumer‘s decision process that the marketer wishes to influence.
Prior to the purchase, the marketer will want to establish a decision to
purchase the product and the specific brand. Here, samples might be used to
induce trial. During the purchase stage, when the consumer is in the retail
store, efforts may be made to ensure that the consumer will choose one‘s
specific brands. Paying retailers for preferred shelf space as well as point of
purchase (POP) displays and coupons may be appropriate. After the
purchase, an appropriate objective may be to induce a repurchase or to
influence the consumer to choose the same brand again. Thus, the package
may contain a coupon for future purchase.
There are two main approaches to promoting products. The ―push strategy
is closely related to the ―selling concept and involves ―hard sell and
aggressive price promotions to sell at this specific purchase occasion. In
contrast, the ―pull strategy emphasizes creating demand for the brand so
that consumers will come to the store with the intention of buying the
product. Hallmark, for example, has invested a great deal in creating a
preference for its greeting cards among consumers.
DEVELOPING AN ADVERTISING PROGRAM
Developing an advertising program entails several
steps:
 Identifying the target audience. Markets reports can be bought that
investigate the media habits of consumers of different products and/or
the segments that the firm has chosen to target.
 Determining appropriate advertising objectives. As discussed,
these objectives might include awareness, trial, and repurchase,
inducing consumers to switch from another brand, or developing a
49

50. preference for the brand.
 Settling on an advertising budget.
 Designing the advertisements. Numerous media are available for
the advertiser to choose from. A list of some of the more common
ones may be found on PowerPoint slide #11. Each medium tends to
have advantages and disadvantages.
It is essential to pre-test advertisements to see how effective they
actually are in influencing consumers. An ad may have to be
redesigned if it is found not be to be as effective as targeted.
ADVERTISING STRATEGIES
Depending of the promotional objectives sought by a particular firm,
different advertising strategies and approaches may be taken. The following
are some content strategies commonly used.
 Information dissemination/persuasion.
Comparative ads attempt to get consumers to believe that the
sponsoring product is better. Although these are frequently disliked
by Americans, they tend to be among the most effective ads in the
U.S. Comparative advertising is illegal in some countries and is
considered very inappropriate culturally in some societies, especially
in Asia.
 Fear appeals try to motivate consumers by telling them the
consequences of not using a product. Mouthwash ads, for example,
talk about the how gingivitis and tooth loss can result from poor oral
hygiene. It is important, however, that a specific way to avoid the
feared stimulus be suggested directly in the ad. Thus, simply by using
the mouthwash advertised, these terrible things can be avoided.
 Attitude change through the addition of a belief.
This topic was covered under consumer behavior. As a reminder, it is
usually easier to get the consumer to accept a new belief which is not
inconsistent with what he or she already believes than it is to change
50

51. currently held beliefs.
 Classical conditioning.
A more favorable brand image can often be created among the
consumer when an association to a liked object or idea is created. For
example, an automobile can be paired with a beautiful woman or a
product can be shown in a very upscale setting.
 Humor appeal.
The use of humor in advertisements is quite common. This method
tends not to be particularly useful in persuading the consumer.
However, more and more advertisers find themselves using humor in
order to compete for the consumer‘s attention. Often, the humor
actually draws attention away from the product—people will
remember what was funny in the ad but not the product that was
advertised. Thus, for ads to be effective, the product advertised
should be an integral part of what is funny.
 Repetition.
Whatever specific objective is sought, repetition is critical. This is
especially the case when the objective is to communicate specific
information to the customer. Advertising messages—even simple
ones—are often understood by consumers who have little motive to
give much attention to advertisements to which they are exposed.
Therefore, very little processing of messages is likely to be done at
any one time of exposure. Cumulatively, however, a greater effect
may result.
 Celebrity endorsements.
Celebrities are likely to increase the amount of attention given to an
advertisement. However, these celebrities may not be consistently
persuasive. The Elaboration Likelihood Model discussed below
identifies conditions when celebrity endorsements are more likely to
be effective.
Unit – IV Public Realtion
Meaning :
Public relations is the opposite of advertising. In advertising, you pay
51

52. to have your message placed in a newspaper, TV or radio spot. In
public relations, the article that features your company is not paid for.
The reporter, whether broadcast or print, writes about or films your
company as a result of information he or she received and researched.
Public relations is used to address several broad objectives including:
• Building Product Awareness – When introducing a new product or
relaunching an existing product, marketers can use a PR element that
generates consumer attention and awareness through media placements
and special events.
• Creating Interest – Whether a PR placement is a short product article or
is included with other products in “round up” article, stories in the media
can help entice a targeted audience to try the product. For example,
around the holiday season, a special holiday food may be promoted with
PR through promotional releases sent to the food media or through
special events that sample the product.
• Providing Information – PR can be used to provide customers with
more in depth information about products and services. Through articles,
collateral materials, newsletters and websites, PR delivers information to
customers that can help them gain understanding of the product.
• Stimulating Demand – A positive article in a newspaper, on a TV news
show or mentioned on the Internet, often results in a discernable increase
in product sales.
• Reinforcing the Brand – In many companies the public relations
function is also involved with brand reinforcement by maintaining
positive relationships with key audiences, and thereby aiding in building
a strong image. Today it is ever more important for companies and
brands to build a good image. A strong image helps the company build
its business and it can help the company in times of crises as well.
52

53. SCOPE OF PR
As a management function, the discipline of public relations encompasses the
following:
• Anticipating, analyzing and interpreting public opinion and issues that
might impact, for good or ill, the reputation, operations and plans of the
organization.
• Counseling management at all levels in the organization with regard to
policy decisions, courses of action and communications, taking into
account their public ramifications and the organization’s social or
citizenship responsibilities.
• Researching, conducting and evaluating, on a continuing basis,
programmes of action and communication to achieve the informed public
understanding necessary for the success of an organization’s aims. These
may include marketing, financial, fund-raising, employee, community or
government relations and other programmes.
• Planning and implementing the organization’s efforts to influence or
change public policy.
• Setting objectives, planning, budgeting, recruiting and training staff,
developing facilities – in short, managing the resources needed to
perform all of the above.
• Since PR is the only marketing tool that builds credibility, a brand or an
organization can generate interest and impact in the marketplace as well
as create enthusiasm and momentum internally, with the support of a
well-designed public relations plan.
53

54. PUBLIC RELATIONS: THE PROCESS
To practice public relations, one must understand the process by which public
relations operates. As we have already discussed, public relations goes far
beyond the task of producing messages. An effective public relations effort is
the result of mutual understanding between an organization and its publics. The
development of this understanding can be regarded as a four-step process:
1. Research An initial fact-finding stage defines the problem areas and
differentiates between publics.
2. Planning Once the facts have been gathered from the various publics,
decisions must be made regarding their importance and potential impact
on the organization. After these decisions are made, strategies must be
developed to enable the organization to achieve its goals.
3. Action and Communication Strategies are implemented as new
organizational policies and/or projects. Messages are then constructed to
reach target publics.
4. Evaluation Once a public relations campaign is developed and
implemented, it should be followed by an evaluation of its effectiveness
in meeting the criteria that were set. The results of the evaluation are
used both to assess the effectiveness of the effort and to plan future
action.
These four steps are essential to any effective public relations campaign
PUBLIC RELATION TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES
In order to build a relationship with the target audience and maintain it on a
high level, PR specialists use a variety of tools and techniques. Some of the
most common ones include:
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55. • Attendance at public events. In order to attract public attention and
keep it engaged with a particular organization or an individual, PR
specialists take an advantage of every public event and the opportunity to
speak publicly. This enables them to directly reach the public attending
the event and indirectly, a much larger audience.
• Press releases. Information that is communicated as a part of the regular
TV or/and radio programme, newspapers, magazines and other types of
mainstream media achieves a much bigger impact than advertisements.
This is due to the fact that most people consider such information more
trustworthy and meaningful than paid adds. Press release is therefore one
of the oldest and most effective PR tools.
• Newsletters. Sending newsletters – relevant information about the
organization or/and its products/services - directly to the target audience
is also a common method to create and maintain a strong relationship
with the public. Newsletters are also a common marketing strategy but
PR specialists use it to share news and general information that may be
of interest to the target audience rather than merely promoting
products/services.
• Blogging. To reach the online audience, PR specialists use the digital
forms of press releases and newsletters but they also use a variety of
other tools such as blogging and recently, micro blogging. It allows them
to create and maintain a relationship with the target audience as well as
establish a two-way communication.
• Social media marketing. Like its name suggests, it is used primarily by
the marketing industry. Social media networks, however, are also utilized
by a growing number of PR specialists to establish a direct
communication with the public, consumers, investors and other target
groups.
7 ways to measure PR effectiveness
1. Client feedback: It’s important for clients to understand what you are
doing, and that they have a favorable view of your efforts. Clients should
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56. perceive that a PR firm is responsive to questions and feedback; has good
industry knowledge; excels in writing and communication; and that
publicity results seem in line with what was outlined in the firm’s
proposal for services. In short, are they doing what they said they would?
2. Articles and mentions: This is probably the most objective measure of
performance. How many clips or mentions have been generated and
where? The ‘where’ question is important – articles and mentions should
be in media where your prospects and customers gather their
information.
3. Advertising comparison: If you generate an article in the New York
Times or coverage on ABC TV, how extensive was the coverage?
Compare this against the cost of an ad for comparable space to see if the
placement is worth the effort. It’s likely that the press coverage was a
fraction the cost of the ad space.
4. Content analysis: Similar to the point above, you also should look at the
quality of a placement. Measuring your placements against how often or
where your competitors get placed can help distinguish the PR firm’s
work. You can develop a scale – say 1 through 5 – to rate the coverage.
How many key messages were included? Who is the audience of the
media outlet? Were they part of your target market? These and other
factors can be used to give the coverage a rating.
5. Measuring traffic to website, other media: The beauty of the Web is
that you can accurately measure traffic and activity online with tools like
Google Analytics. If you had a great article on the cover of the Denver
Post, did it influence traffic on your website? By analyzing spikes in
activity, you can learn what coverage is prompting clients to learn more
about your organization.
6. Sales results: In a perfect world, good PR work can be tied directly to
sales generated. Because there are so many variables in play with a sales
effort, it’s hard to pinpoint if press coverage moved a prospect to buy
from your firm. The best way to narrow this gap between hunch and fact
is by tracking leads. If you ask prospects where they heard about you,
you’ll begin to learn if the PR effort is part of their awareness and
decision-making process.
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57. 7. Market surveys: Your goal in PR is to influence awareness, attitude,
opinions and action (almost mirroring the AIDA scale of marketing –
awareness, interest, desire and action). This is where research is key. If
you measure key audiences before you start your PR campaign, you can
see if you have moved the needle in favor of your client at various
intervals.
Media Relation and Public relation
Media relations involves working with media for the purpose of informing the public of an
organization's mission, policies and practices in a positive, consistent and credible manner.
Typically, this means coordinating directly with the people responsible for producing the
news and features in the mass media. The goal of media relations is to maximize positive
coverage in the mass media without paying for it directly through advertising.
Media relations refer to the relationship that a company or organization develops with
journalists, while public relations extend that relationship beyond the media to the general
public
Public relation Consultancy
Definition of A PR Consultant
" It is the provision of specified & creative services by an individual or a group
of individuals qualified to do so by reason of experience and training by way of
professional fees paid for its services by clients under anagreed contract."
Advantages of appointing a PR consultancy
The main advantage of appointing a PR consultancy is to minimize the budget
criteria and to maximize the knowledge potential of consulting team for welfare
of the organization. Therefore, the media contacts will help the organization to
enhance the company and brand awareness.
Disadvantages of appointing a PR consultancy
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58. There is a great possibility that the outsourcing of PR results in distraction from
the PR agency focusing on other clients and also not able to synch with the
company’s internal culture.
The importance of research in public relations
How research can help you promote your business
Many public relations practitioners count communication and strategy as the
most valuable skills in their field. But in practice, one cannot put those skills to
good use without a foundation of research and information gathering. It’s
important to know a client’s needs, target market, and available resources in
order to draw up a good PR plan. For example, before submitting a story to a
magazine, you have to know its readership and editorial standards to make sure
your piece will fit in.
There are various types of research involved in PR, such as market research,
industry research, news tracking, and competitive analysis. Each project
requires different research methods, but one thing is constant: all PR projects
involve research to some extent. Here are some of the ways that research can
help improve PR practice:
• Knowing your client – When you present your PR plan to a client, you
should be prepared to justify your ideas – why you chose a certain
medium or publication, how you came up with the tagline, or how you
think a certain step will contribute to the overall plan. If your plan is
substantiated by research, you shouldn’t have trouble answering such
questions.
• Finding your market – One of the first things you need to know when
promoting a product or service is who your market is. Are you selling the
product to teens or adults, males or females, students or professionals?
Market research involves more than demographics – you have to analyze
the behavior, lifestyle, and preferences of your audience. Knowing your
target market will help you determine what your message is and how to
design it in a way that your audience can understand and appreciate.
• Choosing your media – When you’ve put your message together, the next
step is to choose a medium for sending it. You need research to find out
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59. which media your client can afford, and which ones will bring in the
most returns in the shortest time. If you’re looking into field sales or
promotion, you also need research to stay updated on industry events that
can be useful for your PR campaign. It also involves a bit of market
research, because you have to know which medium is preferred by your
target market. You wouldn’t run a news release if your research shows
that your audience doesn’t read newspapers.
Finally: Making your pitch
If you want to promote your business in the media, you will have to pitch your
story to editors, producers, or reporters. In most cases, other PR firms or
businesses will be competing for the space or airtime. Your pitch has to be
well-planned and well-researched for it to stand out from the other pitches.
Look up the magazine’s reader profile and editorial policy, or find out the
ratings of the station or program you are pitching to. Be prepared to answer
questions about your client’s business. This can make you appear more
knowledgeable and responsible, and helps build credibility for both your firm
and your client.
Marketing Public relation
"Marketing and public relations ... both are major external functions of the firm
and both share a common ground in regard to product publicity and consumer
relations. At the same time, however, they operate on different levels and from
different perspectives and perceptions.
The traditional view ... is that marketing exists to sense, serve, and satisfy
customer needs at a profit.
Public relations exists to produce goodwill in the company's various publics so
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60. that the publics do not interfere in the firm's profit-making ability."
The majority
MARKETING PUBLIC RELATIONS
Marketing promotes the transfer of
goods and services from the producer
and provider to the consumer.
Public relations helps an organization
and its publics adapt mutually to each
other.
Marketing's immediate goal is sales.
Public relations' immediate goal is
mutual understanding or positioning
of the organization with its publics.
Marketing's implicit goal is profit.
Public relations' implicit goal is
positive perceptions and
predispositions.
Marketing's measure of success is the
number of sales and/or the revenue it
generates.
Public relations' measure of success is
expressed public opinion or other
evidence of public support.
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