Chapter 10: Promotion
Learning Objectives
- Students will understand what integrated marketing communications (IMC) is and why it is important in the developing of a marketing strategy.
- Students will understand why organizations may change their promotional strategies to reach different audiences.
Introduction
Promotion is one of the primary elements used in the marketing mix. Thus, promotional efforts should work in harmony with product marketing, pricing, and distribution actions that target prospects and customers. The main purpose of any promotion is communication: what message are we trying to convey to the target audience?
When assembling a promotional plan, marketers typically employ one or more of the following four promotional subcategories: sales promotion, publicity (or public relations ), personal selling, and advertising.
These communication tools serve as tactics within the promotional plan to accomplish objectives such as:
- Increasing sales
- Launching new products
- Creating and building brand equity
- Establishing market positioning
- Retaliating against competition
- Strengthening brand image
- Building relationships with channel partners
As organizations implement their promotional plan, they also seek to educate consumers, increase consumer demand, and differentiate their products and services in the marketplace.
This chapter of the text will start with an explanation of IMC (integrated marketing communications) which is how to most effectively and efficiently communicate with the target market, followed by an examination of the components of the promotional mix.
