Promotion may be defined as “the co-ordination of all seller-initiated efforts to set up channels of information and persuasion to facilitate the scale of a good or service.” Promotion is most often intended to be a supporting component in a marketing mix. Promotion decisions must be integrated and co-ordinated with the rest of the marketing mix, particularly product/brand decisions, so that it may effectively support an entire marketing mix strategy. The promotion mix consists of four basic elements. They are:-
1. Advertising
2. Personal Selling
3. Sales Promotion, and
4. Publicity
Sales promotion is the dissemination of information through a wide variety of activities other than personal selling, advertising, and publicity which stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness. A++ Rated MBA college in Bangalore
According to American Marketing Association “ Those marketing activities other than personal selling advertising and publicity that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness such as display shows and exhibitions, demonstrations and various non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.”
W.J. Stanton defines sales promotion as all those activities other than advertising, personal selling, public relations, and publicity that are intended to stimulate customer demand and improve the marketing performance of sellers.
Purpose of Sales Promotion
Sales promotion tools vary in their specific objectives. A free sample stimulates consumer trial, while a free management advisory service cements a long-term relationship with a retailer. From the marketer’s perspective, sales promotion serves three essential roles it informs, persuades, and reminds prospective and current customers and other selected audiences about a company and its products. The relative importance of those roles varies according to the circumstances faced by a firm. MBA it colleges in Bangalore
The most useful product or brand will be a failure if no one knows it is available! Because distribution channels are often long, a product may pass through many lands between a producer and consumers. Therefore, a producer must inform middlemen as well as the ultimate consumers or business users about the product. Wholesalers, in turn, must inform retailers and retailers must inform consumers. As the number of potential customers grows and the geographic dimensions of a market expand, the problems and costs of informing the market increase. NAAC accredited MBA college in Bangalore
Another purpose of sales promotion is persuasion. The intense competition among different industries puts tremendous pressure on the promotional programs of sellers. In India, even a product designed to satisfy a basic physiological need requires strong persuasive promotion, because consumers have many alternatives to choose from. In the case of luxury products, for which sales depend on the ability to convince consumers that the product's benefits exceed those of other luxuries, persuasion is even more important.
Objectives of Sales Promotion
The basic objectives of sales promotion are:
i) To introduce new products
To induce buyers to purchase a new product, free samples may be distributed or money and merchandise allowance may be offered to businesses to stock and sell the product.
ii) To attract new customers New customers may be attracted through the issue of free samples, premiums, contests, and similar devices.
iii) To induce present customers to buy more
Present customers may be induced to buy more by knowing more about a product, its ingredients, and its uses.
iv) To help the firm remain competitive
Sales promotions may be undertaken to meet competition from a firm. MBA in digital marketing in Bangalore
v) To increase sales in the off-season
Buyers may be encouraged to use the product in off-seasons by showing them the variety of uses of the product.
vi) To increase the inventories of business buyers
Retailers may be induced to keep in stock more units of a product so that more sales can be affected.
The rationale for sales promotion
The rationale of sales promotion may be analyzed under the following points.
Short-term results
Sales promotions such as coupons and trade allowances produce quicker, more measurable sales results. However, critics of this strategy argue that these immediate benefits come at the expense of building brand equity. They believe that an over-emphasis on sales promotion may undermine a brand’s future
.
Competitive Pressure
If competitors offer buyers price reductions, contests,s or other incentives, a firm may feel forced to retaliate with its own sales promotions.
Buyers’ expectations
Once they are offered purchase incentives, consumers and channel members get used to them and soon begin expecting them.
Companies are always searching for ways to gain efficiency by substituting one promotional tool for another as its economics become more favorable. Many companies have replaced some field sales activity with ads, direct mail, and telemarketing. Other companies have increased their sales promotion expenditures in relation to advertising, to gain quicker sales. Bangalore MBA top colleges
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