1. Coordination of all promotional activities to produce a unified, customer-focused promotional message.
2. Benefits
2.1. Firm will develop bonds with customers.
2.2. Increased profits through increased effectiveness of message sent.
2.3. Boosts sales by stretching messages across several platform to create approach for customer to become aware.
2.4. Help buyers by giving reminders, updated information and special offers which helps customers move through the buying process and reduce the stress of choice.
2.5. Consistency in messages causes it to be more credible.
2.6. Reduces costs as it eliminates duplication.
3. Communication process
3.1. Definitions
3.1.1. Sender - Person or party that have idea and information that want to be shared with others (receiver).
3.1.2. Encode - Process of changing message to symbols or language that is understandable.
3.1.3. Channel - Platform where messages move from sender to receiver.
3.1.4. Decode - Process to interpret and understand messages that is sent to receiver.
3.1.5. Receiver - Person or party that the message is sent to.
3.1.6. Noise - Stimulus that distracts receiver from receiving message.
3.2. AIDA Concept
3.2.1. Steps through which an individual reaches a purchase decision: attention, interest, desire and action.
3.3. Characteristic of An Effective Message
3.3.1. Gains receiver attention
3.3.2. Achieves understanding between receiver and sender
3.3.3. Stimulates receiver's needs and suggests an appropriate method of satisfying them
3.4. Communication Process
3.4.1. Step 1: Sender
3.4.2. Step 2: Encode
3.4.3. Step 3: Channel
3.4.4. Step 4: Decode
3.4.5. Step 5: Response
3.4.6. Step 6: Feedback
4. Promotional Mix
4.1. Definition
4.1.1. Subset of marketing mix in which marketers attempt to achieve optimal blending of elements of personal and non-personal selling to achieve promotional objectives.
4.2. Elements of promotional mix
4.2.1. Personal Selling
4.2.1.1. Interpersonal influence process involving a seller's promotional presentation conducted on a person-to-person basis with the buyer. (e.g. insurance agent)
4.2.2. Non-personal Selling
4.2.2.1. Promotion that includes advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, guerrilla marketing, and public relations - all conducted without being face-to-face with buyer.
4.2.2.2. Advertising - Any paid, non-personal communication through various media about a business firm, not-for-profit organization, product, or idea by a sponsor identified in a message that is intended to inform or persuade members of a particular audience.
4.2.2.2.1. Coca-Cola advertisements in TV during holiday seasons.
4.2.2.3. Product Placement - non-personal selling whereby the marketer pays a motion picture or television program owner a fee to display the product prominently in TV film or show.
4.2.2.3.1. Brands like Acura, Michelin and Dr. Pepper appears briefly throughout the movie Avengers: Infinity War.
4.2.2.4. Sales Promotion - Marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising, guerrilla marketing, and public relations that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness.
4.2.2.4.1. Discounts are given in a supermarket during holidays for a certain amount of time.
4.2.2.5. Direct Marketing - Direct communications, other than personal sales contacts, between buyer and seller, designed to generate sales, information requests, or store or website visits.
4.2.2.5.1. Ads on newspaper, email and websites
4.2.2.6. Public Relations and Publicity - Firm's communications and relationships with its various public.
4.2.2.6.1. Raising funds for orphans conducted by a firm to increase relationships and build a solid image with the public
4.2.2.7. Guerrilla Marketing - Unconventional, innovative, and low cost marketing techniques designed to attract customer's attention in unusual ways.
4.2.2.7.1. Companies like McDonald's creates accounts like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to advertise their product by communicating and send funny comments.
5. Direct Marketing
5.1. Benefits
5.1.1. Help increase store traffic
5.1.2. Opens new international markets of unprecedented size
5.1.3. Promotes goals beyond creating product awareness
5.1.4. Databases as an important tool to narrow market segment
5.2. Direct Marketing Communications Channels
5.2.1. Direct Mail
5.2.1.1. Communications in the form of sales letters, postcards, brochures, catalogs, and the like conveying messages directly from the marketer to customer.
5.2.1.1.1. Brochures in hospital counters
5.2.2. Catalogs
5.2.2.1. A little booklet that contains updated information of a firm's product such as price and new brand.
5.2.2.1.1. Avon Catalog for beauty and fashion product
5.2.3. Telemarketing
5.2.3.1. Direct marketing using telephones.
5.2.3.1.1. Maybank telemarketer calls customer to inquire information
5.2.4. Direct Marketing Via Broadcast Channels
5.2.4.1. Home-Shopping Channel - Function as on-air catalogs that prompt customers to place orders by telephone
5.2.4.1.1. TV Direct Showcase (HyppTV Channel 121)
5.2.4.2. Infomercials - 30-minute or longer product commercials that resemble television programs
5.2.4.2.1. Habib Jewels' "Budayakan Rantaian Kasih" program
5.2.5. Electronic Direct Marketing Channels
5.2.5.1. Marketing and advertising that is done in the Internet
5.2.5.1.1. Ads that occurs when watching Youtube videos.
5.2.6. Other Direct Marketing Channels
5.2.6.1. Marketing done using platform such as magazines and newspaper that is a bit traditional
5.2.6.1.1. Ad for job vacancies in newspaper
6. Pulling and Pushing Promotional Strategy
6.1. Pulling Strategy - Promotional effort by the seller to stimulate final-user demand, which then exerts pressure on the distribution channel
6.2. Pushing Strategy - Promotional effort by the seller directed to members of the marketing channel rather than final users
7. Measuring the Effectiveness of Promotion
7.1. Direct Sales Results Test - Based on the specific impact on sales revenues for each dollar of promotional spending
7.2. Indirect Evaluation - Concentrating on quantifiable indicators of effectiveness such as recall and readership
7.3. Measuring Online Promotions
7.3.1. Cost per impression - Relates the cost of an ad to every thousand people who view it
7.3.2. Cost per response (click-through) - Relates the cost of an ad to the number of people who click it
7.3.3. Conversion rate - Percentage of visitors to a Web site who make a purchase
8. Disadvantage
8.1. Rigid organisational structure
8.2. Restricts creativity
8.3. Lacks of expertise
8.4. Time scale conflicts
9. Designing an effective IMC strategy
9.1. Importance of Teamwork
9.1.1. Coordination between all departments and to function as a team
9.1.2. Involves in-house resources and outside vendors
9.1.3. Challenges traditional role of advertising
9.2. Roles of Databasse
9.2.1. Allows the collection of information of customer preferences and organize it easily
9.2.2. Direct sampling method also is used to obtain customer feedback of a certain product
10. Promotion
10.1. Objectives
10.1.1. Provide information
10.1.1.1. Traditional function of informing the market about the firm's product and services.
10.1.2. Increase demand
10.1.2.1. Aimed at increasing primary demand which is promoting benefits of general product category such as laptops and computer.
10.1.2.2. More promotions however, aims to increase selective demand which involves benefits of a specific brand such as Asus ROG gaming laptops and Acer Predator gaming laptops.
10.1.3. Differentiate a product
10.1.3.1. Occurs when a consumer regards the same product category different from firm to firm such as Darlie Teeth Whitening and Colgate® Optic White
10.1.4. Accentuate product value
10.1.4.1. Promotion explains the value of a product and therefore accentuating its value and justifying a higher price in marketplace
10.1.5. Stabilize sales
10.1.5.1. Sales in a typical firm is not uniform and can be stabilized by doing promotions in certain events to increase sales. (e.g. discounts are given during Hari Raya)
11. Sponsorship
11.1. Definition
11.1.1. Event/sponsor relationship in which an organization provides funds or in-kind resources to an event or activity in exchange for a direct association with that event or activity.
11.2. Sponsorship Spending
11.2.1. Firm allocates a lot of resource doing sponsorship to increase brand awareness.
11.2.1.1. Petronas has sponsored the Grand Prix Formula 1 for years.
11.3. How Sponsorship Differs from Advertising
11.3.1. Cost Effectiveness
11.3.2. Sponsor’s Degree of Control Versus Advertising
11.3.3. Nature of the Message
11.3.4. Audience Reaction
11.4. Assessing Sponsorship Results
11.4.1. Marketer measure the effectiveness of product using different ways. (e.g. linking expenditure to sales, measure brand awareness)
12. Developing an Optimal Promotional Mix
12.1. Marketers create a promotional mix by blending advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations
12.2. Factors that Influence Effectiveness and Choices of Promotional Mix
12.2.1. Nature of the Market
12.2.1.1. Size of market can determine the effectiveness of personal selling
12.2.2. Nature of the Product
12.2.2.1. Highly standardized products with minimal servicing requirements depend less on personal selling
12.2.3. Stage in the Product Life Cycle
12.2.3.1. Introduction - Personal and non-personal selling are used to market the product to consumer
12.2.3.2. Growth and Maturity - Advertising becomes more important to persuade customers to buy product
12.2.3.3. Mature Product - Requires creative promotion for the product to stay relevant.
12.2.4. Price
12.2.4.1. Advertising uses low expenditure and at the same time reaches mass audiences
12.2.5. Funds Available for Promotion
12.2.5.1. A firm must decide how to spend promotional budget
13. Budgeting for Promotional Strategy
13.1. May differ not only in amount but also in composition
13.2. Promotional Strategy Methods
13.2.1. Percentage-of-sales Method - Set as specified percentage either past or forecast sales.
13.2.2. Fixed-sum-per-unit Method - Set as a predetermined cash amount for each unit sold/produced.
13.2.3. Meeting Competetion Method - Set to match competitors promotional outlays on absolute or relative basis.
13.2.4. Task-objective Method - Determining promotional objectives and proceed to set the amount needed to achieve them.
14. Value of Marketing Communications
14.1. Social Importance
14.1.1. Different people have different taste.
14.1.2. One generally accepted standard in a market society is freedom of choice for the consumer
14.1.3. Ad agencies donate expertise for public service announcements that promote social causes
14.1.4. Promotion performs an informative and educational task crucial to the functioning of modern society
14.2. Business Importance
14.2.1. Long-term increase in funds allocated to promotion indicates faith in its ability to encourage attitude changes, brand loyalty, and additional sales
14.3. Economic Importance
14.3.1. Provides employment
14.3.2. Increases units sold and allows economies of scale in production process
14.3.3. Subsidizes information content of newspapers and broadcast media