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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
Chapter 14
Promotion II: Social Media Marketing, Direct/Database
Marketing, Personal Selling, and Public Relations
I. CHAPTER OVERVIEW
The previous chapter focused on traditional forms of advertising and other communication
methods in the one-to-many model. In this chapter, we first look at social media that provides
many-to-many marketing communication and then at two types of one-to-one communication:
direct marketing and personal selling. Finally, we will learn about public relations. Public
relations is the final element of the promotion mix and includes a variety of communication
activities. Some of these such as lobbying are one-to-one. Others, such as press releases
distributed to the news media for publication, follow the one-to-many model. Increasingly, PR
professionals are not only engaged in guerilla marketing but also are moving quickly online to
join in the many-to-many model.
II. CHAPTER OBJECTIVES
1. Understand how marketers communicate using an updated communication model that
incorporates new social media and buzz marketing activities.
2. Understand the elements of direct marketing.
3. Understand the important role of personal selling, the different types of sales jobs and the
steps in the creative selling process.
4. Explain the role of public relations and the steps in developing a public relations
campaign
III. CHAPTER OUTLINE
►MARKETING MOMENT INTRODUCTION
The sales process, which ultimately ends in a long-term
relationship, has been compared to a dating process that
ends in marriage. Ask students to explain how the sales
process is similar to the dating process. Where do they
prospect? How do they decide upon possible contenders?
How do they learn more about this “prospective” mate?
Do other people influence the choice of mate? This
activity really emphasizes the “relationship” in
relationship selling.
p. 459 REAL PEOPLE, REAL
CHOICES─HERE’S MY
PROBLEM AT
STYLITICS
Exhibit :
ROHAN
DEUSK
AR
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
Stylitics is the largest digital closet
platform in the world and, for a
while, the number one free fashion
app in the App Store. Our apps are
on iOS, Android, and the web and
used by a large number of people
around the world. Our trend reports
are used by some of the world’s top
brands and retailers to help them
serve their customers better. In the
fall of 2012, the team at Stylitics
was discussing how to grow our
social media presence. First, while
we all used social media as
individuals, we didn’t have any
experience in using social media to
grow a brand. Second, while we
were active on the @Stylitics
Twitter and Facebook accounts, we
were posting without a clear purpose
or strategy. And third, and most
important, we were missing a unique
voice.
As a small company, we didn’t have
the budget for expensive paid social
media campaigns. Even if we
created an engaging and unique
campaign, we still had to figure out
how to make sure it would spread
far enough to make an impact. Large
companies hire social media
agencies and invest in SEO (search
engine optimization) and ads to
spread the word. Our total budget
was $5,000 at most.
Stylistics considered three options.
1. Spend more money.
2. Create our own campaign.
3. Continue as before.
The vignette ends by asking the
student which option he/she would
choose.
·Stylistics selected option
#2.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
Use Stylistics website here: www.stylistics.com
p. 460
p. 461
p. 461
p. 461
p 462
I. SOCIAL MEDIA
MARKETING
Authors Charlene Li and Josh
Bernoff refer to the changing
communication landscape as the
groundswell; “a social trend in
which people use technology to get
the things they need from each
other, rather than from traditional
institutions like corporations.”
Today’s consumers are increasingly
getting their information on running
shoes, nightclubs, cars, new bands,
or even lecture notes from one
another rather than from the original
source.
Marketers are no longer the only
ones who talk about their products
—millions of consumers have the
ability and the desire to spread the
good (or bad) news about the goods
and services they buy. That is why
we are moving from a one-to-many
communication mode to the new
world of many-to-many.
1.1 Social Media
Social media is an important part of
the updated communications model.
This term refers to Internet-based
platforms that allow users to create
their own content and share it with
others who access these sites.
There’s no doubt that social media is
the place to be in marketing
communications now – even if
many organizations haven’t quite
figured out just what to do with
these platforms.
1.2 Social Networks
Social networks are sites used to
Exhibit:
Turns
Birdie
into
Man’s
Best
Friend
Exhibit:
Candysta
nd
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
connect people with other similar
people. Social networks such as
Facebook and LinkedIn are some of
the most popular sites on the
Internet with millions of users from
around the globe. Once a user has
created a profile, it is easy to
connect with old and new friends.
Social networks make it easy for
marketers to reach influential people
such a journalists and consumers
who are opinion leaders. However,
even more important is the
opportunity social networks provide
to create a brand community. A
brand community is a group of
social network users who share an
attachment to a product or brand,
interact with each other and share
information about the brand.
1.2.1 Facebook is the most popular
of all social networking sites.
1.2.2 Twitter is a free
micro-blogging service that lets
users post short text messages with a
maximum of 140 characters. Unlike
other social media, Twitter is a
broadcast medium, which means
that marketers can send messages to
hundreds of thousands of people at a
time.
1.2.3 Virtual Worlds
p. 463
p. 463
This term refers to an online, highly
engaging digital environment where
avatars -- graphic representations of
users -- live and interact with other
avatars in real time. In virtual
worlds, residents can hang out at
virtual clubs, shop for clothing and
bling for their avatars, buy furniture
to deck out virtual homes, and yes,
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
p. 463
p. 464
p. 464
p. 465
p. 465
even go to college in virtual
universities. Some people find it
hard to believe, but it is common for
people to spend real money to buy
digital products that do not exist in
the real world. Indeed, virtual
goods, digital products consumers
buy for use in online contexts,
are booming: In the U.S. alone,
consumers spend well over
$11billion each year to buy items
they use only in virtual worlds!
1.2.4 Product Review Sites
Product review sites are social
media sites that enable people to
post stories about their experiences
with products and services.
Marketers hope that product review
sites create a connection between
the consumer and the brand. Product
review sites give users both positive
and negative information about
companies
1.3 Mobile Apps and
Location-Based Social
Networks
Location-based social networks
integrate sophisticated GPS
technology (like the
navigation system you may
have in your car) that enables
users to alert friends of their
exact whereabouts via their
mobile phones.
Augmented reality (AR) is a view
of a physical, real world that is
enhanced or altered by
computer-generated sounds, videos,
graphics, or GPS data. Apple lit up
this market when it introduced the
iPhone, and now everyone is
scrambling to “monetize” the mobile
market through sales of ringtones,
on-demand video, online coupons,
Exhibit:
High
Rise
Virtual
World
Exhibit:
Pokémo
n Go
Figure
14.1
Snapshot
: Key
Forms of
Direct
Marketin
g
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
and “apps” that entertain or educate.
1.4 The Internet of Things
This term refers to the network of
physical things, vehicles, devices,
buildings in which designers have
embedded sensors, electronics, and
network connectivity. With this
technology, “things” can collect data
and communicate it to each other—
the many to many of things.
2. DIRECT MARKETING
Direct marketing refers to “any
direct communication to a consumer
or business recipient that is designed
to generate a response in the form of
an order, a request for further
information, or a visit to a store or
other place of business for purchase
of a product.” The following is a
discussion of types of direct
marketing:
p. 466
p. 466
p. 466
2.1 Mail Order
Today consumers can buy just about
anything through the mail.
Mail order comes in two forms:
catalogs and direct mail.
A catalog is a collection of products
offered for sale in book form,
usually consisting of product
descriptions accompanied by photos
of the items. A catalog strategy
allows the store to reach people in
the United States who live in areas
too small to support a store. In
addition, more and more U.S. firms
use catalogs to reach overseas
markets as well.
According to the Direct Marketing
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
p. 466
Association, over two-thirds of the
U.S. adult population orders from a
catalog at least once a year. Many
stores use catalogs to complement
their in-store efforts. A catalog
strategy allows a store to reach
people who live in areas too small to
support a store.
2.2 Direct Mail
Unlike a catalog retailer that offers a
variety of merchandise through the
mail, direct mail is a brochure or
pamphlet that offers a specific good
or service at one point in time. A
direct mail offer has an advantage
over a catalog because the sender
can personalize it. Just as with
e-mail spamming, many Americans
are overwhelmed with direct-mail
offers—“junk mail”—that mostly
end up in the trash. The direct-mail
industry constantly works on ways
to monitor what companies send
through the mail and it allows
consumers to “opt out” of at least
some mailing lists.
Use website here:
www.landsend.com
Lands’ End catalog online
Use website here: www.llbean.com
L. L. Bean catalog online
►Marketing Moment In-Class
Activity
Ask students to compare and
contrast mail order catalogs and
Internet shopping. What do they see
as similarities? Differences? Will
Internet ever replace catalog
shopping?
2.3 Telemarketing
Telemarketing is direct marketing
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
an organization conducts over the
telephone (but why do they always
have to call during dinner?). It might
surprise you to learn that
telemarketing actually is more
profitable for business markets than
for consumer markets.
p. 467
p. 467
The Federal Trade Commission
(FTC) established the National
Do Not Call Registry to allow
consumers to limit the number of
telemarketing calls they receive.
2.4 Direct-Response Advertising
Direct-response advertising allows
the consumer to respond to a
message by immediately contacting
the provider to ask questions or
order the product. This form of
direct marketing can be very
successful. Although for many
companies the Internet has become
the medium of choice for direct
marketing, this technique is still
alive and well in magazines,
newspapers, and television.
Direct-response TV (DRTV)
includes short commercials of less
than two minutes, 30-minute or
longer infomercials, and the shows
home shopping networks such as
QVC and HSN broadcast.
The primitive sales pitches of the
old days have largely given way to
the slick infomercials we all know
and love (?) today. These half hour
or hour-long commercials resemble
a talk show, often with heavy
product demonstration and spirited
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
audience participation, but of
course, they really are sales pitches.
Activity: Consider carefully the
potential annoying downsides of
various forms of direct marketing to
consumers. As a marketer, what
would you do to ensure that your
firm’s direct marketing efforts do
not turn customers off to your
product?
p. 467 2.5 M-Commerce
One final type of direct marketing is
m-commerce. The “m” stands for
“mobile,” but it could also stand for
massive – because that’s how big the
market will be for this platform.
M-commerce refers to the
promotional and other e-commerce
activities that smartphones and other
mobile devices.
M-commerce through text messages
(such as an ad for a concert or a new
restaurant) is known as
short-messaging system (SMS)
marketing.
Activity: Divide the class into
groups of three to five students. Ask
each group to come up with three
new ideas for m-commerce that
would appeal to college students.
Have the class vote on the best
ideas. Reward the group
p. 468 3. PERSONAL SELLING:
ADDING THE PERSONAL
TOUCH TO THE PROMOTION
MIX
Personal selling occurs when a
company representative interacts
directly with a customer or
prospective customer to
communicate about a good or
service. This form of promotion is a
far more intimate way to talk to
customers. Another advantage of
Exhibit:
TummyT
uckBelt.
com
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
p. 468
personal selling is that salespeople
are the firm’s eyes and ears in the
marketplace. They learn which
competitors talk to customers, what
they offer, and what new rival goods
and services are on the way—all
valuable competitive intelligence.
Many organizations rely heavily on
personal selling because at times the
“personal touch” carries more
weight than mass-media material.
For a business-to-business market
situation, the personal touch
translates into developing crucial
relationships with clients.
Personal selling has special
importance for students (that’s you)
because many graduates with a
marketing background will enter
professional sales jobs. Jobs in
selling and sales management often
provide high upward mobility if you
are successful, because firms value
employees who understand
customers and who can
communicate well with them.
3.1 The Role of Personal
Selling in the Marketing Mix
In general, a personal selling
emphasis is more important when a
firm engages in a push strategy, in
which the goal is to “push” the
product through the channel of
distribution so that it is available to
consumers.
Personal selling also is likely to be
crucial in business-to-business
contexts where the firm must
interact directly with a client’s
management to clinch a big deal—
and often when intense negotiations
about price and other factors will
occur before the customer signs on
Figure
14.2
Snapshot
: Factors
that
Influenc
e a
Firm’s
Emphasi
s on
Personal
Selling
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
the dotted line. In consumer
contexts, inexperienced customers
may need the hands-on assistance
that a professional salesperson
provides.
Some drawbacks limit the role
personal selling plays in the
marketing communication mix.
First, when the dollar amount of
individual purchases is low, it does
not make sense to use personal
selling—the cost per contact with
each customer is very high
compared to other forms of
promotion.
p. 470
p. 470
p. 472
3.2 Technology and Personal
Selling
All sorts of technologies can
enhance the personal selling
process, and clearly today, the
smartphone is the communication
hub of the relationship between
salesperson and client.
Customer relationship management
(CRM) software is one
technological advance. Recently,
some sales organizations have
turned to a new-generation system
called partner relationship
management (PRM), which links
information between selling and
buying firms.
Others are teleconferencing,
videoconferencing, and improved
corporate websites that include FAQ
pages that answer many customer
inquiries. VoIP (voice-over Internet
protocol) is being used for
day-to-day correspondence between
salespeople and customers (e.g.,
Skype). An increasing number of
Figure
14.3
Snapshot
: Types
of Sales
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
salespeople telecommute from a
virtual office.
Smart sales organizations can find
the right blend of technology and
personal touch, tailored to their
particular clientele and product
offerings, which make the most of
building strong customer
relationships.
3.3 Types of Sales Jobs
There are several different types of
sales jobs from which to choose.
Each type has its own unique
characteristics.
An order taker is a salesperson that
processes transactions the customer
initiates. Many retail salespeople are
order takers, but often wholesalers,
dealers, and distributors employ
salespeople to assist their business
customers. Because little creative
selling is involved in order taking,
this type of sales job typically is the
lowest-paid sales position.
In contrast, a technical specialist
contributes considerable expertise in
the form of product demonstrations,
recommendations for complex
equipment, and setup of machinery.
The technical specialist provides
sales support rather than actually
closing the sale.
Jobs
Then there is the missionary
salesperson whose job is to
stimulate clients to buy. Like
technical specialists, missionary
salespeople promote the firm and
encourage demand for its goods and
services but do not actually take
orders.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
p. 473
p. 473
p. 473
The new-business salesperson is
responsible for finding new
customers and calls on them to
present the company’s products. As
you might imagine, gaining the
business of a new customer usually
means that the customer stops doing
business with one of the firm’s
competitors (and they won’t give up
without a fight). New-business
selling requires a high degree of
creativity and professionalism, so
this type of salesperson is usually
very well paid. Once a new-business
salesperson establishes a
relationship with a client, she often
continues to service that client as the
primary contact as long as the client
continues to buy from the company.
In that
long-term-relationship-building role,
this type of salesperson is an order
getter. Order getters are usually the
people most directly responsible for
a particular client’s business; they
may also hold the title of “account
manager.”
Increasingly, firms find that the
selling function works best via team
selling. A selling team may consist
of a salesperson, a technical
specialist, someone from
engineering and design, and other
players who work together to
develop products and programs that
satisfy the customer’s needs. When
the company includes people from a
range of areas, it often calls this
group a cross-functional team.
3.4 Two Approaches to
Personal Selling
Selling has moved from a
transactional, hard-sell approach to
an approach based on relationships
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
with customers.
3.4.1 Transactional Selling:
Putting on the Hard Sell
Hard-sell tactics reflect
transactional selling, an approach
that focuses on making an
immediate sale with little concern
for developing a long-term
relationship with the customer. As
customers, the hard sell makes us
feel manipulated, resentful, and it
diminishes our satisfaction and
loyalty.
3.4.2. Relationship Selling:
Building Long-Term Customers
Relationship selling is the process
by which a salesperson secures,
develops, and maintains long-term
relationships with profitable
customers.
Securing a customer relationship
means converting an interested
prospect into someone who is
convinced that the good or service
holds value for her. Developing a
customer relationship means
ensuring that you and the customer
work together to find more ways to
add value to the transaction.
Maintaining a customer relationship
means building customer
satisfaction and loyalty—thus, you
can count on the customer to
provide future business and stick
with you for the long haul.
Activity: What are some different
ways you might approach a
customer? Would some work better
in one situation or another?
.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
3.5 The Creative Selling Process
Successful salespeople understand
and engage in a series of activities to
make positive transactions happen.
A salesperson’s chances of success
increase when she undergoes a
systematic series of steps we call the
creative selling process.
Figure
14.4
Process:
Steps in
the
Creative
Selling
Process
►Marketing Moment In-Class Activity
Ask students to identify examples of transactional
selling. This is difficult to do—even traditionally
transactional encounters (convenience stores, gas
stations, funeral homes, etc.) have become relationship
oriented
p. 474 3.5.1 Step 1: Prospect and
Qualify
Prospecting is the process by which
a salesperson identifies and develops
a list of prospects or sales leads
(potential customers). Leads come
from existing customer lists,
telephone directories, commercially
available databases, and of course
through diligent use of web search
engines like Google.
Another way to generate leads is
through cold calling, in which the
salesperson simply contacts
prospects “cold,” without prior
introduction or arrangement. It
always helps to know the prospect,
so salespeople might rely instead on
referrals. Current clients who are
satisfied with their purchase often
recommend a salesperson to others
—yet another reason to maintain
good customer relationships.
After they identify potential
customers, salespeople need to
qualify these prospects to determine
how likely they are to become
customers.
p. 474 3.5.2 Step 2: Preapproach
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
In the preapproach stage, you
compile background information
about prospective customers and
plan the sales interview. Salespeople
can draw information about a
prospect from a variety of sources.
Of course, if the salesperson’s firm
has a CRM system she can use it to
see whether the database includes
information about the prospect.
p. 475 3.5.3 Step 3: Approach
After the salesperson lays the
groundwork with the pre-approach,
it is time to approach, or contact,
the prospect. The salesperson tries to
learn even more about the prospect’s
needs, create a good impression, and
build rapport. During the approach,
the customer decides whether the
salesperson has something to offer
that is of potential value.
p. 475 3.5.4 Step 4: Sales Presentation
Many sales calls involve a formal
sales presentation, which lays out
the benefits of the product and its
advantages over the competition.
The focus of the sales presentation
should always be on ways the
salesperson, her goods and services,
and her company can add value to
the customer (and in a
business-to-business setting, to the
customer’s company).
Exhibit:
Professio
nal
Woman
p. 476 3.5.5 Step 5: Handle Objections
The effective salesperson anticipates
objections—reasons why the
prospect is reluctant to make a
commitment—and she has prepared
to respond with additional
information or persuasive
arguments. Actually, the salesperson
should welcome objections because
they show that the prospect is at
least interested enough to consider
the offer and seriously weigh its
pros and cons.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
p. 476 3.5.6 Step 6: Close the Sale
But there still comes a point in the
sales call at which one or the other
party has to move toward gaining
commitment to the objectives of the
call—presumably a purchase. This is
the decision stage, or close.
A last objection close asks
customers if they are ready to
purchase and then addresses any
concerns they have about the
product.
An assumptive or minor
points close means a salesperson
acts as if the purchase is
inevitable with only a small
detail or two to be settled.
A standing-room-only or
buy-now close suggests the
opportunity might be missed if
the customer hesitates.
p. 476
p. 477
3.5.7 Step 7: Follow-Up
The follow-up after the sale
includes arranging for delivery,
payment, and purchase terms. It also
means the salesperson makes sure
the customer received delivery and
is satisfied. Follow-up also allows
the salesperson to bridge to the next
purchase. Once a relationship
develops, the selling process is only
beginning. Even as one cycle of
purchasing ends, a good salesperson
already lays the foundation for the
next one.
► METRICS MOMENT
How does a firm know whether a
salesperson is effective?
Some firms use input and output
measures. Input measures are
“effort” measures—things that go
into selling, such as the number and
type of sales calls, expense account
management, and a variety of
nonselling activities, such as
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
p. 477
customer follow-up work and client
service. Output measures, or the
results of the salesperson’s efforts,
include sales volume but also
include things like the number of
orders, size of orders, number of
new accounts, level of repeat
business, customer satisfaction, and
quantity of particular key products
sold. Profitability of the sale to the
company is also an output measure,
The best approach to measure
salesperson success is to use a
variety of metrics that are consistent
with the goals of the particular firm,
Applying the Metrics
Assume that you are a
professional salesperson and
consider the various input
and output metrics of
salesperson effectiveness
described above.
Which of the metrics would
you prefer to be evaluated
against? Why do you prefer
these?
Which of the metrics would
you least like being evaluated
against? Why?
4. PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public relations (PR)</keyterm> is the
communication function that seeks
to build good relationships with an
organization’s
<emphasis>publics</emphasis>;
these include consumers,
stockholders, legislators, and other
stakeholders in the organization.
The basic rule of good PR is,
<emphasis>Do something
good</emphasis>, <emphasis>and
then talk about it</emphasis>. The
big advantage of this kind of
Exhibit:
Isaiah
Austin
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
communication is that when PR
messages are placed successfully
they are more credible than if the
same information appeared in a paid
advertisement.
p. 478
p. 478
p. 479
p. 480
Public relations strategies are crucial to an organization’s ability
to establish and maintain a favorable image.
<emphasis>Proactive PR</emphasis> activities stem from the
company’s marketing objectives. For example, marketers create
and manage <keyterm id="ch13term50" linkend="gloss13_050"
preference="0" role="strong">publicity</keyterm>, which is
unpaid communication about an organization that gets media
exposure.
As many of the other function of public relations blend into
buzz marketing activities, perhaps the most important function it
still “owns” is crisis management. This refers to the process of
managing a company’s reputation when some negative and
often unplanned event threatens the organization’s image. Even
a single negative event can cause permanent damage to a
company, the success of its products, and its stockholder equity.
4.1 Plan a Public Relations Campaign
A <keyterm id="ch13term51" linkend="gloss13_051"
preference="0" role="strong">public relations
campaign</keyterm> is a coordinated effort to communicate with
one or more of the firm’s publics. This is a three-step process
that develops, executes, and evaluates objectives.
Marketing communication experts <para> know that PR
strategies are best used in conjunction with advertising, sales
promotion, and personal selling to send a consistent message to
customers and other stakeholders. As part of the total marketing
communication plan, they often rely on PR to accomplish the
following objectives:
Introduce new products to retailers and consumers.
Influence government legislation.
Enhance the image of an organization.
Provide advice and counsel for top management.
Enhance the image of a city, region, or country.
Manage a crisis.
Call attention to a firm’s involvement with the
community.
Figure 14.5
Snapshot:
Objectives and
Tactics of Public
Relations
Ripped from the
Headlines
Ethical/Sustaina
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
► ETHICS CHECK
Find out what other students taking this course would do and
why at www.mymkylab.com
Is it ethical for marketers to secretly fund PR campaigns to
defend their products?
ble Decisions in
the Real World
p. 480
p. 481
P. 481
P. 481
4.2 PR Tactics
All PR activities strive for the same goal—to create and
maintain the positive image the organization needs.
4.2.1 Press Release
<itemizedlist mark="bullet"
spacing="normal"><listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>The
most common way for PR specialists to communicate is by a
<keyterm id="ch13term52" linkend="gloss13_052"
preference="0" role="strong">press release</keyterm>. This is
a report of some event or activity that an organization writes and
sends to the media in the hope that it will be published free. A
newer version of this idea is a <emphasis>video news
release</emphasis> (<emphasis>VNR</emphasis>) that tells the
story in a film format instead. Some of the most common types
of press releases include the following:<link
linkend="ch13mn57" preference="1"/><link preference="1"
linkend="ch13informal15"/></para>
<itemizedlist mark="bullet"
spacing="normal"><listitem><inst></inst><para><emphasis>T
imely topics</emphasis> deal with topics in the news.
Universities publish research project stories</emphasis> to
highlight breakthroughs by faculty researchers.</para></listitem
<listitem><inst></inst><para><emphasis>Consumer
information releases</emphasis> provide information to help
consumers make product decisions.
4.2.2 Internal PR and External Stakeholders
Internal PR activities target employees; they often include
company newsletters and closed-circuit television to keep
people informed about company objectives, successes, or even
plans to
“downsize” the workforce. Often company newsletters also are
distributed outside the firm to suppliers or other important
publics.
</para></listitem><listitem><inst></inst><title>Investor
relations’ activities focus on communications to those whose
financial support is critical; this is especially vital for
</title><para><inst> publicly held companies.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
</para></listitem><listitem><inst>
</inst><title></inst><keyterm id="ch13term53"
linkend="gloss13_053" preference="0"
role="strong">Lobbying</keyterm> means talking with and
providing information to government officials to persuade them
to vote a certain way on pending legislation or even to initiate
legislation or regulations that would benefit the organization.
4.2.3 Speech Writing and Corporate Communications
<listitem><inst>An important job of a firm’s PR department is
s</inst><title>peech writing; specialists provide speeches for
company executives to deliver. While some executives do
actually write their own speeches, it is more common for a
speechwriter on the PR staff to develop an initial draft of a
speech to which the executive might add his own input.
</para></listitem><listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>PR
specialists also provide input on corporate identity materials,
such as logos, brochures, building design, and even stationery
that communicates a positive image for the firm
<listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>One of the tasks of the PR
professional is to develop close media relations to insure the
organization will receive the best media exposure possible for
positive news, such as publicizing the achievements of an
employee who has done some notable charity
work or for a product it developed that saved someone’s life.
p. 481
p. 482
p. 482
</para></listitem>
4.2.4 Sponsorships and Special Events
Sponsorships</keyterm> are PR activities through which
companies provide financial support to help fund an event in
return for publicized recognition of the company’s contribution.
A related task is to plan and implement special events.
4.2.5 Brand Ambassadors and Evangelists
Many marketers realize that they cannot create buzz by
themselves; they recruit loyal customers as brand ambassadors
or brand evangelists to help them. These zealous consumers
can be the best salespeople a company can ever find. They often
work without pay. They are heavy users, take a product
seriously, care a great deal about it and want it to succeed. In
addition, they know the target audience better than anyone since
they are a part of it.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
p. 483
p. 484
4.2.6 Guerrilla Marketing
Organizations with tiny advertising budgets need to develop
innovative and cheap ways to capture consumers’ attention.
Guerrilla marketing activities are an increasingly popular way
to accomplish this objective. No, this term does not refer to
marketers making monkeys out of themselves (that’s “gorilla
marketing”). A guerrilla marketing strategy involves
“ambushing” consumers with promotional content in places
where they do not expect to encounter these messages.
Ambient advertising is a popular type of guerilla marketing.
This term describes the placement of messages in nontraditional
media
4.3 Buzz Marketing
The many-to-many communication model relies on consumers
like you to talk to one another about goods, services and
organizations. Marketers think of <keyterm id="ch12term17"
linkend="gloss12_017" preference="0"
role="strong">buzz</keyterm> as everyday people helping their
marketing efforts when they share their opinions with their
friends and neighbors.
Companies today spend millions to create consumer positive
buzz. Firms like Dell have named word-of-mouth (WOM)
marketing managers, and the WOMMA (Word-of-Mouth
Marketing Association). The membership roster includes most
of the top consumer-brand companies. Techniques to encourage
consumers to spread information about companies and their
products come under a variety of names such as word-of-mouth
marketing, viral marketing, buzz marketing and evangelist
marketing.
Tryvertising is advertising by sampling that is designed to
create buzz about a product. f-commerce is e-commerce that
takes place on Facebook
People like to share their experiences, good or bad, with others.
Truly happy customers will share their excitement about a
brand. Unfortunately, the unhappy ones will be even more
eager to tell their friends about their unpleasant experiences
Exhibit: Heinz
p. 484
Brand polarization is the gap between good buzz and bad
buzz.
4.3.1 Viral Marketing
One form of buzz building is viral marketing. This term refers
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
p. 485
p. 485
to marketing activities that aim to increase brand awareness or
sales by consumers passing a message along to other consumers,
hopefully in an exponential fashion--much like your roommate
passes a cold onto you and you pass it along to all your other
friends. Today, most viral marketing tactics are subtler and
consist of marketers’ use of video clips, interactive games, or
other activities that consumers will find so interesting or unique
that they want to share them with their friends using digital
technology. To see a classic viral spot in action, visit
www.subservientchicken.com.
4.3.2 Ethical Problems in Buzz Marketing
Just as firms are discovering there are a myriad of opportunities
for buzz marketing, there are equally large opportunities for
unethical or at least questionable marketing behavior. Some of
these are as follows:
Activities designed to deceive consumers.
Directing buzz marketing at children or teens.
Buzz marketing activities that damage property.
Sock puppeting (A company executive or other biased
source poses as someone else to plug a product in social
media.)
4.4 Evaluation of a PR Campaign
One of the barriers to greater reliance on PR campaigns is
evaluation; compared to many other forms of marketing
communications, it’s difficult to devise metrics to gauge their
effectiveness. Table 14.1 describes some of the most common
PR measurement techniques.
Real People, Real Choices: Here’s My Choice at Stylistics
·Stylistics chose option #2.
Table 14.1
</inst>Measurin
g the
Effectiveness of
Public Relations
(PR) Tactics
IV. END-OF-CHAPTER ANSWER GUIDE
CHAPTER QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
CONCEPTS: TEST YOUR KNOWLEDGE
14-1What is buzz? How do marketers practice buzz building?
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
The many-to-many communication model relies on consumers like you to talk to one
another about goods, services and organizations. Marketers think of <keyterm
id="ch12term17" linkend="gloss12_017" preference="0" role="strong">buzz</keyterm> as
everyday people helping their marketing efforts when they share their opinions with their
friends and neighbors. <endnoteref label="11" olinkend="ch12endnoteset11"/> The idea
is nothing new; it is the so-called “office water-cooler effect” where coworkers dish about
the latest TV sitcom on Monday morning. Companies today spend millions to create
consumer positive buzz. Firms like Dell have named word-of-mouth (WOM) marketing
managers, and the WOMMA (Word-of-Mouth Marketing Association) membership roster
includes most of the top consumer-brand companies. <endnoteref label="12"
olinkend="ch12endnoteset12"/> According to advertising agency JWT Worldwide, over
85 percent of top 1,000 marketing firms now use word-of-mouth tactics.i <endnoteref
label="13" olinkend="ch12endnoteset13"/><link linkend="ch12mn19"
preference="1"/></para>Techniques to encourage consumers to spread information about
companies and their products come under a variety of names such as word-of-mouth
marketing, viral marketing, buzz marketing and evangelist marketing.
14-2 What are some ethical problems in buzz marketing?
Just as firms are discovering there are a myriad of opportunities for buzz marketing, there are
equally large opportunities for unethical or at least questionable marketing behavior. Some of
these are as follows:
Activities designed to deceive consumers.
Directing buzz marketing at children or teens.
Buzz marketing activities that damage property.
Stealth marketing activities that deliberately deceive or lie on behalf of clients.
14.3 What is viral marketing? How do marketers use brand ambassador or brand evangelists?
One form of buzz building is viral marketing. This term refers to marketing activities that
aim to increase brand awareness or sales by consumers passing a message along to other
consumers, hopefully in an exponential fashion--much like your roommate passes a cold onto
you and you pass it along to all your other friends. Today, most viral marketing tactics are
subtler and consist of marketers’ use of video clips, interactive games, or other activities that
consumers will find so interesting or unique that they want to share them with their friends
using digital technology.
Many marketers realize that they cannot create buzz by themselves; they recruit loyal
customers as brand ambassadors or brand evangelists to help them. These zealous consumers
can be the best salespeople a company can ever find. They often work for no pay.. They are
heavy users, take a product seriously, care a great deal about it and want it to succeed. In
addition, they know the target audience better than anyone since they are a part of it. So how
do marketers identify and motivate these loyal customers to be brand ambassadors?
Sometimes they seek out customers who already blog about the product and share what they
love about the brand. One way to motivate brand ambassadors is to give them special access
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
or privileges to the company and its marketing strategies. Some might be recruited and
featured through a brand contest.
14.4 What is social media? What are social networks? Describe Facebook, Twitter, virtual worlds,
product review sites, mobile apps, and location-based social networks.
This term refers to Internet-based platforms that allow users to create their own content and
share it with others who access these sites. Social media include blogs, forums, picture-and
video-sharing sites, wikis and podcasts to name a few. Social networking sites or social
networks are sites used to connect people with other similar people. Successful networking
sites ask users to develop profiles of themselves so that those with similar backgrounds,
interests, hobbies, religious beliefs, racial identities or political views can “meet” online.
Social networks such as Facebook and LinkedIn are some of the most popular sites on the
Internet with millions of users from around the globe. Once a user has created a profile, it is
easy to connect with old and new friends.
Facebook is the most popular of all social networking sites with over 400 million users as we
write this book -- and no doubt many more as you are reading it. Users of Facebook first
develop a profile that remains private unless they choose to connect with a “friend.” Twitter
is a free micro-blogging service that lets users post short text messages with a maximum of
140 characters. People who subscribe to an individual’s Twitter feed are called “followers.”
Users can follow anyone they like, unlike Facebook where you have to be recognized and
accepted as a “friend.” Unlike other social media, Twitter is a broadcast medium, which
means that marketers can send messages to hundreds of thousands of people at a time. A
virtual world refers to an online, highly engaging digital environment where avatars --graphic
representations of users -- live and interact with other avatars in real time. Product review
sites are social media sites that enable people to post stories about their experiences with
products and services. It is obvious to almost anyone who is conscious today that the future
of marketing communications lies in that magic little device you practically sleep with –
whether it is a smartphone or perhaps a computer/phone hybrid like Apple’s iPad. Combine
web browsing capability with built-in cameras and the race is on to bring to the world to your
belt or purse. Apple lit up this market when it introduced the iPhone and now everyone is
scrambling to “monetize” the mobile market through sales of ringtones, on-demand video,
online coupons, and “apps” that entertain or educate. Location-based social networks
integrate sophisticated GPS technology (like the navigation system you may have in your
car) that enables users to alert friends of their exact whereabouts via their mobile phones
14-5 What is direct marketing? Describe the more popular types of direct marketing.
Direct marketing refers to “any direct communication to a consumer or business recipient
that is designed to generate a response in the form of an order, a request for further
information, and/or a visit to a store or other place of business for purchase of a product.”
The more popular types of direct marketing include: Mail order, catalogs, direct mail,
telemarketing, and direct-response advertising (infomercials and home shopping networks).
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
14-6 What is m-commerce?
M-commerce refers to the promotional and other e-commerce activities transmitted over
mobile phones and other mobile devices, such as smartphones. With about a billion mobile
phones in use worldwide, many of them Internet-enabled, it makes sense that marketers
would want to reach out and touch this large target audience.
14-7 What role does personal selling play within the marketing function?
For most firms, some form of personal selling is essential for a transaction (the sale) to occur,
so this type of promotion is an important part of an organization’s overall marketing plan.
Through one-on-one selling, the salesperson can directly address customer objections, can
furnish other customer services (such as installations, setup, and instruction), can provide the
company with feedback on the marketing effort, and is a source of competitive intelligence.
14-8 Describe the various types of sales jobs.
A wide range of different types of sales jobs are available, each of which has different job
requirements and responsibilities. See Figure 14.3.
● An order taker is a salesperson who processes transactions the customer initiates. Many
retail salespeople are order takers, but often wholesalers, dealers, and distributors also
employ salespeople
● A technical specialist contributes considerable expertise in the form of product
demonstrations, recommendations for complex equipment, and setup of machinery. The
technical specialist provides sales support rather than actually closing the sale.
● A missionary salesperson whose job is to stimulate clients to buy. They promote the firm
and encourage demand for its goods and services but don’t actually take orders.
● The new-business salesperson is responsible for finding new customers and calls on
them
to present the company’s products. Order getters are the people most directly
responsible for a particular client’s business.
● A selling team consists of a salesperson, a technical specialist, someone from
engineering and design, and other players who work together to develop products and
programs that satisfy the customer’s needs.
14.9 What is relationship selling? How does it differ from transactional selling?
Relationship selling—a form of personal selling in which the salesperson seeks to develop a
mutually satisfying relationship with the customer so the parties can work together to satisfy
each other’s needs. This process tends to build long-term relationships.
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
Transactional selling—a form of personal selling that focuses on making an immediate sale
with little or no attempt to develop a relationship with the customer. This approach is often
associated with the hard sell or high-pressure selling process.
14-10 What is prospecting? What does it mean to qualify the prospect? What is the preapproach?
Why are these steps in the creative selling process that occur before you ever contact the
buyer so important to the sale?
.
Prospecting is the process of identifying and developing a list of potential customers, called
prospects or sales leads. Salespeople qualify prospects to determine how likely they are to
become customers. The preapproach consists of compiling background information about
prospective customers and planning the sales interview.
These steps are important, as a salesperson needs to be prepared. They need to learn as much
as possible about qualified prospects to not risk losing a sale.
14-11 What are some ways you might approach a customer? Explain how some types of
approaches work better in one situation than another.
The hard sell is a high-pressure process. Hard-sell tactics reflect transactional selling, an
approach that focuses on making an immediate sale with no concern for developing a long-
term relationship with the customer. This is a shortsighted approach, leaving customers
feeling manipulated and resentful. Relationship selling involves securing, developing, and
maintaining, long-term relationships with profitable customers.
14-12 What is the objective of the sales presentation? How might you overcome buyer
objections?
A sales presentation lays out the benefits of the product over the competition. The focus
should be on the ways the salesperson and products can add value to the customer.
Anticipating the objections and responding with additional information or persuasive
arguments can handle buyer objections. Salespeople should welcome objections because they
show that the prospects is at least interested enough to have considered the offer and weighed
its pros and cons.
14-13 Why is follow-up after the sale so important in relationship selling?
Follow-up allows the salesperson to bridge to the next purchase. Once a relationship
develops, the selling process is only the beginning.
14-14 What is the purpose of public relations? What is a crisis management plan? Describe
some of the activities that are part of PR.
PR seeks to build good relationships with organizations’ publics. PR is used to influence the
attitudes and perceptions of various groups. Proactive PR is designed to establish and
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
maintain an organization’s favorable image. A crisis management plan is a document that
details what an organization will do if a crisis occurs. It explains who the spokesperson will
be, how the organization will deal with the press, and what sort of messages will be
delivered.
The PR specialists must develop a campaign strategy that includes the following:
</para><itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="normal"><listitem><in</inst><paraA
situation analysis</para></listitem>
<listitem></inst><paA statement of objectives</para></listitem>
<listitem><ins</inst><para>Specification of target audiences (publics), messages to
be communicated, and specific program elements to be used</para></listitem>
<listitem><inst></inst>A timetable and budget</para></listitem>
<listitem><ins</inst><para>Discussion of how to evaluate the program
Public Relations Tactics
<itemizedlist mark="bullet" spacing="normal"><listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>The
most common way for PR specialists to communicate is by a <keyterm id="ch13term52"
linkend="gloss13_052" preference="0" role="strong">press release</keyterm>. This is a report of
some event or activity that an organization writes and sends to the media in the hope that it
will be published free. Internal PR activities target employees; they often include company
newsletters and closed-circuit television to keep people informed about company objectives,
successes, or even plans to “downsize” the workforce. Often company newsletters also are
distributed outside the firm to suppliers or other important publics.
</para></listitem><listitem><inst></inst><title>Investor relations’ activities focus on
communications to those whose financial support is critical; this is especially vital for
</title><para><inst> publicly held companies. </para></listitem><listitem><inst>
</inst><title></inst><keyterm id="ch13term53"
linkend="gloss13_053" preference="0" role="strong">Lobbying</keyterm> means talking
with and providing information to government officials to persuade them to vote a certain
way on pending legislation or even to initiate legislation or regulations that would benefit the
organization. <listitem><inst>An important job of a firm’s PR department is
s</inst><title>peech writing; specialists provide speeches for company executives to deliver.
While some executives do actually write their own speeches, it is more common for a
speechwriter on the PR staff to develop an initial draft of a speech to which the executive
might add his own input. </para></listitem><listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>PR
specialists also provide input on corporate identity materials, such as logos, brochures,
building design, and even stationery that communicates a positive image for the firm.
</para></listitem><listitem><inst></inst><title></inst>One of the tasks of the PR professional
is to develop close media relations to insure the organization will receive the best media
exposure possible for positive news, such as publicizing the achievements of an employee
who has done some notable charity work or for a product it developed that saved someone’s
life. Sponsorships</keyterm> are PR activities through which companies provide financial support to
help fund an event in return for publicized recognition of the company’s contribution. A
related task is to plan and implement special events.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
14-15 What is guerrilla marketing? What is ambient advertising?
Organizations with tiny advertising budgets need to develop innovative and cheap ways to
capture consumers’ attention. Guerrilla marketing activities are an increasingly popular way
to accomplish this objective. No, this term does not refer to marketers making monkeys out
of themselves (that’s “gorilla marketing”). A guerrilla marketing strategy involves
“ambushing” consumers with promotional content in places where they do not expect to
encounter these messages. Ambient advertising is a popular type of guerilla marketing. This
term describes the placement of messages in nontraditional media
ACTIVITIES: APPLY WHAT YOU’VE LEARNED
14.16 Creative Homework/Short Project Many firms today are using a variety of
buzz-building activities to encourage word-of-mouth communication about their products.
Think about a business or place that you and your classmates might visit. You might, for
example, think about (1) a specialty coffee shop, (2) a night spot where you and your friends
might hang out on the weekends, or (3) a local theme or amusement park. For your selected
product, develop ideas for at least three different buzz-building activities. Outline the details
as to exactly how these activities would be implemented. Next, rank order the activities as to
which you feel would be the best and tell why you feel that way. Develop a report for your
class on your ideas.
The chapter nicely lists several different buzz-building activities. These word of mouth
(WOM) marketing messages are more credible and thus more valuable when unpaid
consumers create their own messages. Using the various examples of buzz-building
activities in the chapter, have the students brainstorm how they could develop ideas that
would create the buzz.
14.17 Creative Homework/Short Project Assume that you are a marketing consultant for one of
the clients in item 14.16 above. You believe that the client would benefit from
nontraditional marketing. Develop several ideas for social-media tactics that you feel
would be successful for the client.
Students will have fun with this exercise as they create “out-of-the-traditional box” buzz
and social-media examples of marketing techniques. Students should be encouraged to
share their ideas with classmates and then vote on the best ideas.
14.18 In Class, 10–25 Minutes for Teams In this chapter, we learned that marketers are
increasing their use of social media in their marketing communication strategies. Why is
this happening? What are some ways a university can use social media in their marketing
communication programs? How does your university use social media? What additions to
the current social media activities would you recommend for your university?
Students will enjoy brainstorming ways to use social media to communicate information
about their university. One idea is to use f-commerce (Facebook e-commerce). Major
word-of-mouth buzz among students can be achieved through Facebook. Students should
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
also discuss the following issues for social media:
Security: Keep it safe. It is e-commerce, after all.
Privacy: Let students know you won’t share their personal details.
Personal details: When you do collect personal details, keep it to a minimum.
Localization: If it’s available to a limited market, make sure this is clear.
Browser compatibility: Make sure your campaign works in all major browsers
While Facebook remains the most popular social media site for college students today,
many18- to 24-year-olds are moving away from it. Instead, they spend more time on
Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Snapchat, and Vine. Many students prefer to use their mobile
phones to access social media sites, receive and send e-mail, and otherwise interact on
social media. Students can share their experience with social media at their university and
recommend additions to current social media activities.
14.19 Creative Homework/Short Project You work for a direct marketing firm, and your client,
who owns a lawn mowing and landscaping service, has enlisted your help in using various
direct marketing approaches to reach out to potential customers. Consider carefully which
forms of direct marketing would be most effective for your client and why. Devise a short
presentation for your customer so that he can weigh the various options you recommend.
MyMarketingLab for answers to Assisted Graded Questions
14.20 Creative Homework/Short Project Think of the last time you interacted with a
salesperson, whether it was for a new tablet computer or a trendy pair of jeans. Identify the
type of salesperson you were interacting with and explain what this person did to fulfill that
particular role. Also identify whether this salesperson used a transactional selling approach
or a relationship selling approach. Was this approach appropriate for the purchase you were
considering? Why or why not?
Students can share their shopping experiences. Transactional selling focuses on making
an immediate sale with no concern for developing a long-term relationship with the
customer. Relationship selling involves securing, developing, and maintaining, long-term
relationships with profitable customers.
14.21 Creative Homework/Short Project Assume a firm that publishes university textbooks
(including this marketing textbook) has just hired you as a field salesperson. Your job
requires that you call on university faculty members to persuade them to adopt your
textbooks for their classes. As part of your training, your sales manager has asked you to
develop an outline of what you will say in a typical sales presentation. Write that outline,
including how you might handle a specific objective like “But this is the textbook we’ve
always used, and it’s always worked well for us.”
MyMarketingLab for answers to Assisted Graded Questions
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
14.22 Creative Homework/Short Project Your assignment for this project is to develop
recommendations for your university’s marketing communication program. First, schedule an
appointment with your university’s marketing communication or university relations
department to discuss their communication program. You will probably want to ask them
about the following:
The target audiences for their communication program
The objectives of their communication program
The different types of traditional and nontraditional communication methods they use
How they evaluate the effectiveness of their communication program(s)</LL>
Based on your discussions, develop a report that (1) provides a critique of the university’s
communication program and (2) makes recommendations for improvement.
Students will especially take interest in this activity, as it is such a high-involvement task
for them
14.23 In Class, 10–25 Minutes for Teams Assume that you are the head of PR for a regional
fast-food chain that specializes in fried chicken and fish. A customer has claimed that he
became sick when he ate a fried roach that was in his chicken dinner at one of your
restaurants. As the director of PR, what recommendations do you have for how the firm
might handle this crisis?
Ask the students to reread the sections on proactive PR and crisis management. If the
restaurant chain had a crisis management plan in place, the answers to the question could be
found there. If a plan does not exist, and the danger of negative publicity is evident, the goal
will be to manage the flow of information to address concerns so that stakeholders do not
panic. It will be necessary to handle this issue in a timely fashion.
►APPLY MARKETING METRICS
One of the important benefits of social media such as Facebook and Twitter is that they allow
marketers to easily learn what consumers are saying about their brand—and about the
competition. To better understand that process, you can go out to Twitter and conduct a little
detective work to see what consumers are saying about a brand:
14.24 Select a product type and particular brand of that product to study—it can be in any
product category you choose. If you are doing a marketing plan project for your marketing
course, you may use that product for this exercise. If not, choose a product type and brand
that you use and like, one that you might use and are curious about, or one that you dislike.
14.25 Go to Twitter.com. Search for you selected brand and see what is revealed. After you
have reviewed the results, provide a summary of the following information:
a. The number of tweets that are positive
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
b. The major aspects of your brand that people think are positive
c. The number of tweets that are negative
d. The major aspects of your brand that people think are negative
e. The number of tweets that ask questions.
Students should discuss whether the data they collect speak to the brand’s equity/strength in
the marketplace. For example, do bigger, global firms have more positive tweets than smaller
companies for any or all of the distinct categories listed above?
►CHOICES: WHAT DO YOU THINK?
14.26 Critical Thinking A woman sued Taco Bell for deceptive advertising, claiming its tacos
had far less beef than advertised. Taco Bell, understanding the potential damage to its brand,
immediately went on the defense and filed a countersuit. In addition, Taco Bell’s CEO posted
a video statement and essentially released its recipe for seasoned beef, which contains 88
percent beef that is 100 percent USDA inspected.
Was this enough for Taco Bell to do to avert a PR crisis? What else could they have done?
Students can discuss crisis management as applied to Taco Bell. Crisis management refers
to the process of managing a company’s reputation when some negative and often unplanned
event threatens the organization’s image. The goal is to manage the flow of information to
address concerns so that consumers don’t panic and distributors don’t abandon the product.
The best strategy is to be honest about the problem and to quickly take responsibility for
correcting it. PR professionals know that when a firm handles a crisis well, it can minimize
damage and help the company make things right. Thus, a vitally important role of PR is to
prepare a crisis management plan. This is a document that details what an organization will
do if a crisis occurs—who will be the spokesperson for the organization, how the
organization will deal with the press, and what sort of messages it will deliver to the press
and the public.
14-27 Critical Thinking There is increasing concern about consumer privacy on social networking
sites such as Facebook. How do you feel about privacy on social networks? Is allowing
personal information to be available to others without a user’s specific permission unethical?
Should the network owners do more to protect users’ privacy? Should there be greater
government regulation or should the sites be free to develop as they want to meet the needs of
users? How much responsibility should users accept in protecting their own private
information?
MyMarketingLab for answers to Assisted Graded Questions
14-28 Critical Thinking Have you ever “liked” a company or product page on Facebook? Why
did you do so? How often do you follow this company or product? Have you ever posted
comments? If so, what was the purpose of your comments? Do you feel the brand owner
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
communicates effectively with the brand community through this medium? Why or why not?
What could the brand owner do better?
Students can share their experiences on Facebook.
14-29 Ethics Many salespeople, especially those that sell financial products such as life
insurance or annuities, earn their salary or a portion of their salary based on the product(s)
they convince you to purchase. In addition, buyers are often uneducated about how the
sellers make their money and about the product(s) themselves. What are the ethical
obligations the seller has toward the buyer? Should the salesperson disclose how he or she
earns his or her money? Is it ethical for a salesperson to try to sell the buyer a product that
the salesperson receives a higher commission on? What responsibility does the buyer have
in such situations?
Students can discuss appropriate sales techniques. To some extent, hard sell organizations
still exist. The examples of encyclopedias, refrigerators, and televisions come to mind. In
general, organizations whose purpose is to sell to the consumer only once or a few times
use the hard sell technique. The hard sell technique may make consumers feel manipulated
and resentful.
Students can discuss whether professional salespeople are appropriately paid or
.salespeople do that warrants their compensation. You might begin the discussion by
sharing the average take-home wage of citizens in your state. You might find salaries of
other professionals to use as a basis of comparison. Once students have compensation
figures to relate to, the discussion will begin to flow.
14.30 Critical Thinking Recently, Twitter has joined other Internet sites in selling preferred
positions on the site to generate revenue. Do you feel that such revenue-generating
activities make sites such as Twitter less attractive? If you know that the top comments on a
site have their positions because firms paid for them, are you likely to change your use of
the sites? Are there other ways that an Internet site such as Twitter can generate revenue?
Because Twitter can be considered a “buzz-building” tactic, the element of sincerity
becomes paramount. One way to think about these questions is to consider the ethical
implications for companies using Twitter in potentially harmful ways:
Activities designed to deceive consumers.
Directing buzz marketing at children or teens.
Buzz marketing activities that damage property.
Stealth marketing activities that deliberately deceive or lie on behalf of clients.
14.31 Critical Thinking M-commerce allows marketers to engage in location commerce when
they can identify where consumers are and send them messages about a local store. Do you
think consumers will respond positively to this? What do you think are the benefits for
consumers of location commerce? Do you see any drawbacks (such as invasion of
privacy)?
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
This will be an interesting discussion for students, most of whom carry a cell phone. There
would be students how would want information from local stores, while others might feel
they only want information when requested. The benefits for consumers of m-commerce
are the freedom of obtaining information rapidly without the need for other devices.
14.32 Critical Thinking In general, professional selling has evolved from hard selling to
relationship selling. Do some organizations still use the hard-sell style? If so, what types?
What do you think the future holds for these organizations? Will the hard sell continue to
succeed—that is, are there instances in which transactional selling is still appropriate? If so,
when?
MyMarketingLab for answers to Assisted Graded Questions
14.33 Critical Thinking Some critics denounce PR specialists, calling them “flacks” or “spin
doctors” whose job is to hide the truth about a company’s problems. What is the proper role
of PR within an organization? Should PR specialists try to put a good face on bad news?
Students will probably have strong opinions about this question. In light of many of the
Internet and accounting scandals of the early 2000s, this issue has come to the forefront. To
balance the discussion, remind the students of the many good things PR does. Ask students to
think about their own university. Could it afford a major promotional effort? How does PR
help balance out the budget as well as spread good word?
The students can have fun with this even as a group exercises. Remind them to review the
chapter materials before their outline is developed. This would be an excellent in-class
presentation for credit. Please note—for expanded use for students, question 1 will
complement a larger project by applying timelines.
MINI-PROJECT: LEARN BY DOING
Miniproject 1
The purpose of this miniproject is to help you understand the advantages of following the
creative selling process:
14-34. With several of your classmates, create a new product in a category that most college
students buy regularly (e.g., toothpaste, shampoo, pens, pencils, soft drinks—anything that
interests you that might be sold through a drugstore like Walgreens). Make up a new brand
name and some creative features and benefits of the new product you come up with.
14-35. Assume you are a salesperson trying to sell your product to an organizational buyer like
Walgreens for adding to their product lines. Develop a plan for executing each of the steps in
the creative selling process. Make sure that you cover all the bases of how you would go
about selling your product.
14-36. Report on your plan to your class and ask the other students for feedback on whether your
approach will convince the Walgreens buyer to make a purchase. Alternatively, with a
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
classmate demonstrate your plan in a role-playing exercise.
Through these three questions, the groups will need to create a new product in a category that
most college students use on a routine base. Make up a new brand name and some creative
features and benefits of the new product. . This would be a great in-class or out-of-class
exercise for the students. They will develop the name, features and benefits of the product
and develop a plan for executing a sales call to a buyer at a Walgreens store. Finally, they
will report their selling plan to the class.
Instructors may wish to extend the deadline for this assignment so students have ample time
to complete the assignment and develop a report.
Miniproject 2
One of the more difficult parts of developing a marketing communication plan that includes a
variety of traditional and new media activities is coordination. This project will provide you with
an opportunity to explore the difficulties of this.
Assume you are the CMO for the Down Home Sausage Company. You are responsible for
developing a marketing communication plan for your firm’s new “grilling Sausage” product. You
have decided that your program could best be developed if it includes the following:
4. Traditional TV advertising
5. Outdoor billboard advertising
6. A buzz-building activity
7. An interactive brand website with a game, information about your product, and one or more
other interactive devices.
7. Digital advertising on various platforms.
8. Consumer sales promotion
9. Brand ambassadors
14-37 Design each of these communication program elements with detailed descriptions
including timing, and venues.
14-38 Each of these activities must be tied to the other activities. Now describe all of these
connections.
14-39 To be successful today, a firm must do more than just provide consumers with information.
Their marketing communication activities must engage the consumer, must provide something of
value (in addition to information about the product) and must make the customer’s life better.
Describe how your communication activities will do these things.
This would make an excellent small-group project. Students can develop a marketing
communication plan, and each group can present the plan to the entire class.
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
V. MARKETING IN ACTION CASE: REAL CHOICES AT
BURGER KING
Summary of Case
Burger King has an advertising budget only one-fourth the size of McDonald’s. As a result, BK
has followed the advice that social media can minimize the advantages of size. Good content
travels so powerfully that every year the playing field gets more level. And that’s exactly what
Burger King has done.
Recently, Burger King gained the attention of the media by asking its rival McDonald’s to join
together to make a McWhopper in support of World Peace Day. The new hamburger would
consist of six ingredients from each burger and be sold exclusively for one day at a pop-up shop
in Atlanta. Proceeds would go to charity, and the theme of the event would have been: “What
does peace taste like?” Television outlets focused on the proposal, and the story went viral on
social media. However, the offer was not warmly received by McDonald’s, and the event never
took place. Nevertheless, the McWhopper buzz generated $182 million in earned media exposure
and 8.9 billion media impressions for Burger king.
Although gaining customers’ attention is vital to brand success, that success can be fleeting.
Burger king will continue to be limited by its smaller promotion budget. Competition for
customers’ thoughts in the world of social media is fierce. And there’s no guarantee of buzz
turning into revenue growth.
Suggestions for Presentation
This case could be assigned for various online or in-class discussion activities.
Online
Go on the Burger King website www.burgerking.com
and search for sales jobs/careers. How appealing or unappealing does a sale position within this
company sound to you?
Go to a Burger King restaurant and interview a manager who works with Burger King’s
salespersons
In Class
Have the class do as a project a marketing-related SWOT analysis of Burger King and then make
recommendations for techniques salespersons at Burger King could employ.
You Make the Call
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Chapter 14: Promotion II: Social Media, Direct/Database Marketing, and Personal Selling
14-40 What is the decision facing Burger King?
Students may come up with a number of different decisions that Burger King might make.
How should Burger King continue to engage customers? How does Burger King convert the
social media excitement around the King, the Burger king chain’s robed mascot, into revenue
growth? The main challenge facing Burger King is that competition is fierce.
14-41 What factors are important in understanding this decision situation?
The following factors are important in understand this decision situation:
Burger King has an advertising budget only one-fourth the size of McDonald’s.
The $1 million that Burger King paid for the stunt for the Mayweather-Pacquiao fight
was minuscule compared to what the company would have had to spend for a 30-second
Super Bowl ad and much more effective in terms of publicity.
The King’s appearance fee at Belmont Stakes horse race was $200,000 and once again
put Burger king in the spotlight of pop culture.
Although gaining customers’ attention is vital to brand success, that success can be
fleeting.
·Competition for consumers’ attention is fierce.
·There’s no guarantee of buzz turning into revenue growth.
14-42 What are the alternatives?
Students might recommend a variety of different marketing strategies. Some possibilities are:
·Do nothing. Just wait and see what happens. Burger King has a strong reputation in the
market.
·Create new ways to communicate with clients in addition to the sales personnel.
·Develop an advertising campaign aimed at both individual consumers and B2B
customers that publicizes Burger King’s commitment to customers, thus enhancing its
brand image.
·Develop more uses for the King.
14-43 What decision(s) do you recommend?
Students may focus on several of the alternatives developed. All of the above alternatives
have merit and potential pitfalls. Help students understand that Burger King must develop a
strong brand image to meet the competition in the snack market.
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Part 4: Deliver and Communicate the Value Proposition
14-44 What are some ways to implement your recommendation?
Students may suggest various types of advertising, trade sales promotions, sales training
activities, and research depending on the decision recommended.
►MYMARKETING LAB
Go to mymktlab.com for Auto-graded writing questions as well as the following Assisted-
graded writing questions:
14-45 The manager of the training department at your marketing firm has asked you to help with
writing a training manual that describes the selling process. To begin, include some
information that describes why the creative selling process is so important. Then identify the
steps and include a summary of each. Finally, include a paragraph that describes the
importance of follow-up to the selling process.
14-46 What are the major differences between transactional selling and relationship?
WEB RESOURCES
Pearson Education, Inc.: www.mymktlab.com
Stylitics: www. stylitics .com
Consumer Review websites: www.consumerreview.com, www.epinions.com
Amazon website: www.amazon.com
Customer-Centric Business Strategy: www.customerthink.com
Lands End online catalog website: www.landsend.com/ecatalog/
LL Bean online catalog website: www.llbean.com
Burger King: www.burgerking.com
Copyright © 2018 Pearson Education, Inc.
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