Chapter 16 ♦ Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage 16-1
CHAPTER 16 Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage
CHAPTER FEATURES
Chapter Features
Key Points
✓ Marketing & You
Students are given a survey to determine their level of
responsiveness to others and their listening abilities.
✓ Marketing Metrics
Determining an appropriate location is key to business success.
Arby’s has developed a list of criteria to determine locations with
high potential for success.
✓ Company Clips
Vans has a carefully planned marketing strategy that resonates with
the youth culture – the company’s target market for shoes and
athletic apparel.
USING THIS MANUAL
Chapter sixteen includes seven learning outcomes that help students become more familiar with promotional planning
for competitive advantage. The chapter outline provides detailed analysis of these learning outcomes, listing PowerPoint
✓ Ethics in Marketing
While social networking web sites are easy ways to keep in touch
with friends and family, there are privacy concerns.
✓ Application Exercises
of encoding marketing messages.
the show Trueblood. The success of the show is due in part to the
novel marketing strategies used by Campfire Media.
16-2 Chapter 16 Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage
LEARNING OUTCOMES
1 Discuss the role of promotion in the marketing mix
Promotion is communication by marketers that informs, persuades, and reminds potential buyers of a product in order to
market along with product, distribution, and price.
2 Describe the communication process
The communication process has several steps. When an individual or organization has a message it wishes to convey to a
3 Explain the goals of promotion
The fundamental goals of promotion are to induce, modify, or reinforce behavior by informing, persuading, and
4 Discuss the elements of the promotional mix
The elements of the promotional mix include advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, and social
5 Discuss the AIDA concept and its relationship to the promotional mix
The AIDA model outlines the four basic stages in the purchase decision-making process, which are initiated and
6 Discuss the concept of integrated marketing communications
Integrated marketing communications is the careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or service to
assure the consistency of messages at every contact point where a company meets the consumer – advertising, sales
Chapter 16 ♦ Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage 16-3
7 Describe the factors that affect the promotional mix
Promotion managers consider many factors when creating promotional mixes. These factors include the nature of the
product, product life-cycle stage, target market characteristics, the type of buying decision involved, availability of
funds, and feasibility of push or pull strategies. Because most business products tend to be custom-tailored to the buyers
exact specifications, the marketing manager may choose a promotional mix that relies more heavily on personal selling.
On the other hand, consumer products are generally mass produced and lend themselves more to mass promotional
CHAPTER OUTLINE
1 Discuss the role of promotion in the marketing mix
PowerPoint 16-7
The Role of Promotion in
the Marketing Mix
I. The Role of Promotion in the Marketing Mix
A competitive advantage is a set of unique features of a company and its
products that are perceived by the target market as significant and superior to
the competition.
Such features can include:
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2 Describe the communication process
II. Marketing Communication
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Marketing
Communication
1. Interpersonal communication is direct, face-to-face communication
between two or more people.
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The Communication
Process
A. The Communication Process
The communication process involves both a sender and a receiver, and
begins when the sender has a thought or idea and wants to share it with one
or more receivers.
Review Question 2.1
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The Impact of the Internet
1. Sending and Encoding
2. Message Transmission
a. Transmission of a message requires a channel, or a medium of
communication such as a voice, gesture, or newspaper, for
3. The Receiver and Decoding
a. Thee receiver is the person who decodes the message.
3. Feedback
a. In interpersonal communication, the receiver’s response to a
message is direct feedback to the source.
3 Explain the goals of promotion
PowerPoint 16-18
Goals of Promotion
Review Question 3.2
III. The Goals of Promotion
Promotion seeks to modify behavior and thoughts in some way and to reinforce
existing behavior. Thus, the goal of promotion is to inform, persuade, and
remind.
Chapter 16 ♦ Promotional Planning for Competitive Advantage 16-5
PowerPoint 16–19
Informing
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Persuading
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Reminding
A. Informing
1. Informative promotion seeks to convert an existing need into a want or
to stimulate interest in a new product.
B. Persuading
1. Persuasive promotion is designed to stimulate a purchase or an action.
C. Reminding
1. Reminder promotion is used to keep the product and brand name in
the public’s mind.
4 Discuss the elements of the promotional mix
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The Promotional Mix
IV. The Promotional Mix
A combination of the various promotional tools used to reach the target market
and fulfill the organization’s overall goals is called the promotional mix. It
includes advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, and public relations.
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Advertising
A. Advertising
1. Advertising is an impersonal one-way mass communication about a
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PowerPoint 16–26
Public Relations
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Personal Selling
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Sales Promotion
3. Advertisers are increasingly using new advertising media to send their
advertisements to consumers. New advertising media may include:
a. Internet
Ethics in Marketing
B. Public Relations
1. Public relations is the marketing function that evaluates public
objectives, introduce new products, and help support the sales effort.
C. Personal Selling
1. Personal selling is a situation involving a personal, paid-for
communication between two people in an attempt to influence each
other.
D. Sales Promotion
1. Sales promotion consists of all marketing activities – other than
personal selling, advertising, and public relations – that stimulate
consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness.
E. Social Media
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1. Social media are promotion tools used to facilitate conversations
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Characteristics of the
Elements in the
Promotional Mix
F. The Communication Process and Promotional Mix
1. The four elements of the promotional mix differ in their ability to
affect the target audience.
Differences exist for:
a. Communicator control over situation
h. Message flexibility
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The AIDA Concept
Review Question 5.1
Review Question 5.2
5 Discuss the AIDA concept and its relationship to the
promotional mix
V. Promotional Goals and the AIDA Concept
A classic model for reaching promotional goals is called the AIDA
concept, standing for Attention-Interest-Desire-Action. It outlines the
stages of consumer involvement with a promotional message.
The AIDA concept assumes that promotion propels consumers along four
steps in the purchase-decision process.
With each product innovation, the cycle of attention, interest, desire, and
action begins again.
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6 Discuss the concept of integrated marketing
communications
VI. Integrated Marketing Communications
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Integrated Marketing
Communications
Review Questions 6.1, 6.2
Communications from each promotional mix element should be integrated with a
common message reaching the consumer.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) is the careful coordination
of all promotional messages for a product or a service to assure the
7 Describe the factors that affect the promotional mix
PowerPoint 16–43
Factors Affecting the
Choice of Promotional
Mix
Review Question 7.2
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Stage of the Product Life
Cycle
Class Activity: Students
are given several product
scenarios and are asked to
VII. Factors Affecting the Promotional Mix
A. Nature of the Product
1. The characteristics of the product influences the promotional mix.
a. Industrial or business products are often expensive, complex, and
customized, requiring personal selling.
d. Social risk can be an issue as well.
B. Stage in the Product Life Cycle
1. During the introduction stage, advertising and public relations are very
important in informing the target audience that the product is
available.
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Target Market
Characteristics
C. Target Market Characteristics
1. The characteristics of the target market influence the blend of
promotion tools.
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Available Funds
Push and Pull Strategies
Review Question 7.1
D. Type of Buying Decision
1. The type of buying decision – whether routine or complex – also affects
the promotional mix.
E. Available Funds
1. Available (or unavailable) funds may be the most important factor in
determining the promotional mix.
F. Push and Pull Strategies
1. Some manufacturers employ a push strategy, which uses aggressive
personal selling and trade advertising to convince wholesalers and
retailers to carry and sell the merchandise.
KEY TERMS
AIDA concept
feedback
promotion
channel
communication
promotional strategy
competitive advantage
interpersonal communication
pull strategy
decoding
mass communication
push strategy
encoding
noise
receiver
integrated marketing
promotional mix
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Suggested Homework:
• The end of each chapter contains numerous questions that can be assigned or used as the basis for longer
investigations into marketing.
REVIEW AND APPLICATIONS
1.1 What is a promotional strategy? Explain the concept of a competitive advantage in relation to promotional
strategy.
Although students’ answers will vary, they should address some of these points: The role of promotional strategy is
2.1 Why is understanding the target market a crucial aspect of the communication process?
Successful communication requires a degree of a common “language” or overlapping frames of reference between
3.1 Why might a marketing manager choose to promote his or her product using persuasion? Give some current
examples of persuasive promotion.
Persuasive promotion is typically used to build customer loyalty for a product in the growth stage of the product
3.2 Choose a partner from the class and go together to interview the owner or manager of several small
businesses in your city. Ask them what their promotional objectives are and why. Are they trying to inform,
persuade, or remind customers to do business with them? Also determine if they believe they have an
awareness problem or whether they need to persuade customers to come to them instead of competitors. Ask
them to list the characteristics of their primary market, the strengths and weaknesses of their direct
competitors, and how they are positioning their store to compete. Prepare a report to present in class
summarizing your findings.
4.1 As the promotional manager for a new line of cosmetics targeted to preteen girls, you have been assigned the
task of deciding which promotional mix elements – advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal
selling, and social media – should be used in promoting it. Your budget for promoting the preteen cosmetics
line is limited. Write a promotional plan explaining your choice of promotional mix elements given the
nature of the product, the stage in the product life cycle, target market characteristics, type of buying
decision, available funds, and pull or push strategy.
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5.1 Discuss the AIDA concept. How do these different stages of consumer involvement affect the promotional
mix?
The AIDA concept was developed to explain the process through which consumers reach the decision to try a
5.2 How does a Web site’s ease of use affect its ability to create attention, interest, desire, and action? Visit
the kitchen and bath pages of Kohler’s Web site (www.kohler.com) and determine how successful the
company is at moving consumers through the AIDA process.
6.1 Discuss the importance of integrated marketing communications. Give some current examples of companies
that are and are not practicing integrated marketing communications.
Integrated marketing communications carefully coordinate all the promotional activities to produce a consistent,
6.2 What do you think is the role of Hallmark’s Web site (www.hallmark.com) in the company’s integrated
marketing communications plan? What seems to be the marketing function of the site? Do you think the
site is effective?
7.1 Explain the difference between a “pull” and a “push” promotional strategy. Under what conditions should
each strategy be used?
“Push” strategies are commonly used for new products where consumers have little information and for complex
7.2 Use www.radioguide.fm to find a listing of radio Web sites in your area. View several of the stations’
sites and compare the promotions featured. What conclusions can you draw about the target market of
each station based on the types of promotions they are currently running? Would any of the promotions
entice you to tune to a station that you normally don’t listen to?
7.3 Visit www.teenresearch.com. What research can this company offer about the size and growth of the teen
market, buying power of teenagers, and their buying habits? Why might these statistics be important to a
company targeting teenagers in terms of marketing communications and promotion strategy?