Chapter 8
COMMUNICATING TO MASS
MARKETS
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• Role of integrated marketing
communication (IMC): effective
communication of message to
audience
• Definitions of IMC components:
advertising, personal selling, sales
promotion, public relations
• Principles of effective communication
and application
• Steps in designing IMC strategy
• Role and techniques of advertising,
sales promotion, public relations,
personal selling
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• Systematic evaluation of
communication needs and
wants of the buyer
• Design a communication
strategy that will:
• Provide answers to primary
questions of target
audience
• Facilitate customer’s ability
to make correct decisions
• Increase probability that the
most frequent choice will be
the marketer’s brand
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• Mechanism for collecting, storing,
analyzing, disseminating relevant
information: customers (past, present,
potential), competitors, trends in
industry e.g., Kelloggs
• Communication is a dialogue; allow
direct consumer feedback: desire,
satisfaction, complaint; make changes
• Distinguish target market (product
users) from target audience (use the
message to make product decision or
evaluate sponsoring business)
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Integrated Marketing
Communication
Integrate functions into a
collective strategy
More effective achievement of
organization’s communication
objectives
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• All identifiable efforts on
the part of seller
• Intended to help
persuade buyers to
accept the seller’s
message and store it in
retrievable form
• Persuasion of
uniqueness, goaldirected
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• Advertising: paid form of nonpersonal presentation of ideas,
goods, services by an identified
sponsor e.g., direct mail, T.V.
• Personal selling: oral presentation
to one or more purchasers e.g., field,
retail, door-to-door selling
• Public relations: non-personal
stimulation of demand by planting
commercially significant news in a
published medium; obtaining
favorable presentations through
vehicles not paid by sponsor
• Sales promotion: add to basic value
of product for a limited time period
e.g., displays, exhibitions
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• Communicate ideas to target
audience
• Compete consistently and
effectively
• Convince consumers to take
desired action by presenting useful
ideas in a manner that makes them
clearly understood, appear to be
true, more appealing than
competitor’s messages
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• Two or more persons or
organizations: communicators
(inputs/perception,
processing/thoughts,
outputs/messages verbal or
nonverbal)
• Attempt to consciously or
unconsciously influence each other
through the use of symbols or
words in order to satisfy their
respective needs
• Nature of role
• Environment (internal/external)
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• Interpersonal: dyadic
• Organizational: large
collection of subsystems,
common goals e.g., bank,
factory
• Public: one person to a large
group
• Mass: indirect communication
by a person/organization with
a large group of people; less
scope of interaction
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External Target
Audience:
 Customers: past,
present, future
 Resellers
 Companies:
competing, noncompeting
 Publics: governments,
agencies, groups
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Internal Target
Audience:
 Employees
 Stockholders
 Functions
Marketing information system
Determine objectives
Determine promotional opportunities
Select audiences
Select message(s)
Determine budget
Allocate funds
Measure results
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Organize
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 Intermediary response of buyers: awareness,
recall, recognition, knowledge, understanding,
attitude change, intention to act, trial, purchase,
repurchase, commitment
 Communication opportunity: move with current
consumer demand e.g., IBM
 Select target audience e.g, Harley Davidson
 Determine exactly what to say, e.g, Got Milk
 Money: budget through computer programs,
experience, following competition
 Evaluating effectiveness: establish standards,
monitor performance, compare
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 Organize: internal, external agency
• Manner of combination of four
components of IMC; components
cross-substitutable
• Marketing/IMC objectives: e.g.,
broad market coverage require
mass advertising
• Nature of the product: e.g.,
technical products need
demonstration
• Place in the product lifecycle:
e.g., mature stage require
personal selling
• Available resources: e.g., limited
financial resources may restrict
company to sales promotion and
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relations
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• Planned, coordinated series of
marketing communications efforts
• Built around single theme: unique,
effective appeals e.g., “Coke is it!”
• Designed to reach predetermined
goal
• Series of related, carefully placed,
well-timed ads e.g., "Infect Truth”
• Local, regional, national campaign
depending on funds, objectives,
market scope
• Different target audience
• Co-ordination of efforts of all related
groups e.g., sales force, retailers,
personnel responsible for physical
8distribution,
public relations
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• Individual
placing ad in
newspaper
• Full-service
advertising
agency
• Full-scale, inhouse
advertising
department
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• What products, institutions, ideas are to
be advertised?
• Who is to prepare advertising program?
• Which agency is used and what policy
and directions are given?
• Who in the organization has authority to
develop advertising work or approve
agency’s programs?
• Who pays advertising bills?
• Who determines the extent to which ads
helped reach stated objectives?
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• Formulating the advertising
program
• Implementing the program
• Controlling the program
• Presenting the budget
• Maintaining relationships
with suppliers
• Establishing internal
communication
• Setting professional
standards
• Selecting an advertising
agency
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Firms believe agency
can:
• Produce better quality,
more persuasive
messages for their
products
• Place these messages
in the right media so
that they reach greater
number
of
prospects
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 Creative strategy: what is going to
be said to the audience (appeal),
flows from objectives, outlines
impressions for target audience
 Creative tactics: means for
transforming the idea into an
actual ad
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Stating media objectives
Evaluating media
Selecting and implementing
media choices
Determining the media budget
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• Reach: number of
different persons or
households exposed to a
particular media at least
once during a specific
time period
• Frequency: number of
times of exposure
• Continuity: timing of
media assertions e.g.,
10% in September, 40% in
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• Each medium has inherent strength and
weakness, conduct research
• Media mix decision: putting media
together in a most effective manner;
evaluate media quantitatively and
qualitatively
• Decide on timings: actual placement of
ads during most appropriate time periods
• Determine media budget
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• Dominant form of online
ads
• Graphic images in Web
pages that are often
animated; can have
software for further
interaction
• Click-through pricing
ignores impressions and
charges the advertiser
based on number of
viewers that select the ad
and follow it to the linking
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• Special offers: they are extra, specific in time or
place
• Direct propositions, the acceptance forms a deal
• Increases perceived value of product
• Organized in terms of audience e.g., consumers,
employees, dealers (consumer vs. trade
promotion)
• Important for launch of new product, high risk
product, creating a repeat purchase pattern,
counter strategy of competitor, pushing marginal
customer to make a choice
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• Analyzes trends, predicts consequences, counsels
organization leaders, implements planned
programs of action, serves organization and public
interest
• Influence public opinion that can range from low
morale on the part of employees to product
rejection by customers
• Retain and create goodwill
• First do good, then take credit for it
• Public addressed by the PR must be described
completely and precisely
• Planned activity, intelligence behind it
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• Group of people drawn
together by definite
interests and opinions in
certain areas
• Internal: people connected
with organization which
routinely communicates
with them e.g., employees
• External: not necessarily
closely connected with
organization e.g., press
members, educators
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•
•
•
•
News release
Press conference
Delivering bad news
Publicity
photographs
• Company
publications
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• Open houses / tours
• Meetings
• Organized social
activities
• Participation
• Motion pictures /
slides
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• Long term success of organization depends
on consistently satisfying the needs of a
significant segment of the target market
• “Non-manipulative selling” builds mutual
trust and respect between buyer and seller
• Service selling: focus on obtaining sales
from existing customers
• Developmental selling: converts prospects
to customers, requires a high degree of
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• Inside order taker: waits on customers e.g.,
sales clerk behind the undergarments counter in
women’s store
• Delivery salesperson: delivers product e.g.,
milk
• Route or merchandising salesperson: order
taker, but also works in the field e.g., soap
salesperson calling on retailers
• Missionary salesperson: build goodwill,
educate actual or potential user e.g., distiller’s
missionary
• Technical salesperson: technical knowledge
e.g., an engineer who is a consultant to clients 29
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• Indirect salesperson: sale of big
ticket items, particularly
commodities that have no truly
competitive features; highly
personalized service
• Salesperson engaged in
multiple sales: sale of big ticket
items where presentation is
made to a committee in client’s
organization e.g., account
executive of an ad agency to the
agency selection committee;
retaining is a big issue
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OTHERS
• Inside vs. outside: selling in the salesperson’s
place of business vs. traveling to the customer’s
place of business
• Company salespeople vs. manufacturer
representative: works for a specific company
and handles only the products manufactured by
the company vs. an independent agent who
handles related products of non-competing firms
• Direct vs. indirect: call on people who make the
ultimate purchase decision vs. people in the
marketing channel are contacted who can
influence the purchase of a product e.g.,
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• Prospecting
• Pre-approach
• Planning the
presentation
• Delivering the
presentation
• Handling objections
• closing
• Follow-up
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Prospecting:
• Seller’s search for and identification of
qualified potential buyers
• Screening potential prospects against
evaluative qualifying criteria
Pre-approach:
• Further information gathering about
prospect to tailor sales presentation
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Nature of planning depends on:
• Objectives of presentation
• Quantity of knowledge regarding
buyer, buyer needs, buying
situation
• Type of presentation to be
planned and delivered
• Involvement of other people
assisting the salesperson in the
sales presentation
Careful planning can ensure:
• Focus on important customer
needs, communication of
relevant benefits
• Address potential problem areas
prior to presentation
• 8-Enjoy self-confidence
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Delivering:
• Make the presentation in proper climate
• Establish credibility with the prospect
• Ensure clarity of content
• Control within reasonable bounds
Handling:
• Sales objections: statements or questions that
indicate an unwillingness to buy
• Identify reasons: price, product, service,
company, time, competition
• View objections as selling tools
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• Ability to close sales, consistently produce
profitable sales volume
• Closing attempts:
When a presentation has been completed
without any objections from the prospect
When the presentation has been completed
and all objections and questions have been
answered
• Sales follow-up activities, provision for post-sale
service; if a sale is not made, a follow-up can
eventually lead to a sale
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• Flexibility
• Minimizes waste effort
• Measuring effectiveness
and determining return on
investment more
straightforward
• Can encourage customer
to act
• Multiple tasks that sales
force can perform
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•High cost of travel,
lodging, salaries
•Finding and retaining
quality people
•Message inconsistency
•Different levels of
motivation
•Over-zealousness may
fuzz the boundary
between ethical and nonethical
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• Technology has increased selling
efficiency: track customers;
assess buying patterns,
profitability and changing needs
more rapidly; customize
• Technology has resulted in more
complex products, more sales
calls are required
• Business decentralization trends
has meant that sales people now
have more small or mid-sized
accounts to service
• Sales team approach e.g., P&G
• Adjust to new forms and sources
of competition
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• Get a voice-mail
advantage
• Improve your e-mail habits
• Fax casually
• Get better acquainted with
your PC
• Make a sound investment
• Take a break
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