Marketing and the Competitive Environment
Using the Marketing Mix:
Promotion
“What is the difference between unethical and ethical advertising?
Unethical advertising uses falsehood to deceive the public; ethical
advertising uses truth to deceive the public.”
Vilhjaimer Stefansson
“One of the mysteries of human conduct is why adult men and
women are ready to sign documents they do not read, at the
behest of salesmen they do not know, binding them to pay for
articles they do not want, with money they do not have.”
Gerald Hurst
2.16 Promotion
Using the Marketing Mix: Promotion
In this topic you will learn about:

Elements of the promotional mix

Influences on the choice
of promotional mix
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Public
Relations
Branding
Advertising
The Promotion
Mix
Direct
Selling
Merchandising
Sales
Promotions
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Promotion is that part of the marketing mix that informs and
persuades customers about the product in order to sell that product.
The Promotional Mix is the variety of methods that a firm uses in
order to gain sales.
The promotional mix includes:
 Public Relations
 Branding
 Merchandising
 Sales Promotions
 Direct Selling
 Advertising
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Public Relations (PR)
Public Relations involves communicating with the media such as
newspapers, television and radio in order to get favourable publicity for the
organisation.
Firms may send out press releases highlighting something good about the
company. If the media chooses to publish the press release there is no
charge to the business.
They may also spend time and money sponsoring local and national
projects and benefiting charities.
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Branding
Organisations spend enormous amounts of time and money branding their
company and products.
Branding involves the creation of an identity for the business that
distinguishes that firm and its products from other firms. Branding can add
value to a product allowing firms to charge higher prices and also leads to
brand loyalty whereby customers will continue to buy products from that
firm.
Pure Genius:
You will need access
to the internet to watch
this video clip
How can this type of advertising
help to brand a product?
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Merchandising
Merchandising is the way in which a firm promotes its product at Point of
Sale (POS). Plenty of thought is put into the visual display of a product and
the way that the product is presented within the selling location.
The saying ‘never judge a book by its cover’ does not always ring true when
selling products – customers are enticed to buy in a number of ways e.g.
high quality displays, pleasant shopping environments and nice aromas
(imagine the Bakery section of a supermarket).
How Peter Pan visited Harrods:
You will need access to
the internet to watch this
video clip
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Sales Promotions
Sales promotions are short term offers used by firms in order to increase
sales for their products.
They may be for products at the launch stage of the product life cycle, for
established products in the hope of gaining new customers or as a
response to competitor’s activities.
Sales promotions will include competitions, price cuts and discounts for
buying more than one product e.g. Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF).
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Direct Selling
Direct selling is where the supplier of a product cuts out the intermediary
(‘middle man’) and sells directly to the customer.
Direct selling takes a variety of forms:




Personal selling e.g. Door to Door
Direct Mailing through the post e.g. takeaways
Telephone selling e.g. Credit cards
Direct TV selling e.g. Solicitors
2.16 Promotion
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Advertising
Advertising occurs when firms pay for the promotion of their product through
the main media such as television, radio and the press. This is known as
‘above the line’ promotion.
Advertising has two main purposes:
Informative advertising explains to the customer details of the product and
what it does e.g. a car does 0-60 mph in 10 seconds. This increases
consumer awareness regarding the attributes of the product.
Persuasive advertising tries to influence the customer to buy the product
based on factors other than what the product does by appealing to the
emotions and sensitivities of customers.
“In our factory, we make lipstick. In our
advertising, we sell hope.”
Charles Revson
2.16 Promotion
You will need access
to the internet to watch
this video clip
Informative or
persuasive?
Elements of the Promotional Mix
Promotional Mix in Practice
For each of the six different types of promotion described above choose a
product that you are familiar with and explain how the
promotion was used by the business to promote their product.
Of the different promotional types which one do you
believe was the most successful? Justify your answer.
2.16 Promotion
Influences on the choice of
Promotional Mix

There are a number of factors that affect the choice of promotional mix
that a firm uses:
Product – new products require consumer awareness and are likely to
have sales promotions and advertising. Established products will be
branded.

Costs – small businesses will not be able to afford the large budgets
available to big companies so above the line promotion is less likely.

The target market – what type of promotion will be required for specific
market segments.

Legal constraints – there are advertising restrictions placed on types of
advertising and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) regulates the
industry.

Competition – firms react to their competitors’ promotional mix. If one
business in the industry is spending heavily on promotion it is likely that
other firms in the same industry will react to this.
2.16 Promotion
Read more
about the ASA
and
current cases
Activity – The Best Adverts of
All Time
Channel 4 viewers voted these the Top 9 adverts of all time:
9. Walkers Crisps
4. Electric Central Heating
8. Hamlet
3. Tango
7. R-White Lemonade
2. Smash
6. Levi’s
1. Guinness
You will need access to the
internet to watch these video
clips
5. Bonningtons
Watch each advert.
Does it inform you about the product?
Does it persuade you to buy the product?
Write a paragraph for each of your five favourites stating why you think
each advert will help sell the product.
For each of the products or services above suggest and justify an
alternative method of promotion.
2.16 Promotion