MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS: "Marketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, pesuade, and remind consumers

- directly, or indirectly - about the products and brands that they sell." (Kotler and Kellter) PERSONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS Companies take various steps to stimulate personal communications about their products and brands. 1. They identify influential individuals and devote extra effort on them. 2. Create opinion leaders by supplying possible opinion leaders with the product on attractive terms. 3. Use influential or believable people in testimonial advertising. 4. Develop word of mouth publicity by requesting satisfied clients to promote their product among their friends. 5. Establish online discussion groups and communities

NONPERSONAL COMMUNICATION CHANNELS They include media, atmospheres, and events. 1. Media channels include print media (newspaper, magazines, souvenirs, proceedings of conferences), broadcast media (radio, television), display media (billboards, signs, posters) and electronic media (audiotape, videotape, videodisk, CD-ROM). 2. Atmosphere is what firms create in their office environment. The office interiors and exteriors have a meaning to the potential buyers. 3. Events are occurrences designed to communicate particular messages to target audiences or audiences. Company arranged news conferences, opening ceremonies of various kinds, and sponsorships of various events come under event communications channels. TOOLS OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION: Advertising or advertizing is a form of communication for marketing and used to encourage, persuade, or manipulate an audience (viewers, readers or listeners; sometimes a specific group) to continue or take some new action. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common.

In Latin, ad vertere means "to turn the mind toward."The purpose of advertising may also be to reassure employees or shareholders that a company is viable or successful. Advertising messages are usually paid for by sponsors and viewed via varioustraditional media; including mass media such as newspaper, magazines, television commercial, radio advertisement, outdoor advertisingor direct mail; or new media such as blogs, websites or text messages. Covert advertising, also known as guerrilla advertising, is when a product or brand is embedded in entertainment and media. For example, in a film, the main character can use an item or other of a definite brand, as in the movie Minority Report, where Tom Cruise's character John Anderton owns a phone with the Nokia logo clearly written in the top corner, or his watch engraved with theBulgari logo. Another example of advertising in film is in I, Robot, where main character played by Will Smith mentions his Converseshoes several times, calling them "classics," because the film is set far in the future. I, Robot and Spaceballs also showcase futuristic cars with the Audi and Mercedes-Benz logos clearly displayed on the front of the vehicles. Cadillac chose to advertise in the movie The Matrix Reloaded, which as a result contained many scenes in which Cadillac cars were used. Similarly, product placement for Omega Watches, Ford, VAIO, BMW and Aston Martin cars are featured in recent James Bond films, most notably Casino Royale. In "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer", the main transport vehicle shows a large Dodge logo on the front. Blade Runner includes some of the most obvious product placement; the whole film stops to show a Coca-Cola billboard. In-store advertising In-store advertising is any advertisement placed in a retail store. It includes placement of a product in visible locations in a store, such as at eye level, at the ends of aisles and near checkout counters (Point Of Purchase display), eye-catching displays promoting a specific product, and advertisements in such places as shopping carts and in-store video displays. Coffee cup advertising Coffee cup advertising is any advertisement placed upon a coffee cup that is distributed out of an office, caf, or drivethrough coffee shop.

This form of advertising was first popularized in Australia, and has begun growing in popularity in the United States, India, and parts of the Middle East Street advertising This type of advertising first came to prominence in the UK by Street Advertising Services to create outdoor advertising on street furniture and pavements. Working with products such as Reverse Graffiti, air dancer's and 3D pavement advertising, the media became an affordable and effective tool for getting brand messages out into public spaces. Sheltered Outdoor Advertising This type of advertising opens the possibility of combining outdoor with indoor advertisement by placing large mobile, structures (tents) in public places on temporary bases. The large outer advertising space exerts a strong pull on the observer, the product is promoted indoor, where the creative decor can intensify the impression. Celebrity branding This type of advertising focuses upon using celebrity power, fame, money, popularity to gain recognition for their products and promote specific stores or products. Advertisers often advertise their products, for example, when celebrities share their favorite products or wear clothes by specific brands or designers. Celebrities are often involved in advertising campaigns such as television or print adverts to advertise specific or general products. The use of celebrities to endorse a brand can have its downsides, however. One mistake by a celebrity can be detrimental to the public relations of a brand. For example, following his performance of eight gold medals at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, China, swimmer Michael Phelps' contract with Kellogg's was terminated, as Kellogg's did not want to associate with him after he was photographed smoking marijuana. Celebrities such as Britney Spears have advertised for multiple products including Pepsi, Candies from Kohl's, Twister, NASCAR, Toyota and many more. Niche marketing Another significant trend regarding future of advertising is the growing importance of the niche market using niche or targeted ads.

Also brought about by the Internet and the theory of The Long Tail, advertisers will have an increasing ability to reach specific audiences. In the past, the most efficient way to deliver a message was to blanket the largest mass market audience possible. However, usage tracking, customer profiles and the growing popularity of niche content brought about by everything from blogs to social networking sites, provide advertisers with audiences that are smaller but much better defined, leading to ads that are more relevant to viewers and more effective for companies' marketing products. Among others, Comcast Spotlight is one such advertiser employing this method in their video on demand menus. These advertisements are targeted to a specific group and can be viewed by anyone wishing to find out more about a particular business or practice at any time, right from their home. This causes the viewer to become proactive and actually choose what advertisements they want to view.

Crowdsourcing The concept of crowdsourcing has given way to the trend of usergenerated advertisements. User-generated ads are created by consumers as opposed to an advertising agency or the company themselves, most often they are a result of brand sponsored advertising competitions. For the 2007 Super Bowl, the Frito-Lays division of PepsiCo held the Crash the Super Bowl contest, allowing consumers to create their own Doritos commercial. Chevrolet held a similar competition for their Tahoe line of SUVs. [42] Due to the success of the Doritos user-generated ads in the 2007 Super Bowl, Frito-Lays relaunched the competition for the 2009 and 2010 Super Bowl. The resulting ads were among the most-watched and most-liked Super Bowl ads. In fact, the winning ad that aired in the 2009 Super Bowl was ranked by the USA Today Super Bowl Ad Meter as the top ad for the year while the winning ads that aired in the 2010 Super Bowl were found by Nielsen's BuzzMetrics to be the "most buzzed-about. Founded in 2007, Zooppa has launched ad competitions for brands such as Google, Nike, Hershey's, General Mills, Microsoft, NBC Universal, Zinio, and Mini Cooper. Crowdsourced advertisements have gained popularity in part to its cost effective nature, high consumer engagement, and ability to generate word-of-mouth. However, it remains controversial, as the long-term impact on the advertising industry is still unclear

Global advertising Advertising has gone through five major stages of development: domestic, export, international, multi-national, and global. For global advertisers, there are four, potentially competing, business objectives that must be balanced when developing worldwide advertising: building a brand while speaking with one voice, developing economies of scale in the creative process, maximising local effectiveness of ads, and increasing the companys speed of implementation. Born from the evolutionary stages of global marketing are the three primary and fundamentally different approaches to the development of global advertising executions: exporting executions, producing local executions, and importing ideas that travel. Advertising research is key to determining the success of an ad in any country or region. The ability to identify which elements and/or moments of an ad contribute to its success is how economies of scale are maximised. Once one knows what works in an ad, that idea or ideas can be imported by any other market. Market research measures, such as Flow of Attention, Flow of Emotion and branding moments provide insight into what is working in an ad in any country or region because the measures are based on the visual, not verbal, elements of the ad

Market research is discovering and making sense of marketplace trends and consumer demands. Some producers conduct their own research. Others hire independent firms to carry out the research. These firms gather, organize, and interpret customer information. After analyzing the data, market researchers can create profiles of typical consumers, predict buying patterns, and assist producers in creating products that have been "pre-approved" by consumers. For instance, researchers may determine that a particular type of shampoo is appealing to suburban women between the ages of twenty-five and thirty-four. Armed with this information the shampoo manufacturer can focus on advertising the product during television shows that this group is likely to watch. The manufacturer may also choose to have the product distributed in more suburban locations than urban or rural ones.

Visual Corporate Identity: In Corporate Communications, a corporate identity is the "persona" of a corporation which is designed to accord with and facilitate the attainment of business objectives. It is usually visibly manifested by way of branding and the use of trademarks. Corporate visual identity plays a significant role in the way an organization presents itself to both internal and external stakeholders. In general terms, a corporate visual identity expresses the values and ambitions of an organization, its business, and its characteristics.

Four functions of corporate visual identity can be distinguished. Three of these are aimed at external stakeholders. A corporate visual identity provides an organisation with visibility and "recognizability". For virtually all profit and non-profit organisations, it is of vital importance that people know that the organization exists and remember its name and core busines the right time. Second, a corporate visual identity symbolizes an organization for external stakeholders, and, hence, contributes to its image and reputation . Third, a corporate visual identity expresses the structure of an organization to its external stakeholders, visualising its coherence as well as the relationships between divisions or units. Olins is well-known for his "corporate identity structure", which consists of three concepts: monolithic brands for companies which have a single brand, a branded identity in which different brands are developed for parts of the organization or for different product lines, and an endorsed identity with different brands which are (visually) connected to each other. A fourth, internal function of corporate visual identity relates to employees' identification with the organization as a whole and/or the specific departments they work for (depending on the corporate visual strategy in this respect). Identification appears to be crucial for employees,and corporate visual identity probably plays a symbolic role in creating such identification. Visual Identifiers:

Logos are now the visual identifiers of corporations. They became components of corporate identities by communicating brands and unifying messages. The evolution of symbols went from a way for a king to seal a letter, to how businesses establish their credibility and sell everything from financial services to hamburgers. Your primary identifier is often the most visible part of your brand system. And while it itself is not your brand, thoughtfully conceived and consistently implemented, it will be shorthand for what you stand for, your promises, what people can (and do) expect from you. Both to protect your legal ownership of your markand the softer ownership of the meaning it hasyou should have tight guidelines around your identifier's use, while also making it available to fanss Corporate colours, (or company colours), which are one of the most instantly recognizable elements of a corporate visual identity and promote a strong non-verbal message on the company's behalf. Corporate colors have always been strong signals. But when every bank in town "owns" red, and every "green" company purports to own same, color use needs to become more nuanced. Craft a palette that will help you talk to your different constituents in tones right for them: colors that will let you turn up, or down, the volume in a communication; colors that will increase the emotional or rational components of discourse. And vigorously promulgate your main colorsin print, web, trade shows, social mediaso you can come close to owning what you really cannot. Examples of corporate colours: Red for Coca-Cola Blue for IBM, nicknamed "Big Blue" Brown for UPS, "What can Brown do for you" Light Teal for Korean Air Many companies, such as McDonald's and Electronic Arts, have their own identity that runs through all of their products and merchandise. The trademark "M" logo and the yellow and red appears consistently throughout the McDonald's packaging and advertisements. Public Relations Public relations managers plan and direct public relations programs designed to create and maintain a favorable public image for the employer or client.

For example, they might write press releases or sponsor corporate events to help maintain and improve the image and identity of the company or client. They also help to clarify the organizations point of view to their main constituency. They observe social, economic, and political trends that might ultimately affect the firm, and they make recommendations to enhance the firm's image on the basis of those trends. Public relations managers often specialize in a specific area, such as crisis management, or in a specific industry, such as healthcare.

In this age of viral marketing, thought leadership, and social networking, it takes a savvy business person to create buzz about any industry--especially when that buzz isn't paid for. That's why public relations professionals are an integral part of the business. In a way, public relations is the art of applying gentle pressure-relentlessly. Its about advocating for businesses, or whole industries, and building positive relationships with the media and the public. In fact, the majority of news messages you hear or read about originated from the desk of a PR professional. While PR often involves writing and distributing press releases, that's only part of what their work entails. PR professionals also plan, coordinate, and manage special events like fashion shows, press conferences, sales, makeovers, and more. In large organizations, public relations managers may supervise a staff of public relations specialists. They also work with advertising and marketing staffs to make sure that the advertising campaigns are compatible with the image the company or client is trying to portray. In addition, public relations managers may handle internal company communications, such as company newsletters, and may help financial managers produce company reports. They may assist company executives in drafting speeches, arranging interviews, and maintaining other forms of public contact; oversee company archives; and respond to requests for information. Some of these managers handle special events as well, such as the sponsorship of races, parties introducing new products, or other activities that the firm supports in order to gain public attention through the press without advertising directly. Sales promotion is one of the seven aspects of the promotional mix. The other six parts of the promotional mix are advertising,

personal selling, direct marketing, publicity/public relations, corporate image sponsorships and exhibitions. Media and non-media marketing communication are employed for a pre-determined, limited time to increase consumer demand, stimulate market demand or improve product availability. Consumer sales promotion techniques Price deal: A temporary reduction in the price, such as 50% off. Loyal Reward Program: Consumers collect points, miles, or credits for purchases and redeem them for rewards. Cents-off deal: Offers a brand at a lower price. Price reduction may be a percentage marked on the package. Price-pack deal: The packaging offers a consumer a certain percentage more of the product for the same price (for example, 25 percent extra). Coupons: coupons have become a standard mechanism for sales promotions. Loss leader: the price of a popular product is temporarily reduced in order to stimulate other profitable sales Free-standing insert (FSI): A coupon booklet is inserted into the local newspaper for delivery. On-shelf couponing: Coupons are present at the shelf where the product is available. Checkout dispensers: On checkout the customer is given a coupon based on products purchased. On-line couponing: Coupons are available online. Consumers print them out and take them to the store. Mobile couponing: Coupons are available on a mobile phone. Consumers show the offer on a mobile phone to a salesperson for redemption. Online interactive promotion game: Consumers play an interactive game associated with the promoted product. Rebates: Consumers are offered money back if the receipt and barcode are mailed to the producer. Contests/sweepstakes/games: The consumer is automatically entered into the event by purchasing the product. Point-of-sale displays: Aisle interrupter: A sign that juts into the aisle from the shelf. Dangler: A sign that sways when a consumer walks by it. Dump bin: A bin full of products dumped inside. Glorifier: A small stage that elevates a product above other products.

Wobbler: A sign that jiggles. Lipstick Board: A board on which messages are written in crayon. Necker: A coupon placed on the 'neck' of a bottle. YES unit: "your extra salesperson" is a pull-out fact sheet. Electroluminescent: Solar-powered, animated light in motion.[2] Kids eat free specials: Offers a discount on the total dining bill by offering 1 free kids meal with each regular meal purchased. Retail Mechanics Retailers have a stock number of retail 'mechanics' that they regularly roll out or rotaate for new marketing initiatives. Buy x get y free a.k.a. BOGOF for Buy One Get One Free Three for two Buy a quantity for a lower price Political issues Sales promotions have traditionally been heavily regulated in many advanced industrial nations, with the notable exception of the United States. For example, the United Kingdom formerly operated under a resale price maintenance regime in which manufacturers could legally dictate the minimum resale price for virtually all goods; this practice was abolished in 1964. Most European countries also have controls on the scheduling and permissible types of sales promotions, as they are regarded in those countries as bordering upon unfair business practices. Germany is notorious for having the most strict regulations. Famous examples include the car wash that was barred from giving free car washes to regular customers and a baker who could not give a free cloth bag to customers who bought more than 10 rolls Trade sales promotion techniques Trade allowances: short term incentive offered to induce a retailer to stock up on a product. Dealer loader: An incentive given to induce a retailer to purchase and display a product. Trade contest: A contest to reward retailers that sell the most product.

Point-of-purchase displays: Used to create the urge of "impulse" buying and selling your product on the spot. Training programs: dealer employees are trained in selling the product. Push money: also known as "spliffs". An extra commission paid to retail employees to push products. Trade discounts (also called functional discounts): These are payments to distribution channel members for performing some function. Objectives of Sales Promotion

1. Building Product Awareness Several sales promotion techniques are highly effective in exposing customers to products for the first time and can serve as key promotional components in the early stages of new product introduction. Additionally, as part of the effort to build product awareness, several sales promotion techniques possess the added advantage of capturing customer information at the time of exposure to the promotion. In this way sales promotion can act as an effective customer information gathering tool (i.e., sales lead generation), which can then be used as part of follow-up marketing efforts. 2. Creating Interest Marketers find that sales promotions are very effective in creating interest in a product. In fact, creating interest is often considered the most important use of sales promotion. In the retail industry an appealing sales promotions can significantly increase customer traffic to retail outlets. Internet marketers can use similar approaches to bolster the number of website visitors. Another important way to create interest is to move customers to experience a product. Several sales promotion techniques offer the opportunity for customers to try products for free or at low cost. 3. Providing Information Generally sales promotion techniques are designed to move customers to some action and are rarely simply informational in nature. However, some sales promotions do offer customers access to product information. For instance, a promotion may allow customers to try a fee-based online service for free for several days. This free access may include receiving product information via email.

4. Stimulating Demand Next to building initial product awareness, the most important use of sales promotion is to build demand by convincing customers to make a purchase. Special promotions, especially those that lower the cost of ownership to the customer (e.g., price reduction), can be employed to stimulate sales. 5. Reinforcing the Brand Once customers have made a purchase, sales promotion can be used to both encourage additional purchasing and also as a reward for purchase loyalty Many companies, including airlines and retail stores, reward good or preferred customers with special promotions, such as email special deals and surprise price reductions at the cash register. Classification of Sales Promotion: Sales promotion can be classified based on the primary target audience to whom the promotion is directed. These include: 1. Consumer Market Directed - Possibly the most well-known methods of sales promotion are those intended to appeal to the final consumer. Consumers are exposed to sales promotions nearly everyday, and as discussed later, many buyers are conditioned to look for sales promotions prior to making purchase decisions. 2. Trade Market Directed Marketers use sales promotions to target all customers including partners within their channel of distribution. Trade promotions are initially used to entice channel members to carry a marketers products and, once products are stocked, marketers utilize promotions to strengthen the channel relationship. 3. Business-to-Business Market Directed A small, but important, sub-set of sales promotions are targeted to the business-tobusiness market. While these promotions may not carry the glamour associated with consumer or trade promotions, B-to-B promotions are used in many industries

SPONSORSHIP: Why is one of the oldest marketing tactics sponsorships currently in vogue to the tune of $3.37 billion a year and growing? It seems that every major marketer and most minor ones are engaging in some sort of sponsorship marketing.

As marketers continue their shift from building brands to "activating" them, sponsorship marketing's ability to connect with people's passions and deliver inherently social content is only going to make it a more important tool in marketers' arsenals. Sponsorship should not be confused with advertising. Advertising is considered a quantitative medium, whereas sponsorship is considered a qualitative medium. It promotes a company in association with the sponsee Sponsorship is a cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically in sports, arts, entertainment or causes) in return for access to the exploitable commercial potential associated with that property, according to IEG. While the sponsee (property being sponsored) may be nonprofit, unlike philanthropy, sponsorship is done with the expectation of a commercial return. And, while sponsorship can deliver increased awareness, brand building and propensity to purchase, it is different than advertising. Unlike advertising, sponsorship can not communicate specific product attributes. Nor can it stand alone. Sponsorship requires support elements. And, while advertising messages are controlled by the advertiser, sponsors do not control the message that is communicated. Consumers decide what a sponsorship means. A range of psychological and communications theories have been used to explain how commercial sponsorship works to impact consumer audiences. Most use the notion that a brand (sponsor) and event (sponsee) become linked in memory through the sponsorship and as a result, thinking of the brand can trigger event-linked associations, while thinking of the event can come to trigger brand-linked associations. One of the most pervasive findings in sponsorship is that the best effects are achieved where there is a logical match between the sponsor and sponsee, such as a sports brand sponsoring a sports event. Work by Cornwell and colleagues however, has shown that brands that don't have a logical match can still benefit, at least in terms of memory effects, if the sponsors articulates some rationale for the sponsorship to the audience

Steps to increase the effectiveness of sponsorship programs to build both brand and business:

1. Clearly define your objectives. Determine which of your current goals or strategies the sponsorship can help achieve, versus creating new ones. 2. Identify your equity opportunity. Find the space you can actually "own" and what you can achieve with it. 3. Assess your partner's equity fit. There's nothing worse than partnering with a property that doesn't align with your current brand or where you want to take it. Make sure your partner will enable you to reach a key target and reinforce or define what you stand for. 4. Value what you bring to the table. Every successful sponsorship also helps the promotional partner. Jay-Z's Facebook page increased by one million fans during Bing's promotional period, which helped his book reach #2 on The New York Times best seller list the week after launch. Use the value you bring to the table to negotiate opportunities; otherwise, you may overpay. 5. Look for ways to activate the sponsorship across all relevant channels. By understanding all of the ways your target moves toward transaction, you can utilize the sponsorship to create value and drive key behaviors. You can also utilize the sponsorship to activate your sales force, retailers, distributors, and internal departments all of which add return to your investment. 6. Capture data and measure results. Clear objectives should drive opportunities for measurement and optimization, which will be the key to quantifying and improving sponsorship ROI moving forward. Done properly, sponsorship marketing can offer much more than mere affinity and "eyeballs." It can also play a starring role in activating consumer behavior and motivating an entire system to do the same. People's passions whether they're causes, competitions, music, or movies offer myriad opportunities for engagement, content, sharing and value.

ADVANTAGES OF SPONSORSHIP: Sponsorship offers the possibility of achieving several goals at once. According to Schmader and Jackson in their book, Special Events: Inside and Out, a company can benefit from sponsorship in many ways, such as: 1. Enhancing Image/Shaping Consumer Attitudes Often companies are looking to improve how they are perceived by their target audience. Sponsoring events that appeal to their market are likely to shape buying attitudes and help generate a positive reaction.

Coca Cola, for example is always looking to generate a positive influence of their products in the minds of their consumers and as such regularly support events they feel can influence consumer opinions. 2. Driving Sales Sponsorship geared to driving sales can be an extremely potent promotional tool. This objective allows sponsors to showcase their product attributes. Food and beverage companies often use sponsorship to encourage samplings and sales. IEGs Complete Guide to Sponsorship cites Visas fund-raising effort around its sponsorship of the Olympic Games and the U.S. Olympic Team. They promoted their association by offering to make a donation to the team each time consumers charge a purchase to their card. American Express used a similar strategy by donating to needy causes with their "Charge Against Hunger" campaign. As a result, both companies experienced a significant rise in sales volume. 3. Creating positive publicity/heightening visibility Every sponsor is seeking wide exposure in both electronic and print media. Positive publicity helps create heightened visibility of products/services. Various media covering the event may include sponsors names and/or photos. In addition, the kind of media coverage a sponsor may get is often unaffordable if the company were to think of purchasing it, and if it were available. To maximize this objective, it is important for the sponsoring company to have a comprehensive media campaign to augment the regular media coverage promoted by the organizers. Sponsorship can often generate media coverage that might otherwise not have been available. 3. Differentiating from competitors The mere act of sponsoring an event, especially an exclusive sponsorship, is a significant way to create competitor differentiation. Your company name has the opportunity to stand out head and shoulders above the competition. This is particularly helpful if your company wants to combat a competitor with a larger ad budget. Sponsorship allows smaller companies to compete with their industry giants.

4. Target audiences often perceive sponsorship in a positive way. They see you as making a greater effort to support the event, often allowing more or better activities to take place as a result of your sponsorship. 5. Helping with good "Corporate Citizen" role Another powerful sponsorship objective allows companies to be viewed as a "good neighbor. To be seen supporting the community and contributing to its economic development is extremely powerful and creates enormous goodwill. 5. Enhancing business, consumer and VIP relations Sponsorship that offers hospitality opportunities is always very attractive to companies. Perks may include special exclusive networking settings such as VIP receptions or golf tournaments opportunities to meet key customers and solidify business relationships. It is important to evaluate each opportunity and look for ways it could tie into your marketing objectives. EXHIBITION: An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within museums, galleries and exhibition halls, and World's Fairs. Exhibitions include commercial exhibitions, or trade fairs. Exhibitions may be permanent displays or temporary, but in common usage, "exhibitions" are considered temporary and usually scheduled to open and close on specific dates. While many exhibitions are shown in just one venue, some exhibitions are shown in multiple locations and are called travelling exhibitions, and some are online exhibitions. Though exhibitions are common events, the concept of an exhibition is quite wide and encompasses many variables. Exhibitions range from an extraordinarily large event such as a World's Fair exposition to small one-artist solo shows or a display of just one item.

Commercial exhibitions, generally called trade fairs, trade shows or expos, are usually organized so that organizations in a specific interest or industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals and examine recent trends and opportunities.

Some trade fairs are open to the public, while others can only be attended by company representatives and members of the press. Exhibitions as Marketing tool: Throughout the ages, trade fairs have been recognized as one of the most efficient and powerful tools for effectively doing business. 1. As a face-to-face meeting point, fairs and exhibitions are basically a target opportunity for achieving your trade objectives. 2. They are a cost-effective means to reach your market audience - in one time and in one place. 3. Customer contact: Tradeshows provide excellent venues for initiating contacts with new the selling process and generating new sales. customers and developing new trade leads. Equally important they enable you to maintain and renew contacts with valued clients. 4. Product and Service Launch Platforms: Live presentations and Demonstrations of your products and services speak for themselves, accelerating 5. Marketing Communications: Trade fairs focus media attention on your Company and products. Public relations efforts can be focused to raise the profile of your company image and brands. 6. A high return/expense ratio: Trade shows are known to have a high return/expense ratio. An EEAA (Exhibition Association of Australia) survey showed that an average expenditure of 9% of companies' marketing budgets in trade far events resulted in a return of 23% of business. 7. CEIR (centre of exhibition industry researches): - 76% of exhibition attendees arrive with an agenda; - 48% of exhibition leads don't require a sales call to close the deal; - Exhibition leads cost 56% less to close than field sales calls; - 87% of exhibition attendees say they will share information obtained at exhibitions with their immediate superiors Ex: India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) is the nodal agency of the Government of India for promoting the country's external trade. ITPO, during its existence of nearly three decades, in the form of Trade Fair Authority of India and Trade Development Authority, has played a proactive role in catalysing trade, investment and technology transfer processes. Its

promotional tools include organizing of fairs and exhibitions in India and abroad, Buyer-Seller Meets, Contact Promotion Programmes, Product Promotion Programmes, Promotion through Overseas Department Stores, Market Surveys and Information Dissemination Direct Marketing Direct marketing is directly reaching a market (customers and potential customers) on a personal (phone calls, private mailings) basis, or mass-media basis (infomercials, magazine ads, etc.). It occurs when the producer connects with the end user. The end user may be a consumer or a business. Direct marketing applies to product and service-oriented businesses, and to nonprofit organizations. In all situations, there is no intermediary involved. It describes this interactive communication with the end user. Direct marketing is not synonymous with mass marketing. The most effective direct marketing takes place when there is a clear connection to reach the target market. It is often distinguished by aggressive tactics that attempt to reach new customers usually by means of unsolicited direct communications. But it can also reach out to existing or past customers. A key factor in direct marketing is a "call to action." That is, direct marketing campaigns should offer an incentive or enticing message to get consumers to respond . Direct marketing involves the business attempting to locate, contact, offer, and make incentive-based information available to consumers Advertising mail, also known as direct mail, junk mail, or admail, is the delivery of advertising material to recipients of postal mail. The delivery of advertising mail forms a large and growing service for many postal services, and direct-mail marketing forms a significant portion of the direct marketing industry. Some organizations attempt to help people opt out of receiving advertising mail, in many cases motivated by a concern over its negative environmental impact. Advertising mail includes advertising circulars, coupon envelopes, catalogs, CDs, pre-approved credit card applications, and other commercial merchandising materials delivered to homes and businesses. It may be addressed to pre-selected individuals, or unaddressed and delivered on a neighbourhood-by-neighbourhood basis

Internet marketing Face-to-face selling Direct mail Catalogs Telemarketing Direct-response advertising Kiosk marketing

Internet has revolutionized direct marketing for promoting the sale of products and services to targeted audiences. Access to the Internet provides users with services in four basic areas: Information Entertainment Shopping Individual and group communication Online channels can eliminate geographic considerations. With this capability people around the world have the same access as the person across the street. Many businesses that can sell their products and services through downloading, or who can economically ship those products, have discovered an entirely new way to market. The Internet makes direct marketing easier, more targeted, more flexible, more responsive, more affordable, and potentially more profitable than ever. Virtually every business should seriously consider the Internet as a part of their marketing mix and determine if it is a viable fit for their direct marketing efforts. Face-to-Face Selling The most traditional direct marketing involves the in-house sales force personally contacting potential and established consumers. Examples of organizations that use face-to-face selling include: Mary Kay Avon Amway

Catalogs Product catalogs are another version of direct mail where the catalogs are the communication tool. The most common use of this approach involves featuring a variety of products that target the needs of a specific audience who have shown a propensity to order from catalogs.

An increasing number of business-to-business marketers are sending catalogs on CD-ROM to prospects and customers. The average U.S. household receives more than 50 catalogs each year, ranging from general merchandise to specialty good Telemarketing The process of contacting people on a qualified list to sell services over the phone has grown in popularity to the point that the average household receives 19 telemarketing calls each year. Successful telemarketing campaigns depend on a good calling list, an effective script and contact structure, and well-trained people that are compensated and rewarded for making calls that result in sales. The telecommunications industry, for example, has used telemarketing extensively to attempt to increase their market share. Direct-Response Advertising Direct-response advertising is communicating with potential buyers through television, radio, magazines, and newspapers. The prospective consumer watches, hears, or reads about the product or service and initiates a call to a toll-free number to place their order. Television, for example, offers a wide range of exposure, from a 30-second commercial to a 60-minute infomercial. Kiosk Marketing Customer order machines, versus vending machines that actually provide products, are another form of direct marketing SALES MANAGEMENT: Sales management is a business discipline which is focused on the practical application of sales techniques and the management of a firm's sales operations. It is an important business function as net sales through the sale of products and services and resulting profit drive most commercial business. These are also typically the goals and performance indicators of sales management. Sales manager is the typical title of someone whose role is sales management. The role typically involves sales planning, human resources, talent development, leadership and control of resources such as organisational assets Sales planning involves strategy, setting profit-based sales targets, quotas, sales forecasting, demand management and the writing and execution of a sales plan.

A sales plan is a strategic document that outlines the business targets, resources and sales activities. It typically follows the lead of the marketing plan, strategic planning and the business plan with more specific detail on how the objectives can be achieved through the actual sale of products and services. They direct promotions programs that combine advertising with purchasing incentives to increase sales. Often, the programs are executed through the use of direct mail, inserts in newspapers, Internet advertisements, in-store displays, product endorsements, or other special events. Purchasing incentives may include discounts, samples, gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, and contests. Packaging It is one of the relatively long-term component in the many tools in shopper marketing. The more interesting observation is that it is right at the center of brand's consumer proposition and brand's shopper proposition therefore an essential component in communication mix. A good packaging design not just motivates shoppers to choose, but it also builds brand equity and supports what is advertised. There are a lots of brands we had (and continue to have) our first interaction and awareness by simply noticing them on the shelves. And what drives the awareness is largely the package. One of the decisions marketers must take is whether they want to create dissonance with their packaging by disruption of the category status quo (for example overpowering use of black color in food category or loud/flashy design that screams for attention) or generate resonance by appealing with simplicity or straightforward design that communicates the brand proposition. Note, these are not mutually exclusive one can create dissonance by simplicity, for example the packaging of Innocent drinks internationally with its quirky design in a market characterized by showing pictures of fruit, it clearly stands out and communicates the proposition. Once a manufacturer determines who its customers are likely to be, it sets about making its product both appealing and accessible to them. This process starts with the packaging. Today in the world of increasing awareness about sustainability, brands are being proactive, justifying their packaging existence and by doing so building a soft-corner, a feel-good (less guilt) factor.

Masafi mineral water's PR exercise on packaging re-cycling initiative with an environmental body and introduction of oxobiodegradable shrink wraps that degrades in two years is a regional case in point Today's packaging incorporates elaborate graphic images, photos, and other illustrations that stand out from the competition.

Technology is constantly changing the way goods are packaged and sometimes solves age-old problems. For example, toothpaste was traditionally packaged in squeezable screw-capped tubes. However, some customers complained that the tubes were difficult to squeeze; others found that they were left with wasted toothpaste at the bottom of the tubes; and still others were frustrated over continually misplacing the tiny screw-on caps. Toothpaste companies responded to these problems by offering consumers a softer tube with a permanently attached flip-top cap and a "pump" package in addition to a conventional tube. Another example is soap products. Pump bottles have replaced bar soaps for the kitchen and countertop. Marketers appeal to children with brightly colored liquid soaps, character-laden labels, and an inviting, foamy consistency. Merchandising : Merchandising is the methods, practices, and operations used to promote and sustain certain categories of commercial activity. In the broadest sense, merchandising is any practice which contributes to the sale of products to a retail consumer. At a retail in-store level, merchandising refers to the variety of products available for sale and the display of those products in such a way that it stimulates interest and entices customers to make a purchase. Visual merchandising is the activity and profession of developing floor plans and three-dimensional displays in order to maximise sales. Both goods or services can be displayed to highlight their features and benefits. The purpose of such visual merchandising is to attract, engage and motivate the customer towards making a purchase. Visual merchandising commonly occurs in retail spaces such as retail stores and trade shows

They might send samples of merchandise to retailers or the media, coordinate fashion designers' appearances, run trade show booths, or even make presentations to buyers or fashion school students The Expedia US Merchandising team is responsible for the creation, planning, management, and execution of the site promotions and strategy, as well as site placement optimization for Expedia. This position reports to the Senior Manager, Merchandising as an individual contributor role. 'Point of Purchase - POP' It is a place where sales are made. On a macro-level, a point of purchase may be a mall, market or city. On a micro-level, retailers consider a point of purchase to be the area surrounding the counter where customers pay also known as "point of sale". In recent years, the point of purchase for products and services has become an important focus for marketers, because consumers tend to make purchasing decisions on very highmargin products or services at these strategic locations. Points of purchase may be real, as in the case of a "brick and mortar" store, or virtual, as in the case of an electronic retailer that sells goods and services over the internet. Over the past 20 years, retail brands have significantly increased their leverage over consumer product brands because (1) they increasingly control access to products and (2) the environment in which the products are sold and (3) they have point of sale data to which manufacturers are not always privy. And given the relative size of some of the largest retailers (WalMarts sales of $246.9 billion [October, 2006] eclipses P&Gs sales [all brands] of $68.2 billion), retailers dont only affect product sales and market share directly through product access/distribution, but also indirectly by contributing to marketplace exposure/brand awareness. Point of purchase is the place where everything a brand has done either results in a sale or doesnt.

Every aspect of marketing is inseparably tied to consumer psychology. From advertising and promotions to public relations, pricing and packaging, marketing strategies are designed with one purpose in mind: encourage habitual purchases.

Impulse purchases fuel profitability for a wide range of industries. Generally induced through direct sales or point-of-purchase displays, impulse buying has become a deeply ingrained component of consumerism. Children are especially susceptible to impulse marketing. It is not a coincidence that you have to stand in line for 15 minutes at the grocery store while your children are surrounded by brightcolored candies at their eye level. E-Marketing Email marketing is directly marketing a commercial message to a group of people using electronic mail email. In its broadest sense, every email sent to a potential or current customer could be considered email marketing. It usually involves using email to send ads, request business, or solicit sales or donations, and any email communication that is meant to build loyalty, trust or brand awareness. Email marketing can be done to either cold lists or current customer database. Broadly, the term is usually used to refer to:

Sending email messages with the purpose of enhancing the relationship of a merchant with its current or previous customers, to encourage customer loyalty and repeat business, Sending email messages with the purpose of acquiring new customers or convincing current customers to purchase something immediately, Adding advertisements to email messages sent by other companies to their customers In todays world of online marketing, its easy to forget that people are tuning into multiple channels and it is our job as marketers to make it easy for them to find what they are looking for. Lee Odden of Top Rank Online Marketing explains how using push and pull public relations tactics together can improve your internet marketing. Lee explains how the increasing use of online news and social media by consumers as well as the media presents marketers with new opportunities to reach their target audience using Push and Pull PR.

There are many ways to push a message out to an online audience. Its a deliberate effort that involves identifying a target as well as distribution channels. Pull tactics mean making sure your message can be found. Now that most business is conducted on the Internet, the playground of PR has moved online. WebPR allows PR to reach its fullest expression because the potential for getting your brand 'out there' is limitless Online press releases and articles must drive traffic to your site . The website is not a fancy brochure; it is a marketing tool that needs visitors to become customers. To achieve this, press releases need to be optimised with the appropriate key phrases and links. You can increase your search engine ratings by concentrating on the various link building strategies that press releases and articles offer. The link posted at the end of a press release or feature article is a great source of driving Internet traffic to your website. Writing articles on topics that are relevant to your website's topic and submitting them to free content sites is a great way to effectively promote your website.

Email newsletters Email Newsletters are direct emails sent out on a regular basis to a list of subscribers, customers. The primary purpose of an email newsletter is to build upon the relationship of the company with their customers/subscribers. Transactional emails Transactional emails are usually triggered based on a customers action with a company. Triggered transactional messages include dropped basket messages, purchase or order confirmation emails and email receipts. Direct emails Direct email involves sending an email solely to communicate a promotional message (for example, an announcement of a special offer or a catalog of products). Companies usually collect a list of customer or prospect email addresses to send direct promotional messages to, or they can also rent a list of email addresses from service companies Opt-in e-mail advertising, or permission marketing, is a method of advertising via email whereby the recipient of the advertisement has consented to receive it. This method is one of several developed by marketers to eliminate the disadvantages of email marketing. Opt-in email marketing may evolve into a technology that uses a handshake protocol between the sender and receiver. This system is intended to eventually result in a high degree of satisfaction between consumers and marketers. If opt-in email advertising is used, the material that is emailed to consumers will be "anticipated". It is assumed that the consumer wants to receive it, which makes it unlike unsolicited advertisements sent to the consumer. Ideally, opt-in email advertisements will be more personal and relevant to the consumer than untargeted advertisements. Quirk's online writers deliver 'value content' which means it attracts links naturally. Each month they come up with a specific angle "exclusive to your business". In keeping with Quirk's ethos of multi-channel marketing, the WebPR department will tie in with offline campaigns. It is not to replace the marketing department, but to boost the company online. Quirk is currently the only company in Africa to be an authorised Google Anayltics Consultant as well as being a Google Adwords company, with 11 years of experience in the business.

Customer service It is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation. From the point of view of an overall sales process engineering effort, customer service plays an important role in an organization's ability to generate income and revenue. A customer service experience can change the entire perception a customer has of the organization Customer support is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, training, trouble shooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product Customer service may be provided by a person (e.g., sales and service representative), or by automated means. Examples of automated means are Internet sites. An advantage with automated means is an increased ability to provide service 24-hours a day, which can, at least, be a complement to customer service by persons. Another example of automated customer service is by touchtone phone, which usually involves a main menu, and the use of the keypad as options (i.e. "Press 1 for English, Press 2 for Spanish", etc.)

Marketing buzz or simply buzz a term used in word-ofmouth marketing is the interaction of consumers and users of a product or service which serves to amplify the original marketing message, a vague but positive association, excitement, or anticipation about a product or service. Positive "buzz" is often a goal of viral marketing, public relations, and of advertising on Web 2.0 media. The term refers both to the execution of the marketing technique, and the resulting goodwill that is created. Examples of products with strong marketing buzz upon introduction were Harry Potter, the Volkswagen New Beetle, Pokmon, Beanie Babies, and the Blair Witch Project. The term "buzz marketing" originally referred to oral communication but in the age of Web 2.0, social media such as

Facebook and Twitter are also being used to create marketing buzz. Buzz marketing works because individuals are easier to trust than organizations that may be perceived to have vested interests in promoting their products and/or services. It is possible for firms to track the marketing buzz of their products online using buzz monitoring. For some companies it is important to understand the buzz surrounding a product before committing to the market.