CHAPTER 14: GLOBAL MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
DECISIONS II: Sales Promotion, Personal Selling, Special
Forms of Marketing Communication
 SALES PROMOTION - refers to any paid consumer or trade
communication program of limited duration that adds tangible
value to a product or brand
 Provide a tangible incentive to buyers
 Reduce the perceived risk associated with purchasing a
product
 Provide accountability for communications activity
 Provide method of collecting additional data for database
o PRICE PROMOTION – tangible value may take the form of
price reduction, coupon or mail-in refund.
o NON-PRICE PROMOTION – may take the form of free
samples, premiums, “buy one, get one free” offers,
sweepstakes, and contests.
o CONSUMER SALES PROMOTIONS – may be designed to
make consumers aware of a new product, to stimulate
nonusers to sample existing product, or to increase overall
consumer demand.
o TRADE SALES PROMOTIONS – are designed to increase
product availability in distribution channels.
4 factors that contribute to more headquarters involvement
in the sales promotion effort: cost, complexity, global branding,
and transnational trade as identified by Kashani and Quelch:
1. As sales promotions command ever-larger budget allocations,
headquarters naturally takes a greater interest.
2. The formulation, implementation, and follow-up of a promotion
program may require skills that local managers lack.
3. The increasing importance of global brands justifies headquarters
involvement to maintain consistency from country to country and to
ensure that successful local promotion programs are leveraged in
other markets.
4. As mergers and acquisitions lead to increased concentration in the
retail industry and as the industry globalizes, retailers will seek
coordinated promotional programs from their suppliers.
SALES PROMOTION: GLOBAL OR LOCAL
A) In countries with low levels of economic development, low incomes limit
the range of promotional tools available
B) Market maturity can also be different from country to country
C) Local perceptions of a particular promotional tool or program can vary
D) Local regulations may rule out use of a particular promotion in certain
countries
E) Trade structure in the retailing industry can affect the use of sales
promotions.
 SAMPLING - provides consumer with opportunity to try product at no
cost
O May be distributed in stores, in the mail, through print
media, at events, or door-to-door
 COUPONING/COUPON - printed certificates entitle the bearer to a price
reduction or some other special consideration for purchasing a particular
product
O Free-standing inserts (FSI) – distributed in a printed ride-along vehicle
O On-pack coupons – are attached to, or part of the product package;
they can frequently be redeemed immediately at checkout.
O In-pack coupons – are placed inside the package
O Cross coupons - are distributed with one product but redeemable for
another
SOCIAL COUPONING – one of the hottest online sales promotion
trends today
ex. Groupon
Sales Promotion: Issues and Problems
 Fraud
 Regulations vary by country
 Cultural dispositions to coupons and other sales promotions
 PERSONAL SELLING - is person-to-person communication between a
company representative and a prospective buyer.
 Focus is to inform and persuade prospect
 Short-term goal: make a sale
 Long-term goal: build a relationship
EXPATRIATES (EXPATS) - employees who are sent from their respective home
countries to work abroad.
Personal Selling Hurdles
 Political Risks – unstable or corrupt governments change the rules
for the sales team
 Regulatory Hurdles – governments can set up quotas or tariffs that
affect the sales force
 Currency Fluctuations – increase and decrease in local currencies
can make certain products unaffordable
 Market unknowns – lack of knowledge of market conditions, the
accepted way of doing business, or positioning of the product may
derail the sales team’s efforts
THE STRATEGIC/CONSULATATIVE SELLING MODEL - the model consists
of five interdependent steps, each with three prescriptions that can serve as
a checklist for sales personnel
1. Personal Selling Philosophy – commitment to the marketing concept
and a willingness to adopt the role of problem solver/partner
 Relationship Marketing – an approach that stresses the
importance of developing long-term partnerships with customers
2. Relationship Strategy – game plan for establishing and maintaining
high-quality relationships with prospects/customers
3. Product Strategy – plan that can assist the sales representative in
selecting and positioning products to satisfy customer needs
4. Customer Strategy – plan that ensures that the sales professional will
be maximally responsive to customer needs
 Qualified Lead - is someone whose probability of wanting to buy
the product is high.
5. Presentation Strategy – consists of setting objectives for each sales
call and establishing a presentation plan to meet those objective
3. Demonstration - Salesperson has the opportunity to tailor the
communication effort to the customer. It shows how the product can
meet the customer’s needs
4. Negotiation - Ensures that both the customer and the salesperson
come away from the presentation winners
5. Close - ask for the sale. Must be culturally sensitive
6. Servicing The Sale - To ensure Customer Satisfaction
o Implementation process must be outlined
o Customer service program established

Sales Force Nationality

 Expatriates
Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Superior product  Higher Cost
knowledge  Higher Turnover
 Demonstrated  Cost for language
commitment to service and cross-cultural
standards
  Train for promotion
Host-Country Nationals –
Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Economical  Needs product training
 Superior market  May be held in low-esteem
knowledge  Language skills may not be
 Language skills important
 Superior cultural  Difficult to ensure loyalty
knowledge Nationals
 Third-Country
Advantages: Disadvantages:
 Cultural Sensitivity  May face identification
 Language Skills problems
 Economical  May be blocked for promotions
 Allows regional sales  Income gaps
coverage  Needs product/company
training
 Other Options
 Sales agents
 Exclusive license arrangements
 Contract manufacturing or production
 Management-only agreements
 Joint ventures
Six Stages of Presentation Plan
1. Approach - Initial contact with the customer/prospect. Must completely
SPECIAL FORMS OF MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS
understand the decision-making process and the roles of each
 DIRECT MARKETING - any communication with a consumer or
participant
2. Presentation - Prospect’s needs are assessed and matched to the business recipient that is designed to generate a response in the
company’s products. The style and message of the presentation must be form of: an order, request for further information, a visit to a store or
tailored to the audience other place of business
O Direct mail - uses the postal service as a vehicle for
delivering a personally addressed offer to a prospect
 targeted by the marketer. Direct mail is popular with banks,
insurance companies, and other financial services providers
o Catalogs - A magazine style publication that features
photographs and extensive information about a company’s
products
o Infomercials - An infomercial is a form of paid TV in which a
particular product is demonstrated, explained, and offered
for sale to viewers who call a toll-free number on the screen
O Teleshopping - home-shopping channels take the
infomercial concept one step further; the round-the-clock
programming is exclusively dedicated to product
demonstration and selling
O Support Media – include transit and billboard advertising
Direct Marketing—Going Global
 The world is full of people who are not Americans. Be sure not to
treat them like they are.
 Like politics, all marketing is local. Just because your direct mail
campaign worked in Texas, do not assume it will work in Toronto.
 Although there may be a European union, but there is no such thing
as a "European."
 Pick your target, focus on one country, and do your homework.
 Customers need to be able to return products locally or at least
believe there are services available in their country.
One-to-one marketing - calls for treating different customers
differently based on their previous purchase history or past interactions
with the company.
Building from Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
1. Identify customers and accumulate detailed information about them
2. Differentiate customers and rank them in terms of their value to the
company
3. Interact with customers and develop more cost efficient and effective
forms of interaction
4. Customize the product/service offered to the customer
 Interactive Television (ITV or t-commerce) - allows viewers to
interact with the programming content they are viewing
O In the U.K., more than half of pay-tv subscribers use ITV
O Remote controls have buttons to push to order products
shown on screen
 EVENT SPONSORSHIP - an increasingly popular form of marketing
communications whereby a company pays a fee to have its name
associated with a particular event, team or athletic association, or sports
facility.
Concerts, sporting events
Product placement in movies - Arranging to have the company’s products
and brand names appear in TV shows, movies and other types of
entertainment. Marketers also lend or donate products to celebrities and
other public figures
 INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS