Promotions and Public Relations

1. Promotions and Public Relations

2. Business to business marketing • B-toB marketing and advertising refers to any activities where a producer/manufacturer is selling to a customer who is not the end user. • Producers selling to retailers or wholesalers • Producers selling to other manufacturers who will include their product in the manufacture of another product.

3. B-to-B Advertising objectives • Increase visibility on the shelves • Increase distribution channels • Encourages the channel to push the product to the consumer • Builds goodwill • Builds business to business awareness and sales • Solidifies relationships

4. B-toB marketing/advertising • Rarely uses mass media advertising • Emphasizes trade publications • Relies on tactics that speak to smaller, more self-contained audiences with similar needs • Public relations • Trade shows • Direct marketing • Sales contests • Promotions • Personal selling

5. Consumer advertising has adopted many of these tactics…. • …as general consumer audiences have become more fragmented, marketers have increasingly adopted tactics that were once mainly used in the B-to-B world. • This has created the broad concept of the Integrated Marketing Campaign • Multiple tactics used to reinforce a message to smaller, highly fragmented audiences

6. Non-mass media tactics • Public relations • Seeking “free” placement of a message through • Press releases • Media conferences • Special events • Charitable giving programs • Community relations …for the purpose of implied credibility delivered through the third party, i.e. news source, magazine, etc.

7. Public Relations • Also plays an increasingly important role in major management • Crisis communications i.e. Tylenol recall • Sales meetings • Grand openings • Event planning • Investor relations

8. Trade shows • Fulfills objectives including • Gathers interested audience all in one place • Creates a retail environment for products and services that don’t necessarily have a strong retail presence (heavy equipment) • Provides a venue for personal contact, selling and relationship building • Generates leads for development

9. Promotions • The basic premise of the promotion to make the consumer some sort of “offer” for added value, money saved or added experience. • Works in both the trade (channel) as well as for consumers

10. Attract interest from the distribution channel Stimulate action, such as trial Increase visibility, especially of new products Provides additional training (for sales force) Adds incentive to purchase Builds a database Offers incentives to the retailer to promote the product Disrupts competition Increases traffic Encourages larger purchases Stimulate short term demand Promote a price orientation Generate immediate, short term results Stimulate larger purchases Introduce a new product Stimulate repeat purchases Objectives of promotions

11. Trial sizes Free samples Prizes Incentives Sweepstakes Coupons Training programs (trade) Dealer or sales force incentives Premiums Tie-ins and co-branding Special financing Bonus packs Refunds and rebates Discounts to the channel (trade) Co-op advertising Point of purchase displays (trade) Types of promotions – consumer and trade

12. Promotions have been stealing dollars away from mass media advertising

13. Why? • Promotions address marketers need for quantifiable results… • Marketers like • Immediate quantification • Promotions address some problems of mature products, which tend to be more price driven • They can be cheaper than mass media • They cut through the clutter • They compete against powerful, lower cost house brands • They can accentuate the sales cycle • They can disrupt the competition

14. Why do consumers like them? • They get some sort of savings • They get to try new products with little or no risk • They get opportunities for added value

15. Criticisms of promotions • Not as good for brand building • Emphasize the short term over long term value • Can devalue the brand through constant price orientation