Promotion is the way of communicating what the product is to the consumers

It aims to persuade customers to buy the product

Above the line promotion – Advertising that uses independent media

Below the line promotion – Sponsorship, Public Relations, Direct Mail, Special offers

Advertising

Advertising can be done using a variety of media including:

TV – local, national, sky, digital

Radio – local, national

Press – newspapers, magazines, local, national, specialist press

Type of advertising media is dependent on:

- Cost

- Target audience

Sponsorship

Individuals, events or teams are sponsored by organisations to increase company recognition and sales

Businesses often choose individuals / teams / events that have a similar target audience and similar ethos to themselves

E.g. David Beckham and police sunglasses, 3 day eventing and land rover

Sales Promotions

These are ways to boost sales e.g. BOGOF – buy one get one free, 20% extra free

These are used to boost short term sales

Public Relations

Where businesses have contact with the media to send out specific messages about the firm / its product

This is free advertising

Sometimes public relations can backfire for a business

Personal Selling

This is where a product is being promoted in a face-to-face situation

The product is promoted by a salesperson whose aim is to increase sales of the product

This often happens in the financial services industry

Direct Mail

This is where mailshots are sent directly to customers

These can be sent via mail, text or email

 As customer profiling techniques become more sophisticated mail shots are increasingly targeted

E.g. Tesco club card send vouchers to their customers based on their purchasing patterns and segmentation analysis