Promotion
Promotion involves disseminating information
about a product, product line, brand, or company. Promotion is one of
the four key aspects of the marketing mix. The other three elements
are product management, pricing, and distribution.
Promotion is generally sub-divided in the textbooks into two parts:
Above the line promotion: Promotion in the media (e.g. TV, radio, newspapers,
Internet) in which the advertiser pays an advertising agency to place
the ad.
Below the line promotion:
All other promotion. Much of this is intended to be subtle enough that
the consumer is unaware that promotion is taking place. E.g. sponsorship,
product placement, endorsements, sales promotion, merchandising, direct
mail, personal selling, public relations, trade shows.
The specification of these
four variables creates a promotional mix or promotional plan. A promotional
mix specifies how much attention to pay to each of the four subcategories,
and how much money to budget for each.
A promotional plan can
have a wide range of objectives, including: sales increases, new product
acceptance, creation of brand equity, positioning, competitive retaliations,
or creation of a corporate image.
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