Chapter 18

Marketing: Integrated Marketing Communications and Direct Marketing
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AFTER READING THIS CHAPTER
YOU SHOULD BE ABLE TO:
  • •Explain the communications process and its elements.
•
  • •Understand the promotional mix and the uniqueness of each component.
  • •Select the promotional approach appropriate to a product’s life-cycle stage and characteristics.
•
  • •Differentiate between the advantages of push and pull strategies.
 
  • •Appreciate the value of an integrated marketing communications approach
•
  • •Understand the value of direct marketing for consumers and sellers.
 
 

 

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS AND DIRECT MARKETING
INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MAKE MAGIC AT DISNEY
 
 

 

THE COMMUNICATIONS PROCESS

THE COMMUNICATIONS PROCESS

 

Communication
(1) The process of conveying a message to others, which requires six elements:  a source, a message, a channel of communication, a receiver, and the processes of encoding and decoding.  (2) Online, the dialogue that unfolds between a website and its users. 
 
 

 

Source
A company or person who has information to convey.
 
 

 

Message
The information sent by a source to a receiver in the communications process.
 
 

 

Channel of Communication
The means (e.g., a salesperson, advertising media, or public relations tools) of conveying a message to a receiver.
 
 

 

Receivers
Consumers who read, hear, or see the message sent by a source in the communications process.
 
 

 

THE COMMUNICATIONS PROCESS

 

Encoding
The process of having the sender transform an abstract idea into a set of symbols.
 
 

 

Decoding
The process of having the receiver take a set of symbols, the message, and transform them back to an abstract idea.
 
 

 

Field of Experience
Similar understanding and knowledge; to communicate effectively, a sender and a receiver must have a mutually shared field of experience.
 
 

 

Feedback
The communication flow from receiver back to the sender that helps the sender know whether the message was decoded and understood as intended.
 
 

 

Response
(1) In behavioral learning, the action taken by a consumer to satisfy a drive.  (2)  In the feedback loop, the impact the message had on the receiver’s knowledge, attitudes, or behaviors.
 
 

 

Noise
Extraneous factors that can work against effective communication by distorting a message or the feedback received.
 
 

 

Concept Check
1.  What are the six elements required for communication to occur?
 
A:  Source, receiver, message, channel of communication, encoding, and decoding
 
2.  A difficulty for U.S. companies advertising in international markets is that the audience does not share the same ________________.
 
A:  field of experience
 

3.  A misprint in a newspaper ad is an example of _____.

 

A:  noice

 

THE PROMOTIONAL ELEMENTS

FIGURE 18-2  The promotional mix

THE PROMOTIONAL ELEMENTS

 

Advertising
Any paid form of nonpersonal communication about an organization, good, service, or idea by an identified sponsor. 
 

 

Personal Selling
The two-way flow of communication between a buyer and seller, often in a face-to-face encounter, designed to influence a person’s or group’s purchase decision.
 
 

 

Public Relations
A form of communication management that seeks to influence the feelings, opinions, or beliefs held by customers, prospective customers, stockholders, suppliers, employees, and other publics about a company and its products or services.
 
 

 

Publicity
A nonpersonal, indirectly paid presentation of an organization, good, or service.
 

 

Sales Promotion
A short-term inducement of value offered to arouse interest in buying a good or service.
 
 

 

Direct Marketing
Promotional element that uses direct communication with consumers to generate a response in the form of an order, a request for further information, or a visit to a retail outlet.
 
 

 

Concept Check
1.  Explain the difference between advertising and publicity when both appear on television.
 
A:  Advertising space is paid for; thus the company controls what is said and when.  This control does not exist with publicity since the company does not directly pay for the TV coverage.
 

2.  Which promotional element should be offered only on a short-term basis?

A:  Sales promotion
 

3.  Cost per contact is high with the   
    ______________ element of the promotional mix.

 
A:  personal selling

 

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS—DEVELOPING THE PROMOTIONAL MIX
  • •The Target Audience
  • •The Product Life Cycle
  • •Introduction Stage
  • •Growth Stage
  • •Maturity Stage
  • •Decline Stage
 
 

 

Promotional Mix
The combination of one or more of the promotional elements a firm uses to communicate with consumers.   The promotional elements include:  advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations, and direct marketing.
 
 

 

FIGURE 18-3  Promotional tools used over the product life cycle of Purina Dog Chow

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS—DEVELOPING THE PROMOTIONAL MIX

  • •Product Characteristics
  • •Stages of the Buying Decision
  • •Prepurchase Stage
  • •Purchase Stage
  • •Postpurchase Stage
 
 

 

FIGURE 18-4  How the importance of elements varies during the consumer’s purchase decision

INTEGRATED MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS—DEVELOPING THE PROMOTIONAL MIX

  • •Channel Strategies
 
 

 

Push Strategy
Directing the promotional mix to channel members to gain their cooperation in ordering and stocking a product.
 
 

 

Pull Strategy
Directing the promotional mix at ultimate consumers to encourage them to ask the retailer for the product.
 
 

 

FIGURE 18-5  A comparison of push and pull promotional strategies

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