ADVERTISEMENT IN MARKETING MIX

Marketing mix consist of four important variables of marketing, i.e. 4Ps-Product, Price, Promotion and
Place. Apart from the traditional 4Ps, there are also other variables, i.e. Packaging, Posting, and Pace.
Advertising is an element of promotion. However, it not only assists in promoting the product, but also
affects the other variables of marketing mix. This can be explained as follows:
1. Advertising and Product: A product is normally a set of physical elements, such as quality, shape,
size, colour and other features. The product may be of very high quality .At times, the product is so
designed that it requires careful handling and operations. Buyers must be informed and educated on the
various aspects of the product. This can be effectively done through advertising. Thus,  advertising plays
the role of information and education.
2. Advertising and Price: The price is the exchange value of the product. A marketer may bring out a
very high quality product with additional features as compared to competitors. In such a case, price
would be definitely high. But buyers may not be willing to pay a high price would be definitely high.
Here comes advertising. Advertising can convince buyers regarding the superiority of the brand and
thus its value for money. This can be done by associating the product with prestigious people, situations,
or events. Alternatively when a firm offers a low price products the job of advertising needs to stress the
price advantage by using hard hitting copy. It is not just enough to convince, but it is desirable to
persuade the buyer. Thus advertising plays the role of conviction and persuasion.
3. Advertising and Place: Place refers to physical distribution and the stores where the goods are
available Marketer should see to it that the goods are available at the convenient place and that too at
the right time when the buyers need it. To facilitate effective distribution and expansion of
market, advertising is of great significance. Thus advertising do help in effective distribution and
market expansion.
4. Advertising and Promotion: Promotion consists of advertising, publicity, personal selling
and sales promotion technique. Businessmen today have to face a lot of competition. Every seller needs
effective promotion to survive and succeed in this competitive business world. Advertising can play a
significant role to put forward the claim of seller, and to counter the claims of competitor. Through
effective advertising, sellers can face competition and also help to develop brand image and brand
loyalty.
5. Advertising and Pace: Pace refers to the speed in marketing decisions and actions. It involves
among other things the launch of new products or brand variations at greater speed than before. As and
when new brands are launched, advertising plays an important role of informing, educating and
persuading the customers to buy the product.
6. Advertising and Packaging: The main purpose of packaging is protection of the product during
transit, and preservation of quality and quantity. Now a –days, marketers take lot of efforts to develop
and design attractive packages as they carry advertising value. A creatively design package attract the
attention of the customers. It also carries an assurance of quality and creates confidence in
the minds of customers to buy the product.
7. Advertising and Positioning: Product positioning aims at creating and maintaining a distinct
image of the brands in the minds of the customers. Through advertising the marketer can convey the
positioning of the brand and accordingly can influence the buying decision of the target audience.

TRADE FAIR
A trade fair (trade show, trade exhibition or expo) is an exhibition organized so that companies in a
specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products, service, study activities of rivals
and examine recent market trends and opportunities. In contrast to consumer fairs, only some trade
fairs are open to the public, while others can only be attended by company representatives (members of
the trade, [Link]) and members of the press, therefore trade shows are classified as either
"Public" or "Trade Only". A few fairs are hybrids of the two; one example is the Frankfurt Book Fair,
which is trade-only for its first three days and open to the general public on its final two days. They are
held on a continuing basis in virtually all markets and normally attract companies from around the globe.
For example, in the U.S. there are currently over 2500[citation needed]
 trade shows held every year, and
several online directories have been established to help organizers.

Types of Public Relations Tools

As we noted in the Public Relations tutorial, the challenges faced in doing PR will lead many
marketers to hire professionals to handle these activities.  Whether marketers do their own
PR or seek outside help, it is important they be familiar with the tools available for public
relations.

The types of key tools available to carryout the public relations function include:

 Media Relations
 Media Tours
 Newsletters
 Special Events
 Speaking Engagements
 Sponsorships
 Employee Relations
 Community Relations and Philanthropy

Media Relations
Historically the core of public relations, media relations, includes all efforts to publicize
products or the company to members of the press — TV and Radio, newspaper, magazine,
newsletter and Internet. In garnering media coverage, PR professionals work with the media
to place stories about products, companies and company spokespeople. This is done by
developing interesting and relevant story angles that are pitched to the media. It is important
to remember that media placements come with good stories and no payment is made to the
media for placements. In fact, in order to maintain the highest level of credibility, many news
organizations bar reporters from accepting even the smallest gifts (e.g., free pencils with
product logo) from companies.

Key tools used in media relations include:

 Press Kits - Include written information such as a news release, organization

background, key spokesperson biographies and other supporting materials that
provide information useful to reporters.
 Audio or Video News Releases - These are prerecorded features distributed to news
media that may be included within media programming. For instance, a local news
report about amusement parks may include portions of a video news release from a
national amusement park company.
 Matte Release - Some media, especially small local newspapers, may accept
articles written by companies often as filler material when their publication lacks
sufficient content. PR professionals submit matte releases through syndicated
services (i.e., services that supply content to many media outlets) or directly to
targeted media via email, fax or snail mail.
 Website Press Room - While hard copies of materials are used and preferred by
some media, marketers are well served by an online press room that caters to media
needs and provides company contact information.

As PR people know, many story ideas for newspapers, magazines and television news
often start with a suggestion from a PR person. If things work out, a reporter or editor will, at
best, write a positive story with the company as a key feature or, at minimum, include the
company’s name somewhere within an industry-focused article.

Media Tour
Some new products can be successfully publicized when launched with a media tour. On a
media tour a company spokesperson travels to key cities to introduce a new product by
being booked on TV and radio talk shows and conducting interviews with print and Internet
reporters or influencers (e.g., bloggers). The spokesperson can be a company employee or
someone hired by the company, perhaps a celebrity or "expert" who has credibility with the
target audience. One common use of the media tour is the book tour, where an author
travels the country to promote a newly released book. A media tour may include other kinds
of personal appearances in conjunction with special events, such as public appearances,
speaking engagements or autograph signing opportunities.
Newsletters
Marketers who have captured names and addresses of customers and potential customers
can use a newsletter for regular contact with their targeted audience. Newsletters can be
directed at trade customers, final consumers or business buyers and can be distributed
either by regular mail or electronic means (i.e., e-newsletters delivered via email or rss
feed). Marketers using newsletters strive to provide content of interest to customers as well
as information on products and promotions. A bookstore may include reviews of new books,
information on online book chats and information on in-store or online promotions. A food
manufacturer may include seasonal recipes, information on new products and coupons.
Online newsletters offer the opportunity to link to stores carrying the marketer's products.
Effective newsletters are sought out by and well received by interested audiences.

Special Events
These run the gamut from receptions to elegant dinners to stunts. Special events can be
designed to reach a specific narrow target audience, such as individuals interested in
college savings plans to major events like a strawberry festival designed to promote tourism
and regional agriculture. Stunts, such as building the world’s largest ice cream sundae
during National Ice Cream month captures the attention of an audience in the immediate
area, but also attracts the attention of mass media such as TV news and major
newspapers, which provide broad reach. The Oscar Mayer Weiner mobile is a classic
example, providing a recognizable icon that travels the country garnering attention wherever
it visits. As with all PR programs, special event planners must work hard to ensure the
program planned conveys the correct message and image to the target audience.

Speaking Engagements
Speaking before industry conventions, trade association meetings, and other groups
provides an opportunity for company experts to demonstrate their expertise to potential
clients/customers. Generally these opportunities are not explicitly for company or product
promotion; rather they are a chance to talk on a topic of interest to potential customers and
serve to highlight the speaker’s expertise in a field. Often the only mention of the company
or its products is in the speaker biography. Nevertheless, the right speaking engagement
puts the company in front of a good target audience and offers networking opportunities for
generating customer leads.

Sponsorships
Companies and brands use sponsorships to help build goodwill and brand recognition by
associating with an event or group. Marketers can examine sponsorship opportunities to
find those that reach target groups, fit within a specified budget and provide sponsorship
benefits that suit the marketer’s objectives. There are numerous local, regional, national and
international sponsorship opportunities ranging from a local art center or theatre to the
Olympics. Most organizations seeking company sponsors provide information on the variety
of sponsorship levels which include data on event audience, exposure opportunities, which
can include signage, T-shirts, public announcements and numerous other opportunities,
receptions and much more. Marketers can use this information to help match sponsorship
opportunities with the company’s objectives.

Employee Communications
For many companies communicating regularly with employees is important in keeping
employees informed of corporate programs, sales incentives, personnel issues, as well as
keeping them updated on new products and programs. Companies use a variety of means
to communicate with employees, including Intranet, email, online and print newsletters. In
larger firms an in-house PR department often works in conjunction with the Human
Resources Department to develop employee communications.

Community Relations and Philanthropy

For many companies fostering good relations with key audiences includes building strong
relationships with their regional community. Companies implement programs supportive of
the community ranging from supporting local organizations and institutions (e.g., arts
organizations, community activities, parks) to conducting educational workshops (e.g., for
teachers, parents) to donating product for community events and charitable fundraisers.
The goal is generally to develop a positive relationship with members of the community (i.e.,
be known as a good neighbor). Effective community relations can help a company weather
bad publicity or a crisis situation that can unexpectedly arise due to a problem with a
product, unethical behavior by management, or even by false rumors. Some companies
also make an effort to contribute to charitable organizations, often organizations that have
some relationship to the company’s mission or to a key principal of the company

Promotion Mix
Marketers have at their disposal four major methods of promotion. Taken together these
comprise the promotion mix. In this section a basic definition of each method is offered
while in the next section a comparison of each method based on the characteristics of
promotion is presented.

 Advertising – Involves non-personal, mostly paid promotions often using mass media
outlets to deliver the marketer’s message. While historically advertising has involved
 one-way communication with little feedback opportunity for the customer experiencing
the advertisement, the advent of computer technology and, in particular, the Internet
has increased the options that allow customers to provide quick feedback.
 Sales Promotion – Involves the use of special short-term techniques, often in the
form of incentives, to encourage customers to respond or undertake some activity.
For instance, the use of retail coupons with expiration dates requires customers to act
while the incentive is still valid.
 Public Relations – Also referred to as publicity, this type of promotion uses third-
party sources, and particularly the news media, to offer a favorable mention of the
marketer’s company or product without direct payment to the publisher of the
information.
 Personal Selling – As the name implies, this form of promotion involves personal
contact between company representatives and those who have a role in purchase
decisions (e.g., make the decision, such as consumers, or have an influence on a
decision, such as members of a company buying center). Often this occurs face-to-
face or via telephone, though newer technologies allow this to occur online via video
conferencing or text chat

Publicity (a tool used in public relations) is non-personal communication that is typically in the
form of a news story that is transmitted through the mass media. The purpose of publicity is to
draw favorable attention to a company and/or its products without having to pay the media for it.
The way it often works is as follows: a company sends a press release (often with a video tape) to
the media (e.g., New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Business Week, Newsweek, ABC News, NBC
News, CBS News, Fox News, etc. ) with the hope that it is newsworthy enough to be mentioned in
the mass media. The advantage of publicity, besides the fact that it is free, is that it tends to more
credible than advertising. On the other hand, there is no guarantee that the media will find the
story newsworthy. Also, they might change the press release around so that it does not help the
organization in any way. One product that received an incredible amount of publicity was Viagra.
Sometimes, a film – especially one that is controversial – can generate a great deal of publicity.
Several years ago, Brooklyn College received much publicity regarding its innovative core
curriculum, one that is being copied by universities all over the world.

Publicity

At no charge (most of the time) Part of public relations, a broad set of communication
activities used to create and maintain favorable relations between the organization and its
publics:

 customers
 employees
  stockholders
 government officials
 society in general

Need to cultivate effective media relations, and targeting publicity to key markets are viewed
as the highest priorities.