Marketing and Promotion: Key Concepts and Strategies

promotion

communication by marketers that informs, persuades, reminds, and connects potential buyers to a product for the purpose of influencing an opinion or eliciting a response

promotional strategy

a plan for the use of the elements of promotion: advertising, public relations, personal selling, sales promotion, direct-response communication, and social media.

competitive advantage

the set of unique features of a company, and its products that are perceived by the target market as significant and superior to those of the competition.

communication

the process by which we exchange or share meanings through a common set of symbols

Interpersonal communication

direct, face-to-face communication between two or more people

mass communication

the communication of a concept or message to large audiences

sender

the originator of the message in the communication process

encoding

the conversion of the sender's ideas and thoughts into a message, usually in the form of words or signs

channel

a medium of communication—such as a voice, radio, or newspaper—used for transmitting a message

noise

anything that interferes with, distorts, or slows down the transmission of information

receivers

the people who decode a message

decoding

interpretation of the language and symbols sent by the source through a channel

feedback

the receiver's response to a message

promotional mix

the combination of promotional tools—including advertising, publicity, sales promotion, personal selling, direct-response communication, and social media—used to reach the target market and fulfill the organization's overall goals

advertising

impersonal, one-way mass communication about a product or an organization that is paid for by a marketer.

public relations

the marketing function that evaluates public attitudes, identifies areas within the organization the public may be interested in, and executes a program of action to earn public understanding and acceptance

publicity

public information about a company, a product, a service, or an issue appearing in the mass media as a news item

sales promotion

marketing activities—other than personal selling, advertising, direct-response marketing, and public relations—that stimulate consumer buying and dealer effectiveness

personal selling

a purchase situation involving a personal, paid-for communication between two people in an attempt to influence each other

direct-response communication

communication of a message directly from a marketing company and directly to an intended individual target audience.

online marketing

two-way communication of a message delivered through the Internet to the consumer

social media

a collection of online communication tools that facilitate conversations online; when used by marketers, social media tools encourage consumer empowerment

consumer-generated content

any form of publicly available online content created by consumers; also referred to as user-generated content

paid media

a category of promotional tactic based on the traditional advertising model whereby a brand pays for advertising space

earned media

a category of promotional tactic based on a public relations model that gets customers talking about products or services

owned media

a category of promotional tactic based on brands becoming publishers of their own content to maximize the brands' value to consumers

branded content

creation of engaging bespoke content as a way to promote a particular brand that attracts and builds relationships with consumers

AIDA concept

a model that outlines the process for achieving promotional goals in terms of stages of consumer involvement with the message; the acronym stands for attention, interest, desire, and action.

integrated marketing communications (IMC)

the careful coordination of all promotional messages for a product or a service to ensure the consistency of messages at every contact point where a company meets the consumer

Push strategy

a marketing strategy that uses aggressive personal selling and trade advertising to convince a wholesaler or a retailer to carry and sell particular merchandise

Pull strategy

a marketing strategy that stimulates consumer demand to obtain product distribution