1.3.2 Branding and promotion

What is promotion?

The use of marketing tools to bring a product or service to the attention of potential buyers

Purposes of promotion

• Raise awareness (build brand loyalty)

• Persuade

• Remind

What are the different types of promotion?

• Personal selling

• Digital communications

• Sponsorship

• Public relations

• Advertising

• Direct marketing

• Sales promotion

• ATP

• BTP

What is advertising?

Promotion through paid channels such as television, radio, print media (magazines)

Advantages of advertising

• Can reach large audiences and increase brand awareness

• Can be used to create a specific brand image or message

Disadvantages of advertising

• Can be expensive

• The effectiveness of advertising can be difficult to measure

• Many customers turn out or ignore adds

What is direct marketing?

Communicating directly with customers through emails, text messages, social media or posts

Advantages of direct marketing

• Businesses can target specific audiences and personalise their message to individual customers

• Directly marketing is also measurable, which enables businesses to track their results and adjust their strategy accordingly

Disadvantages of direct marketing

• Can be intrusive

• Can be costly, especially if businesses do not have an established customer database or need to purchase leads

What is sales promotion?

Techniques that encourage the purchase of a product by offering temporary incentives or discounts such as free samples, buy one get one free, discount coupons, loyalty cards and rebates

Benefits of sales promotion

• Can quickly boost sales or customer engagement

• Can help to clear out stock or promote a new product

• Can encourage impulse purchases

• Can be targeted to specific segments of customers

Disadvantages of sales promotion

• Can be expensive, especially if the promotion requires heavy discounting

• Can attract deal-seeking customers who may not be loyal to the brand

• May reduce the sales of full-priced products

What is personal selling

Personal selling is when a salesperson interacts with potential customers one on one, either in person or through digital communication channels

Advantages of personal selling

• Allows businesses to build relationships with their customers and understand their specific needs

• Enables businesses to provide personalised advice and guidance to customers

Disadvantages of personal selling

• Can be expensive due to the cost of hiring and training sales staff

• The impact of personal selling can be limited, as it is difficult to scale to large audiences

What is sponsorship?

Sponsorship is an agreement in which a company provides financial or other support to an even, team or organisation in exchange for marketing exposure. This can take many forms such as logo replacement or naming rights.

Advantages of sponsorship

• Can help to build brand awareness and credibility

• Can create emotional connections with target audiences

• Can support specific business objectives such as entering new markets or reaching new customers

Disadvantages of sponsorship

• Can be expensive, especially for high profile events or properties

• May not directly drive sales

• May be subject to negative publicity if the sponsorship entity experiences a scandal or controversy

What is public relations (PR)

Public relations is building relationships with the public and managing reputation. Public relations activities include media relations, crisis management and community outreach.

Advantages of public relations

• Can enhance a business’s reputation and credibility, which can lead to increased customer loyalty and sales

• Can be cost-effective when compared to advertising or personal selling

Disadvantages of public relations

• PR can be time consuming and it is difficult to measure the direct impact of PR activities and profits

What is digital communications?

Digital communication is any form of marketing or communication that is delivered electronically, such as social media, search engine optimisation or Mobil apps such as instagram and twitter. Can be used for brand awareness, generating leads or driving sales.

Advantages of digital communications

• Can be highly targeted to specific customer segments

• Can provide real time engagement and feedback from customers

Disadvantages of digital communications

• Can be easily ignored or filtered out by customers

• May require significant investment in technology or data infrastructure

• May be subject to data privacy regulations or security breaches

• May not be effective for reaching older or less digitally savvy customer segments

What is above the line promotion (ATP)?

Above the line promotion involves ,ass media methods for targeting larger and more general customers. This could be through radio, TV, cinema or print adverts (newspapers, magazines).

Advantage of ATP

• Tailored to reach a mass audience

• Advert communication is repeated so the message is clear

• Great for building brand awareness

Disadvantages of ATP

• Very expensive, and difficult to measure clear results from campaigns

What is below the line promotion?

Below the line promotion is the same as direct marketing for reaching smaller but more targeted audiences. The main methods include public relations, search engines, events and social media marketing.

Types of sales promotions

• BOGOFF (boosts sales, very popular amongst shoppers, encourages trial and use of the product, loss of profit, may not be sustainable)

• Price discounts (clears old stock, customers may became suspicious if too frequent)

• Money off coupons (good value for money, encourages repeat purchases, customers may wait for coupons before they buy products)

• Samples / giveaways (encourages trial, generates word of mouth, high cost, wasted stock)

• Special events (increase brand awareness, encourages customer engagement, expensive, time consuming, limited reach)

• Point of sale (encourages impulse purchases, enhances product visibility, limited reach, short term impact)

What is a brand?

A brand is a product that is easily distinguishable from other products so that it can be easily communicated and effectively marketed. A brand name is the name of a distinctive product

What is branding?

Branding is the process of creating a unique and identifiable name, design, symbol or other feature that differentiates a product or company from its competitors.

Purpose of branding

• Establishes recognition and identity

• Builds trust and credibility

• Differentiates a business from its competitors

• Creates an emotional connection with customers that helps to generate repeate purchases

• Supports marketing and advertising efforts

What are the different types of branding?

• Product branding

• Own brand product

• Manufacturer/corporate branding

What is manufacturer/corporate branding?

The use of a company name or logo to promote all the products or services offered by the company.

Advantages of corporate branding

• Creates string brand recognition and reputation for the company, which can increase customer loyalty and trust

• Allows the company to leverage its existing reputation and customer base to introduce new products more easily

• Helps build economies of scale by promoting multiple products under one brand, which can reduce marketing costs and increase profitability

Disadvantages of corporate branding

• If a company’s reputation is damaged by a product, it can have a negative impact on all the products offered under that brand

• If the company faces intense competition in one market it may affect the scales of the products offered across other markets

What is product branding?

Product branding refers to the use of a unique name, design or symbol to promote a specific product.

Advantages of product branding

• Creates a distinct identity for the product, which can help to differentiate it from competitors and increase brand loyalty

• Allows the company to market different products to different segments of the market

• Can help build customer loyalty and trust by associating the product with a specific quality and benefits

Disadvantages of product branding

• The cost of creating and promoting a new brand for each product can be expensive

• Introducing new products under different brands is difficult, as the new business must build a new brand for each product from scratch

• Different products within the brand may have different levels of quality, which can affect customer satisfaction

What is own branding?

Own brand refers to the use of a retailers name to promote a specific product or service.

Advantages of own-brand products

• They can help retailer differentiate themselves from their competitors by offering unique products

• They allow retailers to offer products at a lower cost than branded products, which can help increase sales and profitability

• They can help build customer loyalty by offering exclusive products that are not available elsewhere

Disadvantages of own-brand products

• Own brand products may have a lower perceived quality than branded products, which can affect customer loyalty and trust

What are the benefits of branding

• Added value (strong branding can add value to a product by creating a perception of quality, reliability and trust)

• Ability to charge premium prices (customers may be willing to pay more for a product that is associated with a well-established brand, they perceive products with strong branding to be of higher quality and therefore worth the extra cost)

• Reduced price elasticity of demand (customers who are loyal to a brand are more likely to continue purchasing the product t even if the price increases)

Ways to build a brand

• Unique selling points (the features that make a product sat f out from its competitors, brands can build their reputation by emphasising these unique qualities)

• Advertising (brands can create compelling ads that resonate with their target audience, raise brand awareness and communicate their value proposition)

• Sponsorship (partnering with events, organisations or individuals can help gain exposure and build their reputation by aligning themselves with positive sssociations)

• Social media (with the right social media strategy, brands can build a loyal following and create a community around their brand)

Ways in which businesses can change their branding and promotion to reflect social trends

• Viral marketing (businesses use online platforms to promote products by creating content at specific times, which can easily be shared and commented on)

• Social media (businesses must adapt their social media strategies to keep up with the latest trends by using platforms such as instagram and TikTok)

• Emotional branding (companies build strong emotional connection with customers by appealing to their values, beliefs and emotions)