traditional marketing communications

Introduction

  • Dr. Andrew Davis, Strathclyde Business School

  • Lecture Topic: Marketing Communications in the Digital Age

  • Lecture Number: 4.1

  • Date: 13th October 2025

Today's Class Objectives

  • Overview of the Communications Mix

  • Exploration of key components:

    • Advertising

    • Sales Promotion

    • Public Relations (PR)

    • Sponsorship & Product Placement

    • Personal Selling

Communications Mix Contributions to Business Goals

  • Major contributions of communications mix include:

    • Major Costs: Significant financial investments required for various marketing activities.

    • Revenue Building: Strategies aimed at increasing the overall income of the organization.

    • Brand Building: Efforts to develop and strengthen a company’s image and reputation.

    • Image Building: Communicating values and responsibilities to improve public perception.

    • Media Management: How media channels are utilized to disseminate marketing messages.

    • Personnel Management: Overseeing teams that execute marketing strategies.

Advertising

  • Definition: A paid, non-personal form of mass communication from an identified source, aimed at influencing consumer behavior.

Principal Roles of Advertising

  • Engage audiences effectively.

  • Reach large audiences with straightforward messages.

  • Can achieve objectives based on the DRIP Model:

    • Differentiate: Distinguishing the brand from competitors.

    • Reinforce: Strengthening brand association and loyalty.

    • Inform: Educating the audience about product features or services.

    • Persuade: Convincing consumers towards a purchasing decision.

  • Strong management control over the advertising message.

Strong vs. Weak Theory of Advertising

  • Strong Theory: Argues that advertising effectively informs, persuades, and sells products, services, or ideas.

  • Weak Theory: Suggests that while advertising may enhance awareness, trial, and reinforcement, its role in actual purchase decisions is minimal.

Changing Nature of Advertising

  • Shift in Dynamics:

    • Moving from explicit to implicit messages.

    • Transforming from a cognitive emphasis to a social phenomenon.

    • Transitioning from passive to active consumer involvement.

    • Evolving from hegemonic (dominant) to polysemic (many meanings).

Ambiguity in Advertising

  • Key concepts:

    • Polysemy: A word having multiple meanings.

    • Implied Meaning: Meanings not explicitly stated but understood through context.

    • Intertextuality: Considering texts in relation to other texts to derive meaning.

    • Cultural Context: Adds depth and significance to messages depending on cultural background.

Controversy in Advertising

  • Ethical considerations:

    • Adverts should not offend, harm, or lie.

  • Purposeful Polysemy: Emphasizing strategic controversy in ads.

  • Deontology: The ethics of morality based on rules; judging actions right or wrong.

  • Consequentialism: Evaluating the morality of an action based on its outcomes.

  • Virtue Ethics: Focusing on the motives and character of the author or creator.

Corporate Advertising

  • Overview of corporate advertising strategies and their implications in building brand equity.

Consumer-Generated Advertisements

  • Definition: "User-generated brand-related content that has components, form, and intent of traditional advertising" (Shulga et al., 2018: 214).

  • Advantages:

    • Generates numerous ideas at lower costs than traditional agencies.

    • Potential for increased media coverage.

  • Drawbacks:

    • Loss of control over brand messaging.

    • Inconsistency in brand representation.

    • Potential negative consumer reactions.

Sponsorship & Product Placement

  • Sponsorship defined:

    • Financial or resource support provided to an individual, organization, or activity with acknowledgment.

  • Sponsor's Role: Provider of funds/resources for commercial advantage (Copley, 2004: 289).

  • The growth of sponsorship as a strategic communications tool.

Sponsorship Objectives (Smith & Taylor, 2004)

  • Awareness: Raising target audience awareness of the organization.

  • Image Building: Associating the organization with a significant cause or event.

  • Citizenship: Fostering connections with the community.

  • Alteration of Perceptions: Changing attitudes towards a brand.

  • Building Trade Relationships: Strengthening relationships with clients through hospitality at sponsored events.

  • Motivating Employees: Enhancing corporate reputation and employee participation.

  • Media Attention: Utilizing the news value of sponsorship for exposure.

  • Shareholder Reassurance: Aligning the organization with success or corporate responsibility.

Arts Sponsorship

  • Historical system of patronage fostering the arts.

  • Consumer Insight: Over 50% of art enthusiasts would likely purchase from a company sponsoring the arts.

Events Sponsorship

  • Major distinctions:

    • Events fully organized or supported by a company versus the financial sponsorship of existing events.

  • Impact: More memorable and motivating than passive brand messages.

  • Growth in Experiential Marketing: An offshoot focusing on engaging consumers through experiences.

Sports Sponsorship

  • Types include:

    • Sponsorship of sporting events, shirt sponsorship, and stadium naming rights.

  • Attractiveness: Appeals to marketers for targeting large consumer groups sharing characteristics.

  • Cost concerns: Rising expenses leading to questionable return on investment.

Product Placement

  • Overview: Gaining exposure by paying for products to be integrated into films and TV shows.

  • Context Integration: Brand messages are embedded naturally within entertainment contexts.

  • Advertising Funded Programming (AFP): When sponsors fund content in return for placement.

Advergaming

  • Definition: Promotion of a brand within video gaming environments.

  • Two types of advertising:

    • Dynamic In-game Advertising: Live advertising material that is updateable in real-time.

    • Static In-game Advertising: Pre-programmed into the game during development, akin to product placement.

Cause-Related Marketing

  • Definition: Collaboration between for-profit businesses and non-profit organizations for mutual benefit.

  • Aim: Addressing social issues while achieving business marketing objectives.

Sales Promotion

  • Definition: Offering incentives to prompt consumer actions directly impacting decision-making.

Role in Mature Markets

  • Key communication tool in stagnant markets.

  • Generally regarded as a short-term tactical tool incentivizing trial or brand-switching.

Broad Categories of Sales Promotion

  • Salesforce Promotions: Used to generate leads.

  • Consumer Promotions: Attracting consumer interest (pull strategy).

  • Trade Promotions: Advancing the brand through trade (push strategy).

  • Retail Promotions: Focus on retailers over brands.

Shift Towards Sales Promotions

  • Influencing factors include:

    • Rising advertising costs.

    • Short-term corporate focus.

    • Measurable results of promotions.

    • Declining brand loyalty.

    • Increased retailer power and price sensitivity.

    • New technology implications.

    • Value addition and customer data collection.

    • Utilizing PR as a tool to manage customer behavior.

Public Relations (PR)

  • Definition: The discipline dedicated to managing reputation, earning understanding, and influencing opinions and behavior.

  • Aimed at establishing and maintaining goodwill between organizations and their publics.

  • Source: The Chartered Institute of Public Relations.

Types of Public Relations

  • Corporate PR: Building reputation with investors, employees, and regulators.

  • Marketing PR: Supporting product launches and engaging influencers.

  • Crisis PR: Managing reputational risks during crises.

  • Internal PR: Communicating effectively with employees to enhance corporate culture.

PR Activities

  • Publicity: Positive organizational messages to improve brand image.

  • Media Management: Building long-term relationships with media outlets.

  • Research and Counseling: Monitoring public opinion and perceptions.

  • Crisis Management: Navigating reputational challenges.

  • Community Relations: Engaging with community stakeholders.

Practical Public Relations Techniques

  • Press Releases: Informing media outlets about news.

  • Press Conferences: Announcing significant news to the public.

  • Media Relations: Strengthening connections with journalists.

  • Events and Stunts: Creating engaging newsworthy experiences.

  • Thought Leadership: Establishing executives as field experts.

  • Social Media PR: Managing reputation and amplifying stories in real-time.

Measuring PR Effectiveness

  • Metrics to evaluate PR success include:

    • Media Coverage: Tracking quantity and quality of mentions.

    • Sentiment Analysis: Evaluating the tone of coverage and social media responses.

    • Share of Voice: Comparing PR visibility against competitors.

    • Engagement Metrics: Tracking interactions such as clicks and shares.

    • Reputation Tracking: Utilizing surveys and brand health scores.