Marketing Communications

Chapter 18 : Measuring Promotional Performance

Advantages and Disadvantages

Promotion in Perspective

Identify the Test Variables
Decide on the Timing of the Test
Decide on the Location of the Test

Measuring Advertising Performance

Recognition
Recall
Persuasion
Purchase Behavior

Measuring Sales Promotion Performance

Parameters Used for Measurement

Measuring Public Relations Performance

Measuring Personal Selling Performance

Parameters Used for Measurement
Methods Used for Measuring Effectiveness

Measuring Direct Marketing Performance

Chapter Summary

The ever-increasing number of products in the market has resulted in clutter of advertisements and promotions. With promotion budgets increasing, managers are becoming more concerned about measuring the effectiveness of the various promotional methods used by the company. In this chapter, we discussed the pros and cons of measuring the effectiveness of promotions.

We also discussed the identification of test variables, timing and location of test. Then the parameters and methods used for measuring effectiveness of various promotions like advertising, sales promotions, public relations, personal selling and direct marketing were discussed in detail. The effectiveness of any promotional vehicle can be calculated by measuring the sales generated by the promotion.

The advertising effectiveness is measured in terms of recognition, recall, persuasion and purchase behavior. Some of the commonly used methods are mail surveys, Starch test, day-after-recall, portfolio test, theater test, on-air test, coupon simulated purchasing, split-cable testing, etc. The effectiveness of sales promotions is measured in terms of new customers acquired, repeat purchases and attitude changes.

The methods used are the communication framework model, shopper tracking and scanner data. The effectiveness of PR is measured in terms of PR outputs, PR outtakes and PR outcomes. The various methods used are media content analysis, cyber space analysis, trade show & event measurement, public opinion polls, surveys, ethnographic studies, experimental research, behavior and attitude, and preference measurement studies.

For measuring personal selling performance, the ability of the salesforce to use market intelligence, follow-up of customers, program implementation and fulfillment of communication objectives are considered. Time utilization studies, comparative performance and other qualitative measures are used for studying the effectiveness of personal selling.

The results of direct marketing efforts depend on the database used for contacting targets, the design and layout of the mailers, and the cost-per-order. The methods used for studying effectiveness are focus group discussions and eye tracking for the layout.

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