Marketing Communications

Chapter 12 : Retail Promotion Mix

Promotion

Role of Retail Promotion Program

Methods for Communicating with the Customers
Sales promotion
Public relations
Personal selling

Planning Retail Communication Program

Establishing objectives
Determining the promotional budget
Objective and Task Method
Thumb Rule Method

Assigning the Promotional Budget

Implementing the Advertising Programs

Creating the message
Advertising agencies
Selecting Advertising Media
Determining the Frequency and Timing of the Advertisements

Evaluating the Effectiveness of Advertisements

Implementing Sales Promotion Programs

Implementing Publicity Programs

Chapter Summary

Advertising, sales promotions, store atmosphere, public relations, personal selling and the word of mouth are the tools used by retailers to communicate with their target customers. All these components of the promotion mix must be combined properly to develop an integrated marketing communication system, for customers to have a clear and distinct image of the retailer.

Retailers develop a promotional mix in order to accomplish several objectives, such as positioning of the retailer, increasing the customer traffic, increasing the sales, announcing special events and providing information about the store location and the merchandise offered.

Determining the promotional budget is a significant task of the retailer. Retailers should use the marginal analysis method for determining the promotional budget, as it is the most appropriate method for determining this budget, which can accomplish the objectives of the retailer. The marginal analysis method helps to find out the level of promotional expenditure that maximizes the profits generated by the promotional mix.

Retailers spend the largest portion of their promotional budget on developing advertisements and on sales promotion activities. The retailer has a wide choice of media for advertising itself, its products and its services. While every medium has its own merits and demerits, advertising through newspapers is effective for announcing 'sales' and reaching a larger population, and advertising through TV facilitates the building up of a retailer's image. Generally, sales promotion activities are intended to meet short term objectives, like increasing the customer traffic in the store during weekends. Though promotional tools like publicity campaigns and word of mouth provide the most reliable information to the target customers, these two are very hard to control.

Retailers usually follow a six-step process in developing their advertising campaigns. It involves developing the advertising objectives, determining the advertising budget, developing the message, selecting the media, scheduling the advertisements and measuring the effectiveness of the advertisements. Most of the retailers generally adopt the Cost Per Thousand Method for measuring the effectiveness of advertising in the various media activities.

However, the sales promotion activities and publicity campaign of a retailer must be in complete agreement with his overall promotional objectives.

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