Marketing – Cont’d
HI. IT is so good for us to communicate once again as we move forward in our quest to cover the principles of business syllabus. As I mentioned last week, marketing is such an extensive and very interesting area. This week we will look at certain aspects of marketing, beginning with the concept of copyright and ending with public relations. Enjoy reading as you learn.
THE CONCEPT OF COPYRIGHT
A copyright gives someone the exclusive right to reproduce and sell an item, for example, books and records. In other words, it allows one to maintain ownership and control over the product that he/she has created and registered. Consumers who purchase the product cannot reproduce it for commercial purposes without the permission of the producer.
Some producers are given special permission or a patent to reproduce the product. This is so in the case of the franchisee, who is given permission by the franchiser to operate under his/her name and reproduce the product in return for a fee or royalty.
METHODS OF PROMOTING SALE 1. ADVERTISING
Advertising may be regarded as the art of putting the good and sometimes the bad points about a good or service across to large numbers of potential or existing customers.
ADVERTISING HAS MANY FUNCTIONS:
It is an aid to trade – increased market share comes from stimulated demand.
It is a means of competition against other sellers of similar goods and services.
It brings buyers and sellers into close contact.
It informs – announcing new products and telling potential consumers about them.
It helps to build a firm’s image around its products.
It highlights unique features of products and convinces consumers to buy.
FORMS OF ADVERTISING
(a) Informative – This is concerned with notifying the general public about the existence of certain goods and services. It is normally used as new products are put on the market.
(b) Persuasive – Most ads are of this type. Slogans, pictures and jingles are used to convince or coerce consumers to buy the product. Appeals are used, for example, sex appea when advertising cars, soap, cologne, alcohol, cigarettes, etc.
(c) Competitive – This aims at defending the value of the product against that of its competitors. The aim is to convince the potential customer that this product is better than the others.
(d) Cooperative/Collective – This is joint advertising by groups of companies or industries that pay jointly for the advertising. It tells the consumer to buy the product rather than a particular brand, for example cheese, milk, etc.
(e) Specialty – This is advertising in which very small but expensive objects or items, for example, T-shirts, pens, key rings, knives, nail clips, etc, are given away freely to persons. These items usually have the names or initials of companies or firms on them.
(f) Reminder – This is important when a product is mature, meaning it has been on the market for a long time, or there are several similar brands on the market, for example, soft drinks.
SALES PROMOTIONS
This refers to special buying incentives for a particular length of time. It usually supplements advertising and may itself be viewed as a form of advertising. There are TWO basic types: dealer promotions and consumer promotions. We are concerned with consumer promotions. Temporary price reductions, e.g., $25 off. Buy one get one free. Giving out coupon. These are found in newspapers and magazines and are redeemed at the counter, either for cash or discounts from the total bill to be paid.
Trading stamps. These are given freely to purchasers buying a certain amount of money’s worth of goods – one stamp for a certain amount of money spent; booklets of stamps are returned for goods or money.
Price packs, When goods are not selling well, they are packaged with other goods and sold for a value price. Free gifts Samples
Self-liquidation devices Consumers are asked to return empty boxes, wrappers, toothpaste tubes, etc., which allows them to get a reduction in the price of certain items.
Loss leaders A loss leader is a popular product that is sold below market price to encourage customers to buy them and hopefully purchase other goods that they see in the same store.
PUBLIC RELATIONS (PR)
Businesses care about what the public thinks of them. Therefore, they will use a variety of ways to try to influence the public to have a high regard for them and their employees.
The process of getting the public to have a good impression of a business is called public relations or good will. Public relations has to do with relating the company’s activities to the general public in order to create a good image in the public eye.
THERE ARE TWO MAIN METHODS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS:
(a) Direct – This includes donating to charities, giving away free samples and gifts, prize-giving competitions, using famous personalities to endorse the company”s goods, inviting prospective customers and old customers as guests to dinner parties and luncheons, giving special awards and sponsoring community activities.
(b) Indirect – This is through the way in which employees talk to potential customers on the phone or at the shop counter, the way in which enquiries or complaints are dealt with, the way in which after-sales services are dealt with, etc. Courtesy and a willingness to help are very important in the indirect methods of public relations. Most firms have a combination of direct and indirect PR.
Public relations is also a form of advertising and can also be regarded as the fulfillment of the social function of the firm.
That’s it for this week, my friends. Our next lesson with discuss selling and merchandising and also consider the concept of adjustment of pricing policy. Take care until then.