IBBusinessDPBusiness ManagementHLRevision Notes4. Marketing4.5 The Marketing Mix (7 P's)The Marketing Mix: Promotion

The Marketing Mix: Promotion (DP IB Business Management)

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Lisa Eades

Written by: Lisa Eades

Reviewed by: Steve Vorster

DP Business Management: HLDP Business Management: SL

An Introduction to Promotion

  • Promotion plays a crucial role in generating customer awareness, interest and desire for a product/service

    • A business uses promotional activities to communicate its value proposition to potential customers and differentiate itself from competitors

    • Promotion helps to build brand awareness and loyalty which can lead to repeat purchases and referrals

  • Promotion can be classified into three forms

    • Above the line

    • Below the line

    • Through the line

Diagram: forms of promotion

The three main forms of promotion available to a business include above the line, through the line, and below the line
There are three main forms of promotion which are frequently combined by businesses to achieve a coherent promotional mix

Above the Line Promotion

  • Above the line promotion refers to advertising activities that are aimed at reaching a wide audience through traditional mass media channels to create awareness about a product, service, or brand.

    • These channels typically include television, radio, newspapers, magazines and outdoor advertising such as billboards

Characteristics of above the line promotion

Above the line promotion has mass reach, is non targeted, has a high cost, and builds the brand
Above the line promotion has a range of characteristics

  1. Mass reach

    • Above the line promotion aims to reach a large number of people often through broadcasting media and is designed to create brand awareness and generate interest among a wide audience

  2. Non-targeted

    • It is generally not tailored to a specific customer segment and aims to capture the attention of as many people as possible

  3. High cost

    • Traditional above the line promotion methods require significant budgets due to the costs associated with advertising on television, radio or print media

  4. Brand building

    • Above the line promotion plays a crucial role in brand building by establishing brand recognition and familiarity among consumers

Types of above the line promotion

  • Above the line promotion can be classified as being informative, persuasive or reassuring

Types of Above the Line Promotion

Classification

Explanation

Examples

Informative

  • Informative advertising focuses on providing factual information about a product, service or brand

  • Its goal is to educate and inform consumers about the features, benefits and value of a product, enabling them to make well-informed purchasing decisions

  • Pharmaceutical companies such as Bayer when releasing a new drug may decide to make an informative television advertisement that provides information on the medication's proven benefits and lists mandatory information at the end

Persuasive

  • Persuasive advertising is designed to influence consumers' attitudes and behaviours towards products or services

  • It aims to convince customers that a particular product or service is desirable, necessary or superior to alternatives in the market

  • A company selling luxury cosmetics such as Elizabeth Arden is likely to use well-known attractive celebrities in its magazine advertisements

  • Package holiday companies that aim their services at families such as Eurocamp emphasise excellent weather and use images of children having fun in printed advertisements

Reassuring

  • Reassuring advertising aims to remind existing customers that they made the right decision when choosing a particular product over those of rivals

  • It encourages customers to remain loyal and continue to purchase the product and others within the range

  • Coca Cola reassures its customers through the use of television advertising that promote a 'feel-good' response

Evaluation of Above the Line Promotion

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • Businesses can reach a large and diverse audience because mass media channels provide a high level of visibility 

  • It is effective for creating a strong brand image, enhancing brand recognition and establishing a sense of credibility and trust among consumers

  • The marketing message can be communicated in an impactful manner using sound, images and graphics

  • Above the line promotion can be expensive, especially for small businesses with limited budgets

  • As it focuses on reaching a wide audience rather than specific target segments, advertising may not effectively reach the intended audience

  • Advertising typically offers limited interaction or direct engagement with consumers

  • With the rise of digital media traditional media consumption has decreased and consumers can easily filter out or ignore advertisements. 

Below the Line Promotion

  • Below the line promotion includes marketing communications over which a business has direct control and which do not make use of mass media

The Use of Below the Line Promotions

Direct marketing

  • Involves communicating directly with customers through email, text message, social media or post

  • E.g. Takeaway restaurants distribute menus to households in the local community

Advantages and disadvantages of direct marketing

Advantages

Disadvantages

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

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

  • Can be intrusive, as customers may perceive it as spam

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

Sales promotions

  • Techniques that encourage the purchase of a product or service by offering temporary incentives or discounts

  • Examples include free samples, buy one get one free (bogof), discount coupons, loyalty cards, point-of-sale materials and rebates (customers have to mail in to receive money back)

Advantages and disadvantages of sales promotions

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • 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

  • Can be expensive, especially if the promotion requires a heavy discount

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

  • May reduce the sales of full-priced products

Personal selling

  • Where a salesperson interacts with customers one-on-one, either in person or through digital communication channels

  • E.g. Luxury skincare products are often sold by brand representatives at concession stands in department stores

Advantages and disadvantages of personal selling

Advantages

Disadvantages

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

  • Enables businesses to provide personalised advice and guidance to customers

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

  • Limited impact as it is difficult to scale to large audiences

Public relations (PR)

  • The business seeks to build relationships with the public and manage their reputation

  • Public relations activities can include sponsorship, media relations, public events and community outreach activities

  • Public relations can also involve eye-catching publicity stunts, such as SpaceX's 2018 launch of a Tesla Roadster car into space

Advantages and disadvantages of public relations

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • Can enhance a business's reputation and credibility

  • Often cost-effective when compared to advertising or personal selling

  • May achieve a wide reach as imaginative PR activity is frequently shared on social media

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

  • Specialist and expensive PR companies can often achieve the best results

Through the Line Promotion

  • Through-the-line promotion combines both above the line and below the line techniques to create a comprehensive promotional campaign

    • It allows for a holistic approach to reach customers through both mass media and personalised communications

    • A through the line promotion campaign might involve running a television commercial to create brand awareness, followed by social media advertising and targeted email marketing to reach specific customer segments and encourage them to take action

Evaluation of Through the Line Promotion

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • It combines the broad reach of advertising with the personal touch of below the line techniques which is likely to lead to increased customer engagement

  • The integrated approach can lead to better brand recognition as customers receive promotional messages in a variety of ways

  • Coordinating a multi-channel through-the-line campaign requires marketing expertise for which a business may need to employ an expensive specialist marketing agency

  • Careful planning is needed to ensure that all elements present a coherent message

 

Examiner Tips and Tricks

For most businesses, their choice of promotional techniques is limited by the budget available.

Take care to consider the costs involved in the promotional methods you recommend and ensure that you have carefully considered the financial position of the business. Low-cost methods such as social media and short-term sales promotions may be the only methods a business can afford and so considering how these may be put to best use is far more convincing than comparing them to methods that are beyond their reach.

Social Media Promotion

  • Social media marketing targets promotional activity at users of online communities such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube 

Diagram: social media platforms

Examples of social media platforms include Facebook, Twitter and Youtube
Examples of social media platforms

  • Interacting with customers in this way builds relationships, drives repeat business from existing customers and attracts new customers as content is shared with other users

Evaluation of Social Media Marketing

Advantages

Disadvantages

  • Social media platforms have billions of active users, which allows businesses to reach a vast audience across different demographics and locations

  • Social media platforms enable businesses to deliver  promotional content to specific groups based on demographics, interests and behaviours, increasing the chances of reaching the right audience

  • Businesses can create and share content easily, increasing brand visibility and exposure, which helps generate brand awareness 

  • Social media marketing can achieve organic reach and engagement without a large budget

  • Effective social media marketing requires consistent effort and time to create quality content, manage multiple platforms, and engage with the audience, which can be time-consuming, especially for small businesses with limited resources

  • Social media opens up channels for public feedback and reviews. This can include negative comments or complaints, which can be viewed by all other users

  • Social media platforms frequently update their algorithms, which may affect the visibility and reach of content

  • Businesses face the challenge of breaking through the noise and capturing users' attention amidst the large volume of competing content

  • As social media platforms evolve, businesses must also adapt their social media strategies to keep up with the latest trends

    • E.g. Instagram has been a popular platform for businesses to promote their products through influencer partnerships.

    • More recently, many businesses have shifted their focus to promoting their brands through short-form video content on platforms like TikTok

Examiner Tips and Tricks

Currently, even the smallest of businesses make extensive use of social media to control their own below the line promotions.

In your responses, you should acknowledge that these platforms are not below-the-line promotional methods themselves, rather vehicles through which below-the-line promotional activity can be shared widely with specific target markets at little - or no - cost and encourage interactivity with customers.

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    Author
    Reviewer
    Lisa Eades

    Author: Lisa Eades

    Expertise: Business Content Creator

    Lisa has taught A Level, GCSE, BTEC and IBDP Business for over 20 years and is a senior Examiner for Edexcel. Lisa has been a successful Head of Department in Kent and has offered private Business tuition to students across the UK. Lisa loves to create imaginative and accessible resources which engage learners and build their passion for the subject.

    Steve Vorster

    Author: Steve Vorster

    Expertise: Economics & Business Subject Lead

    Steve has taught A Level, GCSE, IGCSE Business and Economics - as well as IBDP Economics and Business Management. He is an IBDP Examiner and IGCSE textbook author. His students regularly achieve 90-100% in their final exams. Steve has been the Assistant Head of Sixth Form for a school in Devon, and Head of Economics at the world's largest International school in Singapore. He loves to create resources which speed up student learning and are easily accessible by all.