Andrea bocelli barilla commercial 2010

Learning Objectives

After studying this chapter, you should be able to:

• Discuss branding in terms of the contributions of consumers and marketers.

• Identify message channels in terms of their control.

• Recall three aspects of promotions requiring decisions as part of the Promotions Mix.

• Discuss marketing messages in terms of strategy, structure, and creative approach.

• Demonstrate understanding of three issues affecting promotions decisions in today’s marketplace.

Josh Gosfield/Corbis6

The Marketing Mix: Promotion

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 165 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

Introduction

Most marketing activity leads to communication activity of one kind or another, ranging from traditional advertising to cutting-edge conversations via social media. We begin exploring that communication activity with the core concept of developing and communicating branding. Then we move to how promotional strate- gies are evolving under the influence of media convergence and increasing capacities for one-to-one conversations with customers and prospects. The chapter closes with a look at the implications of humanity-centric Marketing 3.0 and access to global markets for the Promotion aspect of the marketing mix.

Promotion joins Product, Place, and Price as a “P” in the marketing mix. Promotional strategy affects three decision areas:

1. Marketing mix strategies; 2. Achieving effective market segmentation, targeting, and positioning; and 3. Enhancing revenues and profitability.

The need for organization-wide coordination and for integration of consumers into the process is fundamental to understanding Promotion’s role in the marketing mix. As you learn about the role of promotions in marketing, keep in mind this need for cross-func- tional coordination.

6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

Promotion is defined as the function of informing, persuading, and influencing con-sumers’ purchase decisions. With that in mind, our discussion of promotion must begin with how consumers experience being recipients of all that communication. Receiving attention from a marketing organization is a lot like being pursued by some- body who wants to get to know you. Promotions trigger social cues deeply embedded in human psychology. Branding is the result.

As individuals we quickly sense the personalities of others we meet based on the social cues they send us such as posture, appearance, and style. A brand does for a company what a personality does for an individual—it presents a unique (differentiated) identity that hopefully attracts and retains social relationships. A flawed personality repels rather than attracts; so does poor branding.

In the Marketing Era born out of the postwar proliferation of products and services in the 1950s, marketers began focusing on positioning their products and services. They hoped to make their offerings stand out from competitors. Branding—putting a unique identity on an offering (like branding cattle, the source of this term)—was their best hope for com- petitive differentiation. Just as DNA is the carrier of genetic information, branding carries the personality information consumers use to recognize the branded product, product line, organization, or concept. Branding is the DNA of Promotions. Branding is critical if a company wants its products to stand out among all the other products in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 166 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

To set themselves apart from the herd, brands need to tell a story. This story, termed the brand narrative, emerges from the ongoing dialogue that connects company and cus- tomer. While companies can implement a well-crafted brand strategy and maintain con- sistent brand communications, it is customers who create the brand narrative. Consumers interact with the brand through transactions and exposures and comment about their experiences through social networking and rating sites. Consumers ultimately control the brand narrative, using the information available to them in the marketplace.

Field Trip 6.1: Brand Narratives

Follow this link to read a “yellow paper” on brand narratives from DDB Worldwide Communications

Group Inc., one of the world’s most respected advertising agencies.

http://www.tribuddb.com/pdf/?d=2008&f=DDB_YP_BrandNarratives_0108

Positioning Strategy Customers may determine the brand narrative, but marketing communicators can influ- ence them as they do so. This influential activity consists of positioning products and ser- vices. Recall from Chapter 1 that positioning refers to the creation of an identity in the minds of the target market that conveys how one offering differs from com- petitors in ways meaningful to consumers.

Earlier in this book you also learned about the value prop- osition, a statement target- ing potential customers that describes why those customers should buy a specific product or use a service from a specific company. A company’s posi- tioning and branding are closely linked to its value proposition.

Positioning helps a company’s campaigns stake a claim to a specific value proposition. Branding is the related task of presenting the positioning through aspects of style—selecting specific images, phrases, colors, typefaces, music, and so on to convey a specific attitude, consistently across all campaigns and message chan- nels. Branding even extends to company cars, staff uniforms, and headquarters décor.

In January 2012 carmaker BMW of North America introduced new advertising reinforcing its positioning as the “ultimate driving machine.” The advertising tagline had been used

Brand positioning targets a specific value proposition. What market niche is BMW vying for with its “ultimate driving machine” slogan?

Bloomberg/Getty Images

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 167 6/27/12 11:11 AM

http://www.ddb.com/pdf/yellowpapers/DDB_YP_BrandNarratives_0108.pdf
CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

continuously by BMW since 1975. The new campaign promoted the tagline to a company- wide slogan. As a value proposition, the phrase promises the joy and passion for driving pleasure that BMW has become known for (Levere, 2012).

Positioning requires sacrifice, since differentiated offerings have specific value for spe- cific market niches. Certain aspects are going to be more important than others to any given market segment. Some differentiating aspects on which positioning strategy can be built include:

• Image, • Innovation, • Customer service, • Functional performance, and • Selection.

Westin Hotels developed a campaign at the start of the summer travel season in 2011 when potential guests were coping with rising gas prices and a generally weak economy. Wes- tin’s marketers chose a specific positioning strategy that promised “We help our guests feel better when they leave than when they arrived.” Print ads conveyed the message with images that suggested elements of well-being rather than stating them directly, such as

showing an image of a woman asleep on a batch of balloons. The mass-media campaign included print, digital, and outdoor ads, complemented by a social media initiative (Elliot, 2011).

The goal of positioning, as shown by these exam- ples, is to move individuals to action—to recog- nize a need, to consider options, to buy, to join, or to recommend.

Marketers Position, but Customers Determine the Brand In his book Differentiate or Die, published in 2000, Jack Trout recognized that differentiation takes place in the mind of the consumer, writing, “If you understand how the mind works, you’ll understand positioning” (Garment, 2011). The consumer is the prime focus.

Organizations do what they can through market- ing communications to position a brand, but it is customers who determine whether the brand comes to life. Marketers are learning to adapt to this new environment in which they do not con- trol the message, but collaborate with the many voices of their customers to construct a brand nar- rative. Social media provides the tools, accelerat- ing the many conversations taking place between

Westin’s positioning strategy is to “help our guests feel better when they leave than when they arrived.” How does this Renewal Lounge play into that strategy?

PR Newswire

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 168 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

the brand and its consumers, and among consumer communities—including dissenters (Wong, 2011).

Brands must behave like people in order to connect with consumers, by listening and engaging through these social-media conversations. People have friends; the parallel in marketing is a brand’s advocates. These brand-loyal consumers lead the discussion around the products and services that stir their passions. Marketers collaborate with these opinion leaders to evaluate new product ideas, marketing messages, and even co-create new products. Godiva Chocolates taps the “chocoholic” female community to drive prod- uct development—leading in one case during the economic downturn to the creation of chocolate lollipops as an answer to the need for little luxuries at easy-to-splurge-on prices (O’Malley, 2011). Some companies hire opinion leaders (for example, bloggers) to be ambassadors for their brands to specific customer communities. However, the use of com- pensation such as free merchandise, advertising support, or actual payment doesn’t guar- antee that brand ambassadors will return the favor with positive brand communications.

Marketing communications has fundamentally changed under the impact of these cus- tomer communities. This co-authoring of the brand narrative tends to make traditional marketers nervous as they lose control of brand messaging. It shouldn’t, though. Rather, this collaboration should be celebrated, as it helps achieve marketing’s primary objective: customer orientation.

Authenticity will differ from brand to brand. What is considered true to Harley-Davidson’s image will not serve for Dyson. Can you think of any other brands with differing values?

Mags Out/TV Out/Associated Press Dyson Associated Press

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 169 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

Authenticity must be part of a brand’s DNA. The brands consumers trust are those that consistently live by their values, communicating an essence that is consistent, believable, and appealing. That means something very different for Harley-Davidson, where the brand community expects an archetypal outlaw, and Dyson, with its promise of “better living through better engineering” (Smith, 2011). Given the vibrant, always-on conversa- tion among consumers, losing credibility means losing a whole network of consumers.

For an example of a brand built on authenticity, consider the story of a young British entre- preneur who became a YouTube phenomenon by teaching women how to create specific looks with makeup. As a teen, Lauren Luke experimented with makeup to counter her lack of trendy clothes and bolster her self-confidence. She began selling makeup on eBay. Luke soon discovered that photographing the makeup applied to her face rather than in containers increased sales dramatically. But responding to customer queries became so time-consuming that she decided to make a video showing people how she used her products. Luke posted her first video under the name Panacea81 (on how to achieve the smoky eye makeup look) on YouTube in 2007. The video went viral, quickly passing 1 mil- lion hits. Other makeup-tutorial videos followed and within months she began making money from YouTube’s sponsored advertising model. Within a year Sephora offered Luke her own private label line of makeup. The authenticity of Luke’s story was essential to the success of her personal brand (Wong, 2011).

Field Trip 6.2: Lauren Luke Tells Her Story

Follow the link to view Lauren Luke telling her story in a video on YouTube.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-DmL_RSTAY

Managing the Brand If customers create the brand, what can organizations do to manage brands over which they do not have ultimate control?

Marketers can help consumers have positive experiences by satisfying their expectations of authenticity, transparency, consistency, and commitment to trustworthiness. The most successful brand conversations help consumers see that they share beliefs and passions with the companies that serve them. Brand narratives feed that feeling of shared values.

Marketing communications strive to generate interaction between brand advertising in traditional message channels and the ongoing consumer conversation about the brand in social media. Marketers must participate in the consumer conversations.

Just as important is consistently delivering an excellent consumer experience. Rose Cam- eron, chief strategy officer with EuroRSGC Chicago, said in an interview with Megan O’Malley of the Journal of Integrated Marketing Communications:

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 170 6/27/12 11:11 AM

http://
CHAPTER 6Section 6.1 Branding: The DNA of Promotions

If what you design only lives in your outbound communications, but cus- tomers don’t experience it in your customer service level or product level or retail level, etc., you’re dead. If, on the other hand, your brand vision lives across all levels, you flourish. You can see this manifested by Apple . . . they’ve incorporated it in the DNA of the brand. (O’Malley, 2011, p. 14)

ConAgra dropped the ball in managing its Marie Callender’s frozen dinner brand when in 2011 it staged a special event designed to encourage food bloggers to praise the entrees. The company used a hidden camera to record reactions at the dinner, billed as a “delicious four-course meal in an intimate Italian restaurant,” as bloggers and journalists learned they had been served frozen food instead of chef-prepared creations. Bloggers were taken aback. Soon negative comments proliferated on Twitter and Facebook. ConAgra responded to the bloggers with apologies and offers to reimburse expenses for attending the dinner (Newman, 2011). ConAgra appears to be stuck in a traditional focus on seg- menting markets and developing products, rather than treating its consumers and advo- cates as partners in managing the brand.

Measuring Brand Performance Ideally, every promotion has performance measures built into its design. Pre-testing before launching the promotion provides feedback that allows marketers to make modifications to improve the campaign’s effectiveness. Post-testing measures the impact of the promo- tion and give insight into its contribution toward achieving marketing objectives. Mar- keting metrics such as pre- and post-testing, which can measure either communication effect or sales effect, are discussed in Chapter 9. Listening to the consumer conversation provides additional information that answers questions research may have failed to ask.

Tracking performance over time is an essential component of marketing management. By comparing how each iteration or evolution of the promotional program affects the brand narrative, marketers home in on the most effective appeals, message channels, and con- sumer communities. Marketers should gather and aggregate data in a manner that allows them to compare the relative impact of various mixes of promotional tools, execution choices, and situational factors.

Carrying out promotional campaigns is expensive and time-consuming. Measuring the return on that investment is crucial not just to justify that investment, but also to gain top leaders’ support for the cross-functional organizational collaboration required to execute promotional campaigns.

In summary, the implications of branding for marketers are many, but they can be under- stood in two main categories: the aspects under consumers’ control and those under mar- keter’s control. Customers experience the brand through many diverse points of contact, ranging from traditional advertising messages to conversations in which everyone from advocates to dissenters have their say. Marketers’ positioning strategy creates the identity consumers experience. Marketers’ measurement of brand performance (including listen- ing to consumer conversations) provides the feedback necessary to keep the brand narra- tive alive and aligned with its target market.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 171 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Questions to Consider

“The chief function of Marketing Communications is the creation and perpetuation of deep meaning through narrative,” proposed Terry Smith in The Marketing Review (2011).

Do you agree?

Call to mind a brand about which you feel passionate. Describe what its brand narrative means to you.

6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands Consumers are receiving messages constantly; some are welcome, but most are easy to tune out. Marketers must break through all those messages if they are to achieve their communication objectives. Positioning strategy is the chief method by which marketers attempt to penetrate all that noise. Effective promotions position brands in ways that trig- ger emotional connection, stimulate conversation, and ultimately lead to a loyal bond between company and customer.

Therefore, it follows that the ultimate mission of promotions is to strengthen brands, to draw consumers into the brand narrative with companies that share their passions. Under that broad mission, there are usually more specific promotional objectives to be served.

Objectives of a Promotion Promotions strengthen brands by conveying messages to consumers, directly or indirectly, via marketing communications. Messages that are specific and highly focused are more effective than general statements. Marketers should choose a specific task to accomplish with each promotional campaign. Some common objectives, with examples, are included in Table 6.1.

Table 6.1: Promotional objectives

Promotional Objective Example

Provide information. Lauren Luke’s 2007 video campaign demonstrating makeup application.

Increase demand. National Livestock and Meat Board 1992 campaign “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner.”

Differentiate a product. Avis Rent a Car System’s 1962 campaign “Avis: We try harder.”

Highlight a product’s value. Microsoft’s 2008 campaign “I’m a PC.”

Stabilize sales. Las Vegas Visitors and Convention Bureau’s 2003 campaign “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas.”

Marketers target a promotional objective for every marketing campaign.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 172 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Consider how the objectives in Table 6.1 differ. Once, providing information was all advertis- ing was expected to do. Messages let consumers know what was available, supported with details about how to take possession of it. The directness of this approach is still useful when the authentic personality of a brand demands an atmosphere free of “advertising hype.”

Increasing demand is the objective of most pro- motions. The aim can be to stimulate primary demand for a general product category, as in “Beef. It’s what’s for dinner,” or it can be to encourage selective demand (also referred to as secondary demand) by increasing the appeal of a specific brand, like “Buy Heartland-Quality Omaha Steaks.” Creating primary demand works on consumer interest in an entire class of offer- ings, while selective demand leverages the dif- ferentiation of a product or service to make it stand out from others in its category. It is a com- mon marketing practice for groups of advertisers to pool funds to increase primary demand for a product category in which they share a common interest. The California Milk Marketing Board’s “Got Milk?” campaign presents an example.

Compare the ad from the Wisconsin Milk Market- ing Board promoting cheese consumption with the

ad for Perdue Farms’ chicken. The cheese ad is designed to create primary demand for the general category of cheese, with the hope that cheese purchased will come from Wisconsin producers (whose efforts are supported by a state check-off program where Wisconsin dairy farmers contribute funds to pro- mote Wisconsin-produced dairy products through the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, an orga- nization overseen by a 25-mem- ber board of Wisconsin dairy farmers). The Perdue Farms ad is designed to create selec- tive demand for Perdue Farms’ brand of chicken products.

Perdue Farms’ ad for chicken emphasizes its superiority over competing chicken products. How does this differ from the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s ad?

Perdue Farms

The Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board’s ad for cheese focuses on creating demand for a general product category. Can you name other ads that work to stimulate primary demand?

Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board, Inc.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 173 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Differentiating a product requires finding the value proposition that makes an emotional connection with potential customers. The advertiser must promise a specific benefit that no competitor can claim, in a way that compels potential customers to take action. The Avis “We Try Harder” campaign is credited with causing the company’s market share to grow from 11 percent in 1962 to 35 percent in 1966 and was so effective the slogan became the company’s motto, still in use (Avis-Cyprus, 2011). Differentiation can be conveyed in many ways besides advertising jingles, of course. Design elements, such as stationery, retail ambience, and website design all contribute to differentiating a product or service. Highlighting a product’s value differentiates it on the dimension of price, emphasizing the greater service utility provided when compared to competitors charging the same price.

Stabilizing sales is a helpful goal when demand for a product or service fluctuates. Sea- sons, usage cycles, and even weather events can cause changes in demand. Tourist desti- nations like Las Vegas run ads to fill hotel rooms during off-peak times of year.

Components of the Promotional Mix Message channels carry marketing communications. The choice of message channels to be used is a key component of the Promotions aspect of the marketing mix.

Promotional strategies will typically emphasize either personal selling (which can be face-to-face or via technology) or nonpersonal selling (through advertising, direct mar- keting, and other channels that lack the interactive person-to-person experience). Promo- tional strategies will use either push or pull techniques, stimulating end-users or channel intermediaries, as was discussed in Chapter 4.

Message channels are proliferating rapidly. Marketing organizations are starting to look at their Promotional Mix in terms of ownership, control, and desired outcome. The POES model (derived from “Paid, Owned, Earned, Shared”) was originally developed to describe online media but has proven applicable to offline media as well. This framework (depicted in Table 6.2) assigns each message channel to one of four quadrants based on whether it is controlled by the company/brand or by others over whom the company has no control—stakeholders including consumers, commentators, and others.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 174 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Table 6.2: POES model of message channels

Message Channels

Brand-controlled PAID Advertising media Direct marketing Experiential marketing Sales promotions Trade allowances Product placement Sponsorships Public relations Brand ambassadors Guerilla marketing

OWNED Company website Company blog In-store marketing Personal selling

Stakeholder-controlled EARNED Media coverage Review sites

SHARED Buzz (word of mouth) Facebook Twitter Blogs Other social media

Some of the categories in the POES model need more explanation than others. Brief definitions follow in the list below; some message channels are discussed in more detail later in this chapter.

Paid message channels require investment, regardless of whether the content is created in-house or purchased from advertising agencies or other marketing service providers.

• Advertising media: Traditional paid vehicles by which promotional messages are communicated to the public, such as newspaper, radio, and television.

• Direct marketing: Promotional techniques that use impersonal media to persuade consumers to take direct action.

• Experiential marketing: Planned encounters that engage consumers’ senses to create lasting impressions online, in the physical world, or both.

• Sales promotions: Short-term offers using paid media to stimulate consumer pur- chases by offering reasons to buy in addition to service utility and price.

• Trade allowances: Like sales promotions, but directed to channel partners rather than end consumers.

• Product placement: An advertising technique to subtly promote products through appearances in film, television, or other media.

• Sponsorships: Cash and/or in-kind fee paid to a property (typically a celebrity) in return for endorsements and other exploitable commercial potential associated with that property.

• Public relations: Building good relations with an organization’s various pub- lics (customers, employees, investors, suppliers, etc.) through seeking favor- able publicity and other nonpaid forms of communication such as support of

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 175 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

arts, charitable causes, etc. Companies pay for public relations activity on their behalf, not to be confused with the resulting media coverage, which cannot be purchased.

• Brand ambassadors: Individuals who serve as the face of their client company at promotional events.

• Guerilla marketing: Unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. The term “Guerilla Marketing” is a registered trademark of author Jay Levinson who popularized it through his several “Gue- rilla” books.

Owned message channels are distinguished from paid message channels by the likelihood they would exist even if not called for as a component of a specific marketing plan. The distinction between paid and owned media is somewhat fluid.

• Company website: The company’s online home for information about its offer- ings, organization, career opportunities, and more.

• Company blog: The company’s online journal consisting of chronological entries that typically include short articles and links to further resources.

• In-store marketing: Marketing dollars spent inside a retail store in the form of store design, merchandising, visual displays, or promotions.

• Personal selling: Personal contact by members of a company’s sales force intended to make sales or build customer relationships.

Earned message channels are similar to paid channels in that they exist for the purpose of communicating with consumers; however, coverage in earned channels cannot be purchased.

• Media coverage: Information presented in mass media about a company by reporters; may result from public relations activity.

• Review sites: Websites on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services, such as Yelp and Angie’s List.

Shared message channels arise from consumers’ interest in engagement through dialogue in online communities.

• Buzz (word of mouth): Anything that creates excitement or stimulus, such as a recommendation by a satisfied customer; leverages consumers’ interest to gener- ate marketing messages.

• Facebook: A social networking website with more than 800 million active users in 2011 (Facebook, 2012).

• Twitter: Social networking website enabling its users to send and read other users’ messages of up to 140 characters, called tweets, with more than 100 million active users and an average number of tweets nearing 230 million reported in September 2011 (McMillan, 2011).

• Blogs: Online journals consisting of chronological entries on which an individual or group of users regularly post their opinions, information, photos, etc.

• Other social media: Similar to Facebook are other social networks such as Tribe .net, LinkedIn, Myspace, and so on.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 176 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

The categories in the POES model provide a useful framework for integrating marketing communication strategies across corporate functions such as sales, marketing, and public relations. A marketing plan can specify investment in Paid and Owned message channels. It can specify effort and invest- ment to be directed toward Earned and Shared message channels, including paying indi- viduals to pursue coverage. But a marketing plan cannot guaran- tee those messages will appear —stakeholders, not advertisers, control these channels.

Each message channel in the Promotional Mix represents a potential consumer touch- point—the basic building block of brand experience. The quality of the consumer experience at each touchpoint will influence consumers’ relationship with the brand, affecting subsequent actions. This fact challenges marketers to deliver compelling, consistent experiences through all message channels. Even an advertisement printed in a newspaper attempts to create an experience compelling enough that readers will remember its message.

Developing the optimal Promotional Mix to serve a specific objective is discussed a little later in this chapter; first we must examine trends influencing how various message chan- nels perform. Effective promotions require that the Promotional Mix be coordinated with the entire marketing mix—and vice versa.

On the Decline: Traditional Advertising Techniques As a message channel, traditional paid mass-media advertising is losing its relevance. Its nonpersonal nature, the difficulty of tracking results, and its high cost are all work- ing against the “old-school” advertising channels such as broadcast and cable television, radio, and magazines and newspapers.

The impersonal nature of mass media (and even targeted media, to some extent) detracts from its ability to engage the message recipient. It is less effective at stimulating action than more personal message channels. Technology that allows consumers to avoid adver- tising has proliferated, such as digital video recorders and advertising-free cable and sat- ellite media.

Traditional advertising was never a very effective option for businesses to reach other busi- ness buyers. Only limited advertising media options exist to reach businesspeople in even the largest industries. Personal selling has traditionally been the relied-on approach for

The social networking website Facebook is an example of a shared message channel that serves consumers’ interest in dialogue via online communities.

age fotostock/SuperStock

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 177 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

B2B marketing. Personal selling allows relationships to build in which the seller becomes knowledgeable about the buyer’s preferences, budget, and decision process. Personal sell- ing is no less expensive than advertising media, however; both require significant invest- ment. In the age of social media conversations, personal selling maintains its relevance, since salespeople are individuals who can credibly participate in social media. Traditional advertising has not held onto its relevance so well.

On the brand-controlled side of the Promotional Mix, media convergence now character- izes many message channels. The messages delivered in the past through newspapers, magazines, books, radio, and television are increasingly delivered to consumers through one digital delivery system—the Internet. At the same time media are converging onto the Internet, the screens on which those media are viewed are multiplying. Marketers are struggling to keep up with the latest menu of media channels, technology for access- ing them, and consumers’ behaviors and preferences regarding the brand messages they receive through them.

The best available screen theory explains consumer behavior in a media-convergent world. The ESPN Network began to research cross-media behavior in 2002 with a study on consumption of ESPN media platforms. In 2010 published results of ESPN’s research revealed that sports fans might watch ESPN on TV while preparing for work, listen to an ESPN radio program in the car on the way in, use ESPN.com online to keep up with sports news while at work, and bring up ESPN Mobile on a smartphone while out and about—choosing the best available screen depending on their location at any time. The advertiser who wants to reach those sports fans will need to follow them throughout the day, offering relevant messaging and building on each touchpoint (Enoch and Johnson, 2010). The lesson for marketers designing a Promotional Mix strategy? Be where targeted consumers are throughout the day—to the extent budgets allow.

Advertisers with deep pockets like ESPN’s aren’t leaving traditional advertising media behind—they’re following their target market from screen to screen. But companies with fewer resources or narrower target markets cannot do so. These companies must turn to other tactics—like direct marketing or greater collaboration with consumers.

On the Rise: Direct Marketing and Consumer-Generated Marketing As media convergence has left marketers uncertain how to best use mass-media channels, they have been turning their attention to direct marketing and consumer- generated marketing.

In Chapter 2 the shift from mass-market toward one-to-one campaigns was discussed. This shift, in response to the waning effectiveness of mass-media advertising, is bringing marketers back to the time-tested methodology of direct marketing.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 178 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Direct marketing can take many forms, including direct mail, telephone sales, and e-mails. Like personal selling, direct marketing offers the potential for interaction between seller and prospective buyer. It can be easily customized to specific market niches and even individual recipients. The return on marketing investment is easier to judge, since direct marketing campaigns trigger specific responses that can be measured. Direct marketing requires sophisticated database technology to provide the customer or prospect data to address the campaign and to gather response data after they are delivered.

Use of direct marketing by mail and e-mail is increasing due to the availability of customer information systems, new printing technologies, and the increasing ability to customize content online and to interact with consumers there (Kerin, 2009). Sellers appreciate that direct marketing is more directly tied to sales results and provides more data for analysis, leading to better targeting of prospective customers over time.

Also drawing marketers’ attention are the new media in which consumers generate the message, through word of mouth (buzz) and social media. The term “social media” was coined in 2007 to refer to social networking sites. Since then, social media (meaning Web applications that encourage user-generated content) has become a respected (if not yet well-understood) marketing and communications channel (Wong, 2011). Consumer deci- sions have become increasingly influenced by their peers. Through review sites like Yelp, brand advocates enthuse about their favorites and disgruntled consumers share their peeves. Consumers are more likely to trust these voices than to trust advertisers, even as companies become more active on social networks.

How are marketers responding to this trend? Consider the following example from the travel industry, where hotels are turning to social media to connect with travelers. Their customers have increasingly moved to booking flights through online travel agencies. Once on those sites, purchasing a flight, it becomes irresistibly easy to book hotel rooms that the travel sites suggest as add-ons. Hotels are attempting to capture those travelers’ bookings, catching up with them at the point where a recommendation turns into booking a reservation.

Facebook pages for companies like Kimpton Hotels present a way to start a conversation with potential guests. By reaching out through social media, hotels make sure their book- ing engines are available where the customers are, rather than hoping the customer will look for them. The richness of social media lets hotels do more than just book a reserva- tion—they can engage in dialogue to find out the guest’s preference (for example, what to stock in the minibar). That kind of personal service helps hotels give customers more reasons to stay, thus building customer loyalty.

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 179 6/27/12 11:11 AM

CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

Field Trip 6.3: Social Media Encourages Dialogue

Visit Facebook to explore how hotels are using social media to lure travelers by catching them where they get recommendations from friends. As you browse, note how many posts and links come from individuals eager to get or give recommendations for travel accommodations, as opposed to compa- nies promoting their own offerings.

Kimpton Hotel and Restaurants:

http://www.facebook.com/Kimpton?sk=wall

Renaissance Hotels:

http://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceHotels?sk=wall

Social media must be seen as more than just an increasingly important message chan- nel: It’s a new genre of social communication. Consumers’ friends, peers, and even total strangers’ postings now influence consumers more than advertisers (Wong, 2011). The consumer-generated marketing content of these conversations, sometimes called buzz, is the latest twist in the message channel word of mouth. When people start sharing brand messages for their entertainment value, the buzz goes viral. Word-of-mouth is as old as the back fence and the corner store, wherever neighbors meet and talk. What’s different today is that social media now amplifies word-of-mouth so that it reaches peer communi- ties—and beyond—instantly.

Buzz marketing is popular among marketers as a message channel strategy, especially when young people are the target audience—the teens and 20-somethings who tend to be most skeptical of mass-media advertising (Kotler, 2006). To be “buzzable” a company’s offerings need to be:

• Exciting or innovative—real news gets buzz that advertising promises seldom attract,

• A personal experience—like travel or entertainment—that moves an individual emotionally, and

• Best of class—or the buzz will be negative.

The first campaign acknowledged in the marketing community as intentionally viral was Burger King’s use of the “Subservient Chicken” to promote its TenderCrisp chicken strips. The website featured a costumed chicken character responding to typed commands. The idea was to connect viewers’ actions to Burger King’s tagline, “Have it your way.” A “tell a friend” button on the site encouraged sharing. According to Burger King, the site received more than 46 million hits in the week following its launch in April 2004 (Kotler, 2006).

While some viral campaigns are created by marketers, like Burger King’s Subservient Chicken, others are generated by consumers who are brand-passionate. A viral marketing campaign emerged during Barack Obama’s run for president in 2007. A video created by Ben Relles and Rich Friedrich for BarelyPolitical.com (producers of political satire) fea- tured a sensuous young woman singing “I Got a Crush on Obama” in which she expressed her admiration for the candidate. Uploaded to YouTube in June 2007, the video drew thousands of views within hours. A series of “Obama Girl” videos followed. The clips

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 180 6/27/12 11:11 AM

http://www.facebook.com/Kimpton?sk=wall
http://www.facebook.com/RenaissanceHotels?sk=wall
CHAPTER 6Section 6.2 Using Promotions to Strengthen Brands

In the bigger picture of Promotional Mix strategies, what value does an uncontrollable message channel like buzz marketing have? Not only are marketers asking, “Where’s the ROMI?”; they’re worrying about what’s at stake when the public takes a message and runs with it.

The consensus is that buzz campaigns should tie the entertaining message to something of value that produces a measurable result, like use of a coupon. For example, Groupon often requires a minimum number of customers for the daily deals to be offered, a strategy intended to encourage people to share the offers with their friends through social media, and that produces tracking data when each groupon is redeemed.

Promotions strengthen brands while aiming at a specific tactical objective, such as provid- ing information, increasing demand, differentiating a product, highlighting its value, or stabilizing sales. Promotional strategies (which may be personal or nonpersonal, and may employ a push or pull tactic) require selecting a Promotional Mix, choosing from message channels in four categories. The Paid and Owned categories are brand-controlled, while the Earned and Shared categories are stakeholder-controlled. As marketers adjust to a world in which consumers trust their peers more than advertisers, their Promotional Mix

contributed to the perception that supporting Obama was hip. While the Obama campaign did use planned social media to reach out to youth, creating brand conversations that made them feel they were part of the political change, the campaign had no role in the creation of Obama Girl (Wong, 2011).

The stories of Burger King’s Subservient Chicken and Bare- lyPolitical.com’s Obama Girl are reminders that in the world of social media, successful mar- keters don’t just communicate messages—they provide value through entertainment (DeBi- ase, 2011).

The first viral marketing campaign was Burger King’s “Subservient Chicken.” The campaign transformed Burger King’s tagline “have it your way” into an engaging activity.

FilmMagic/Getty Images

Field Trip 6.4: Obama Girl Goes Viral

The Obama Girl video was named by Newsweek a top 10 meme of the decade and the Webby Awards a top Internet moment of all time. Obama Girl videos have been viewed over 120 million times.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU

http://obamagirl.com/story.html

whi80045_06_c06_165-202.indd 181 6/27/12 11:11 AM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wKsoXHYICqU
http://obamagirl.com/story.html
CHAPTER 6Section 6.3 Promotional Mix Decisions

selections are trending toward direct marketing and social media, while depending less on traditional advertising media. However, they are wrestling with two issues: how to measure results, and how to manage the loss of control inherent in the consumer-gener- ated conversations in Earned and Shared media channels.

Questions to Consider

“Obama Girl” was not controlled by the Obama campaign—in fact, candidate Obama told the Asso- ciated Press that the Obama Girl video had upset his daughters (Falcone, 2007). What issues about social media and marketing does this raise?

Are marketers better off using brand-controlled (Paid or Owned channels) to avoid the loss of control associated with stakeholder-controlled (Earned or Shared) channels?

6.3 Promotional Mix Decisions

Promotional Mix decisions involve (1) choosing the right message channel to reach target customers, and (2) developing the right message to send them. To do this, marketers need an understanding of communications—how messages get from a sender to a receiver and what occurs as a result.

Frameworks for Understanding Communications In the communication process senders encode messages in language, media carry the messages, and receivers decode the language of the messages. Consider the following text message exchange: