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Promotion Decisions: The Communication Mix and Budget

The tools a firm uses to communicate with its market, how they are combined, and how the budget is set.

Uses ideas from Brand Management. Which ideas

5 conceptsAbout 19 min
2 cited passagesHow they are marked

Documented 0 of them. The passage exists in a named text, and the modern concept is a fair reading of what it says.

My view 2 of them. An interpretive parallel. The text does not discuss the modern concept; the link is a reading offered for reflection, not a claim about what the authors meant.

Start with the first concept
01 / 05The promotion mix
Part one

The concepts

Concept 1 of 5.

The promotion mix

The tools a firm uses to talk to its market, and how they are combined.

Before you read

A producer advertises to consumers so that they ask shops for the product. Is that a push strategy?

Core idea

The promotion mix is the set of tools a firm uses to inform, persuade and remind, combined through IMC into one consistent message.

A new masala brand from Indore has ₹50 lakh to make itself known. It could run TV ads, give free samples in kirana stores, send salespeople to distributors, or set up a stall at a food fest. Choosing and combining these is the promotion decision.

In plain wordsThe promotion mix is the set of tools a firm uses to talk to its market, and the way it combines them.

Exam definitionMarketing communications are the means by which firms attempt to inform, persuade and remind consumers, directly or indirectly, about the products and brands they sell (Kotler and Keller).

Marketing communications are the voice of the company and its brands, and a way to build a dialogue with consumers. The promotion mix (marketing communications mix) is the blend of tools used for this. Its objectives are to inform, persuade, remind and, in social causes, modify behaviour.

ToolMeaningStrengths
AdvertisingAny paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsorReaches large audiences at low cost per exposure; builds image
Sales promotionShort-term incentives to encourage purchase: coupons, discounts, contests, samplesQuick response; boosts short-term sales
Personal sellingPersonal presentation by the sales force to make sales and build relationshipsTwo-way, adaptable; best at the stage of conviction and purchase
Public relationsBuilding good relations with the public through publicity, events and handling of storiesCredible; reaches people who avoid advertising
Direct and digital marketingDirect connections with targeted individuals: mail, email, phone, SMS, online and mobileTargeted, immediate, measurable

For the masala brand, ads build awareness and free sachets in kirana stores win trial. Salespeople persuade distributors to stock it, and a cooking contest at a food fest earns press coverage.

Kotler and Keller (14th edition) list eight modes: advertising, sales promotion, events and experiences, public relations and publicity, direct marketing, interactive (online) marketing, word-of-mouth marketing and personal selling. Later editions fold the online modes into online and social media marketing and mobile marketing.

Integrated marketing communications (IMC) is, in the AMA's definition, “a planning process designed to assure that all brand contacts received by a customer or prospect for a product, service, or organization are relevant to that person and consistent over time”. It takes a ‘360-degree view’ of the consumer and makes someone responsible for unifying the brand's messages. Integrated marketing, more broadly, designs every activity with all the others in mind, so that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Push and pull. A firm can promote through the channel or around it.

PUSH Producer Channel Consumers Personal selling, trade promotion PULL Producer Channel Consumers Advertising, consumer promotion
Push sells to the channel, which sells on. Pull builds consumer demand, and consumers' requests pull the product through the channel (black arrows).
StrategyHow it worksMain tools
PushThe producer promotes to channel members, who promote to final buyersPersonal selling and trade promotion
PullThe producer promotes to final consumers, who ask channel members for the productAdvertising and consumer promotion

AIDA (attention, interest, desire, action), usually credited to E. St. Elmo Lewis (1898), is the oldest model of how buyers respond to communication.

Don't confuse the promotion mix with the marketing mix. Promotion is one of the 4Ps; the promotion mix is the set of tools inside that one P. Likewise, sales promotion is one tool in the promotion mix, not another name for it.

Where it breaks. The tools overlap: an influencer's post is digital marketing and word of mouth at once. IMC is hard to run when different agencies and departments own different tools.

For exams. Expect the definition of each tool, push matched with personal selling and trade promotion, pull with advertising and consumer promotion, and AIDA with Lewis.

Advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, PR, direct marketing.

Check yourself

1. Any paid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor is…

Not quite. The answer is “Advertising”. Paid, non-personal and openly sponsored is advertising. Public relations relies largely on publicity the firm does not pay for or control.

2. A cement maker's salespeople visit dealers and offer them extra cases for bulk orders, so that dealers recommend the brand to builders. This is…

Not quite. The answer is “A push strategy”. Personal selling and trade promotion to channel members push the product down the channel. Pull would mean advertising to builders so they ask dealers for it.

3. A brand's TV ads promise luxury while its shop staff push discounts and its website looks cheap. Which idea is it failing at?

Not quite. The answer is “Integrated marketing communications”. IMC aims to make every brand contact relevant and consistent over time. AIDA describes how a buyer responds to one message, not consistency across contacts.

Ancient lens
  1. My view

    Persuasive communication and speech that binds

    Advertising aims to hold its audience and reach even those not yet listening. The Kuṟaḷ describes true speech as speech that binds its hearers and makes even those who were not listening want to hear. It is about eloquence, not paid media.

    A reading offered for reflection, not a claim about what the authors meant.

    “True speech binds those who hear it and makes even those who did not hear it long for it.” கேட்டார்ப் பிணிக்கும் தகையவாய்க் கேளாரும் வேட்ப மொழிவதாம் சொல். Tirukkuṟaḷ 643

    About this text: TirukkuṟaḷDiscuss

    What it adds

    The ideal of speech that binds its hearers and makes even those who did not hear it long to.

    Where they differ

    The couplet is about eloquence. The promotion mix adds paid media and other tools, coordinated through IMC into one message.

Reflect & discuss

“Think of a recent purchase. Which promotion tools reached you before you bought, and which one tipped the decision?”

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One-page summary
The promotion mix
  • Five tools: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, direct and digital marketing.
  • Kotler and Keller list eight modes, adding events and experiences, interactive and word-of-mouth marketing.
  • IMC keeps every brand contact relevant and consistent over time.
  • Push works through channel members; pull works through final consumers.
Remember

Advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, PR, direct marketing.

Recall it from a blank page
Concept 2 of 5.

Developing effective communications

Eight steps, from target audience to managing IMC.

Before you read

Is getting consumers to recognise a brand harder than getting them to recall it unprompted?

Core idea

Plan communication backwards: audience and objectives first, then message, channels, budget, mix and results.

A public-sector bank launches a mobile app and wants pensioners to use it. A clever ad on the wrong channel, or aimed at the wrong person, will be wasted. Effective communication is planned in steps, starting with who must hear it.

The rule is to plan backwards: decide whom to reach and what they should do, then what to say, who says it, and where. Kotler and Keller set out eight steps.

StepWhat it involves
1 Identify the target audiencePotential buyers, current users, deciders and influencers; individuals, groups, particular publics or the general public
2 Determine the objectivesCategory need, brand awareness, brand attitude or purchase intention (see below)
3 Design the communicationsWhat to say (message strategy), how to say it (creative strategy) and who should say it (message source)
4 Select the channelsPersonal and non-personal channels
5 Establish the total budgetAffordable, percentage-of-sales, competitive-parity or objective-and-task
6 Decide on the communications mixAllocate the budget across the modes
7 Measure the resultsCheck what the audience recalls, how it feels and what it does
8 Manage integrated marketing communicationsKeep every message and channel consistent over time

The bank, step by step. The audience is pensioners, with their grown-up children as influencers. The first objective is awareness, then purchase intention: downloading the app. The message stresses safety and ease; a demonstration ad shows a pension being checked in three taps. The source is a branch manager customers already trust. Channels are branch posters and staff (personal), plus SMS and newspapers (non-personal).

ObjectiveMeaning
Category needEstablish the need for the category, as any new-to-the-world product such as early electric cars must
Brand awarenessHelp consumers recognise or recall the brand within the category; recognition is easier to achieve than recall
Brand attitudeHelp consumers judge the brand's ability to meet a relevant need: problem-solution appeals for cleaning products, sensory appeals for foods
Brand purchase intentionMove consumers to decide to buy, or to take a purchase-related action

Message, creative and source. The message strategy looks for appeals and themes that tie to the brand's positioning and its points of parity and difference. Creative strategy uses informational appeals, which elaborate on attributes and benefits (problem-solution, demonstration, comparison and testimonial ads). Or it uses transformational appeals, which elaborate on a non-product benefit or image, such as what kind of person uses the brand. Attractive or popular sources win more attention and recall, which is why firms use celebrities.

ChannelForms
PersonalTwo or more people communicating directly, face to face, by phone or online, allowing individual presentation and feedback: advocate channels (company salespeople), expert channels (independent experts) and social channels (neighbours, friends, family)
Non-personal (mass)Communications directed to more than one person: media (print, broadcast, electronic, display), atmospheres (packaged environments that reinforce leanings toward a product) and events

Don't confuse informational with transformational appeals. Informational appeals argue from the product: what it does and why it is better. Transformational appeals argue from feelings and image: who you become by using it. A demonstration is informational even when it is entertaining.

Where it breaks. The steps look like a straight line, but in practice the budget often limits the objectives, and results send planners back to the start. A famous source can also overshadow the brand, and the source's troubles become the brand's troubles.

In practice. Start from the audience and the objective, not from a favourite medium. Choose the source the audience trusts, not the one the firm admires.

Audience, objectives, design, channels, budget, mix, results.

Check yourself

1. A new-to-the-world product must first establish…

Not quite. The answer is “Category need”. Buyers must see a need for the whole category before any brand matters. Brand awareness comes after people want the category at all.

2. A bank's ad shows a pensioner checking her pension in three taps on the app. Which kind of appeal is it?

Not quite. The answer is “Informational: a demonstration”. A demonstration elaborates on what the product does, so it is informational. Transformational appeals work through image, such as who uses the brand.

3. For the pensioner app, which message source is most likely to be trusted?

Not quite. The answer is “A branch manager customers already know”. Choose the source the audience trusts. A source the firm admires may mean little to pensioners.

Reflect & discuss

“Recall an advertisement that persuaded you. Was its appeal informational or transformational, and who was the source?”

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One-page summary
Developing effective communications
  • Steps: audience, objectives, design, channels, budget, mix, results, managing IMC.
  • Objectives: category need, brand awareness, brand attitude, brand purchase intention.
  • Design: message, creative (informational or transformational) and source.
  • Channels are personal (advocate, expert, social) or non-personal (media, atmospheres, events).
Remember

Audience, objectives, design, channels, budget, mix, results.

Recall it from a blank page
Concept 3 of 5.

Setting the promotion budget

Four ways to decide how much to spend, and why they give different answers.

Before you read

Is matching what competitors spend the most logical way to set a budget?

Core idea

The affordable, percentage-of-sales, competitive-parity and objective-and-task methods give different budgets; objective and task is the most logical.

A snack maker in Pune must decide how much to spend on promotion next year. Four common methods give four answers, from ₹40 lakh to ₹1 crore.

In plain wordsThe promotion budget is the money set aside to communicate with the market, and the method is the logic used to arrive at it.

Exam definitionA standard textbook definition of the objective-and-task method: define specific objectives, determine the tasks needed to achieve them, and estimate the cost of those tasks; the sum of the costs is the budget.

MethodHow it worksWeakness
AffordableSpend what the company thinks it can afford after other costsIgnores promotion's effect on sales; budget varies year to year
Percentage of salesSpend a set percentage of current or forecast salesTreats sales as the cause of promotion rather than its result
Competitive parityMatch competitors' spendingCompetitors' needs and wisdom may differ
Objective and taskDefine objectives, set the tasks to achieve them, cost the tasks; the total is the budgetDemanding to estimate, but the most logical

Work it out. An illustration: the snack maker forecasts sales of ₹24 crore next year.

  • Affordable: after all other costs and the profit the owners want, ₹40 lakh is left.
  • Percentage of sales: at 3% of forecast sales, 0.03 × ₹24 crore = ₹72 lakh.
  • Competitive parity: the main rival spends about ₹1 crore, so the firm matches it.
  • Objective and task: the objective is awareness among 30% of target buyers in Maharashtra, and stock in 10,000 shops. The tasks cost ₹45 lakh for a regional ad campaign, ₹15 lakh for sampling, ₹12 lakh for display allowances to shops, and ₹3 lakh to measure awareness. Total: 45 + 15 + 12 + 3 = ₹75 lakh.

In competitive parity, firms aim at share-of-voice parity with rivals. Share of voice is a brand's promotion spending as a share of all promotion spending in its category. If the whole category spends ₹5 crore, the rival's ₹1 crore is a 20% share of voice (1 ÷ 5 = 0.2).

Don't confuse share of voice with market share. Share of voice measures a brand's share of the category's promotion; market share measures its share of the category's sales. A small brand can shout loudly and still sell little.

Where it breaks. The difficulty is captured in a saying usually credited to the retailer John Wanamaker: half the money spent on advertising is wasted; the trouble is knowing which half. Objective and task is the most logical method, but it assumes the firm knows what each task will achieve, which is the hard part.

For exams. Objective and task is “the most logical”; percentage of sales “treats sales as the cause of promotion”; affordable “ignores promotion's effect on sales”; competitive parity uses share of voice.

Go deeper for practitioners

A decision. Sales fall 10% in a slow year. Under percentage of sales, the budget falls 10% too, just when the brand may need support. Under objective and task, the question is different: which tasks still matter, and what do they cost? The answer may be a smaller budget, but it is reasoned, not automatic.

Combining methods. A firm can build the budget by objective and task, then check it against percentage of sales (can we carry it?) and share of voice (will we be heard?). Sharp disagreement suggests unrealistic objectives.

Objective and task is the most logical method.

Check yourself

1. Which method treats sales as the cause of promotion rather than its result?

Not quite. The answer is “Percentage of sales”. It spends a set share of sales, so falling sales cut the budget. The affordable method's flaw is different: it ignores promotion's effect on sales altogether.

2. A firm forecasts sales of ₹24 crore and spends 3% of forecast sales on promotion. What is its budget?

Not quite. The answer is “₹72 lakh”. 0.03 × ₹24 crore = ₹0.72 crore = ₹72 lakh. ₹75 lakh is the objective-and-task total in the example, not 3% of sales.

3. A whole category spends ₹5 crore on promotion and a rival spends ₹1 crore. What is the rival's share of voice?

Not quite. The answer is “20%”. Share of voice = ₹1 crore ÷ ₹5 crore = 20%. 25% would be ₹1 crore divided by the other brands' ₹4 crore.

Ancient lens
  1. My view

    The affordable method and giving within one's means

    The affordable method sets spending by what the firm can bear. The Kuṟaḷ says to give according to the measure of one's means: that is the way to give while keeping one's wealth. The couplet concerns a ruler's or householder's gifts, not a promotion budget.

    A reading offered for reflection, not a claim about what the authors meant.

    “Give with knowledge of the measure of your means; that is the way to give while guarding your wealth.” ஆற்றின் அளவறிந்து ஈக அதுபொருள் போற்றி வழங்கு நெறி. Tirukkuṟaḷ 477

    About this text: TirukkuṟaḷDiscuss

    What it adds

    The counsel to give according to the measure of one's means, so as to give while guarding one's wealth.

    Where they differ

    The couplet concerns a ruler's or householder's gifts. The chapter treats the affordable method as weak, since it ignores promotion's effect on sales.

Reflect & discuss

“If you ran promotion for a small business you know, which budget method would you use, and what would its weakness be?”

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One-page summary
Setting the promotion budget
  • Affordable: what is left after other costs; ignores the effect on sales.
  • Percentage of sales treats sales as the cause; competitive parity copies rivals and aims at share of voice.
  • Objective and task costs the tasks needed to reach the objectives.
  • Share of voice is a brand's share of category promotion spending, not of sales.
Remember

Objective and task is the most logical method.

Recall it from a blank page
Concept 4 of 5.

Advertising

Its qualities, the 5 Ms, objectives, and reach, frequency and impact.

Before you read

Is advertising only an expense?

Core idea

Advertising is paid, non-personal and openly sponsored; its decisions follow the 5 Ms: mission, money, message, media and measurement.

A regional two-wheeler brand books ads on cricket broadcasts before Diwali. Should it show the ad once to many people, or many times to fewer? What should the ad try to do? Advertising decisions answer such questions in order.

In plain wordsAdvertising is a message a firm pays to place in a medium, openly in its own name, to reach many people at once.

Exam definitionAdvertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor (Kotler and Keller).

Advertising reaches scattered buyers, builds a long-term image or triggers quick sales. Its qualities are public presentation, pervasiveness (the message can be repeated many times), amplified expressiveness (dramatising the brand through print, sound and colour), impersonality, and control over what the message stresses.

Its forms include print and broadcast ads, outer packaging and inserts, cinema, posters and leaflets, brochures, directories, billboards, point-of-purchase displays, advertorials, infomercials, and online banner, video and social media ads.

MDecision
MissionSetting the objectives
MoneyDeciding the budget
MessageGenerating, evaluating and executing the message, and checking its social responsibility
MediaChoosing reach, frequency and impact, the media types and vehicles, and timing
MeasurementEvaluating the communication and sales effects
KindAimTwo-wheeler example
InformativeCreate awareness and knowledge of new products or featuresA new model with better mileage is launched
PersuasiveCreate liking, preference, conviction and purchaseWhy this model beats its rivals
ReminderStimulate repeat purchaseThe brand's name shown during the festive season
ReinforcementConvince current buyers they made the right choiceHappy owners describe two years of trouble-free riding

Budget factors: the stage in the product life cycle, market share and consumer base, competition and clutter, the advertising frequency needed, and how substitutable the product is. Although treated as a current expense, part of advertising is an investment in brand equity.

Media. Media selection finds the most cost-effective media to deliver the desired number and type of exposures. Three measures matter: reach (how many people are exposed at least once), frequency (how often the average person is exposed) and impact (the qualitative value of an exposure). Reach times frequency gives gross rating points (GRPs), the total weight of a schedule.

GRPs = reach (% of target audience) × average frequency

If the cricket ads reach 60% of the target audience an average of 4 times, the schedule delivers 60 × 4 = 240 GRPs. Reaching 40% six times also gives 240 GRPs, to fewer people, more often.

As traditional mass media lose effectiveness, advertisers use more alternative media. Effectiveness is measured both as a communication effect (on awareness, knowledge or preference) and as a sales effect.

Don't confuse advertising with publicity. Advertising is paid for, carries the sponsor's name and says what the sponsor chooses. Publicity is coverage the firm does not pay for and does not control, which is why it is more credible. Also keep reminder (buy again) apart from reinforcement (you chose well).

Where it breaks. Sales effects are hard to measure, because price, distribution and competitors move sales too. Clutter and ad-skipping weaken each exposure.

Go deeper for practitioners

A decision: reach or frequency? With a fixed budget, more of one means less of the other. Kotler and Keller's guidance: reach matters most when launching new products, brand extensions or flanker brands, or when the target market is not well defined. Frequency matters most when competitors are strong, the story is complex, buyers resist the message, or the product is bought often.

For the two-wheeler brand launching a new model, that points to reach first; for an established brand in a crowded festive season, frequency may matter more.

Mission, money, message, media, measurement.

Check yourself

1. Advertising that aims to convince current buyers they made the right choice is…

Not quite. The answer is “Reinforcement advertising”. Reinforcement reassures people who have already bought. Reminder advertising aims at the next purchase.

2. A newspaper writes a story about a start-up without being paid, and the start-up cannot change the wording. This is…

Not quite. The answer is “Publicity”. Advertising is paid and the sponsor controls the message. Unpaid coverage the firm cannot control is publicity, which is why readers find it more credible.

3. A schedule reaches 60% of the target audience an average of 4 times. How many gross rating points does it deliver?

Not quite. The answer is “240”. GRPs = reach × average frequency = 60 × 4 = 240. 64 adds the two numbers instead of multiplying them.

Reflect & discuss

“Pick a current advertisement. Is its objective to inform, persuade, remind or reinforce, and how would you measure whether it worked?”

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One-page summary
Advertising
  • Paid, non-personal, by an identified sponsor; pervasive, expressive, impersonal and controlled.
  • 5 Ms: mission, money, message, media, measurement.
  • Objectives: inform, persuade, remind, reinforce.
  • Media weigh reach, frequency and impact; GRPs = reach × frequency.
Remember

Mission, money, message, media, measurement.

Recall it from a blank page
Concept 5 of 5.

Sales promotion and personal selling

Short-term incentives, and selling face to face.

Before you read

Is ‘buy two, get one free’ a coupon?

Core idea

Sales promotion gives an incentive to buy now; personal selling persuades buyers one at a time.

A supermarket's Diwali offer, ‘buy two, get one free’, empties a shelf in a week. A machine-tool maker in Pune spends six months and many visits to sell one ₹50 lakh machine. Both are promotion, working in opposite ways.

In plain wordsSales promotion gives people a reason to buy now; personal selling is a salesperson persuading a buyer, usually face to face.

Exam definitionSales promotion consists of a collection of incentive tools, mostly short term, designed to stimulate quicker or greater purchase of particular products or services by consumers or the trade (Kotler and Keller).

Sales promotion has three targets: consumer promotions, trade promotions, and business and sales-force promotions. It offers three benefits: it draws attention, gives an incentive, and makes an invitation to buy now.

Why it has grown: the growing power of retailers, declining brand loyalty, consumers' greater sensitivity to promotions, the proliferation of brands, fragmented markets, a short-term focus, demands for measurable results, and competition.

ToolWhat it is
SamplesA free amount of the product, delivered, mailed, picked up or attached to another product
CouponsCertificates entitling the bearer to a stated saving
Cash refunds (rebates)A price reduction after purchase, on proof of purchase
Price packsReduced-price packs (two for the price of one) or banded packs (a toothbrush with toothpaste)
PremiumsMerchandise free or at low cost as an incentive to buy
Frequency programmesRewards linked to how often and how much a customer buys
PrizesContests (judged entries), sweepstakes (draws) and games
Patronage awardsValue in proportion to patronage, such as reward points
Free trials, warrantiesTrying the product at no cost; promises of performance or refund
Tie-ins and cross-promotionsBrands teaming up on offers, or one brand advertising a non-competing brand
Point-of-purchase displays and demonstrationsAt the place of sale
ToolWhat it is
Price-off (off-invoice)A straight discount off the list price on each case bought in a stated period
AllowancePayment for featuring the product: an advertising allowance, or a display allowance for a special display
Free goodsExtra cases for intermediaries who buy a certain quantity

Work it out: what ‘buy two, get one free’ costs. An illustration: a pack sells for ₹60 and costs the seller ₹35, a margin of ₹25. On the offer, the buyer pays ₹120 for three packs, or ₹40 a pack: a price cut of one-third. The cost of three packs is ₹105, so profit is ₹15 for three, or ₹5 a pack. To earn the same profit as before, the seller must sell five times as many packs (₹25 ÷ ₹5 = 5).

Personal selling is the personal presentation by a firm's sales force to make sales and build customer relationships.

AdvantagesDisadvantages
Two-way: instant feedback lets the seller adapt the presentationExpensive per contact
Builds trust, which matters for high-value productsLabour-intensive; needs a large sales force
More persuasive: a buyer face to face is less likely to dismiss the sellerTraining is slow and costly
Reaches buyers other methods cannotReaches relatively few people

Don't confuse sales promotion with advertising. Advertising gives a reason to buy; sales promotion gives an incentive to buy now. Also: a contest judges entries, a sweepstakes draws names; a price pack cuts the price on the pack, a coupon is a certificate for a stated saving.

Where it breaks. Frequent deals can teach buyers to wait for the next one and can cheapen a brand, and the arithmetic above shows how fast they eat margin.

In practice. Use sales promotion, for a limited time, to win trial or clear stock. Use personal selling where the product is costly, complex or made to order.

Sales promotion buys action now; personal selling builds conviction one buyer at a time.

Check yourself

1. A contest differs from a sweepstakes because a contest…

Not quite. The answer is “Has entries that are judged”. Contests judge entries; sweepstakes draw names. Cash back on proof of purchase is a rebate.

2. A biscuit maker pays a supermarket to build a special display at the entrance during Diwali. This is…

Not quite. The answer is “A display allowance”. Paying a retailer to feature the product in a special display is a display allowance. A price-off is a discount on each case bought.

3. A ₹60 pack costs the seller ₹35. On ‘buy two, get one free’, what profit does the seller make per pack?

Not quite. The answer is “₹5”. Three packs bring ₹120 and cost ₹105, so ₹15 profit for three, or ₹5 a pack. ₹15 is the profit on all three packs, not per pack.

Reflect & discuss

“Which sales promotion last made you buy something sooner than you planned? Which of the three benefits did it use?”

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One-page summary
Sales promotion and personal selling
  • Sales promotion: consumer, trade and sales-force promotions; attention, incentive and invitation.
  • Consumer tools include samples, coupons, rebates, price packs, premiums and prizes; trade tools include price-offs, allowances and free goods.
  • Price packs eat margin fast; frequent deals teach buyers to wait.
  • Personal selling is two-way, trusted and persuasive, but costly and limited in reach.
Remember

Sales promotion buys action now; personal selling builds conviction.

Last concept Test yourself on the chapter
Recall it from a blank page

Translations are paraphrases. Arthaśāstra references follow Kangle's critical edition; Bhagavad Gītā references are chapter.verse; Tirukkuṟaḷ references are couplet numbers. Check each reference against your own edition before quoting it in submitted work.

Test yourself

All 15 questions from this chapter, in a new order.

The ones you miss join your review, and come back until they stick.

Start the chapter test

How this chapter connects

Worked out from the glossary terms each chapter uses. A chapter is listed when two or more terms are shared.

Uses ideas from

The text quoted in this chapter: Tirukkuṟaḷ. All the classical texts.

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