Sales

Promotion and
Other tools of
Integrated
Marketing
communication
Module V
What Is Sales Promotion
• Sales promotion is defined by the Institute of Sales Promotion (ISP) as
“comprising a range of tactical marketing techniques within a strategic
marketing framework to add value to a product or service to achieve
specific sales and marketing objectives”.
• Some salient points are:
• 1. Temporary – What length of time would qualify for being temporary? An
ongoing promotion, e.g., low prices everyday becomes a part of the brand
property or normal trade practice. The whole purpose of such promotion is
lost.
• 2. Additional value covers – money, e.g., reduced prices, free sample, extra
value.
• 3. Goods, e.g., gift.
• 4. Intangible benefits, e.g., charity or personality associations.
Why Use Sales Promotion?
• Sales promotion and publicity, when combined with advertising and
personal selling programmes, really add up to more than the sum of
the parts. Sales promotion is that “something extra” (2 + 2 = 5). It
can arouse enthusiasm, create a buying mood or spark an immediate
reaction from consumers, dealers and the firm’s salesperson.
• Many sales promotion campaigns involve the use of incentives.
Incentives are something of financial value added to an offer to
encourage some obvious behavioural response. Sales promotion is
often thought as special selling effort to accelerate sales. Point-of-
purchase displays give a real payoff, sales rising by 25 to 50 per cent
or even more.
• Sales promotion is increasingly being used to accomplish an ever-
expanding list of marketing objectives. The company’s marketing
objectives and strategies influence the development of sales
promotion objectives and strategies.
Sales Promotion – Objectives
• 1. Calling attention to new products and product improvements,
• 2. Informing buyers of new brand and new package,
• 3. Improving market share,
• 4. Increasing, usage rate by present customers,
• 5. Maintaining customer patronage and brand loyalty,
• 6. Obtaining dealer outlets,
• 7. Securing additional shelf-space and added display,
• 8. Creating talking points for salespersons.
Sales Promotion – Types

• 1. Freebies:
• To stimulate a stagnant demand and to move
accumulated inventories blocking high cost
finance, companies offer freebies, especially
in the consumer durable sector. A free
automatic camera is given free with every
Samsung refrigerator, a portable colour Akai
TV free with a 21-inch Akai TV, etc.
• A freebie is allowed only when the company
bears its cost. The Indian consumer still has
suspicions about cash rebate. A mobile phone
which comes as a freebie with a car is,
therefore, received as value addition. A rebate
of Rs. 20,000 on the car would have smacked
of an inferior quality.
• 2. Contest Prizes:
• Contest prizes are becoming attractive. There was a joint concert of Nescafe
and Samsung. A large globe contained a number of 15 gm Nescafe sachets.
If we guess the total number of such packets correctly and write a good
slogan, we could be winning a Samsung refrigerator worth Rs.70,000.
• 3. Discount Sales:
• Phoenix International, the Delhi-based shoe company has been offering four
pair of shoes with every purchase of Rs.1,500 and two pairs with a purchase
of Rs.800. It is better to offer a discount of 30% rather than pay an interest
of 3% per month which works out to 18% for a six months season.
• Discounting or promotion pricing has traditionally been a function of a
competitive market that is in the process of evolving. India suits this
definition right now. The Govt. move to levy excise duty on the maximum
retail price of consumer durables may affect the discounts and promotional
schemes.
• 4. Strategic Use of Promos:
• Sales promotion was so far treated just as a tactical tool. But it has now
come to be used strategically also. Marico is concentrating on hair dressers
and beauty parlours to reposition Parachute hair oil as a hair-styler.
Tropicana’s brand awareness was increased by a phone-in contest by
Pepsi.
• Brand expectations are built by Ford by asking participants to identify
celebrities inside the car, and to win a foreign trip. BPL has sought to build
value around the brand by offering a package of product on low monthly
installments.
• 5. Exchange Offers:
• To stimulate replacement demand, a company gives a certain amount of
the price of a new product in exchange of the old product. To illustrate,
National offers Rs.500 off on its grinder mixer if a consumer brings his
own old grinder mixer.
• Similarly, Videocon offered Rs.7,000 off on its No-frost model of
refrigerator against an old fridge. Akai, Daewoo, Philips, Samsung,
Rayban, Van Heusen and Maruti have come out with exchange offers.
• 6. Below-the-Line (BTL):
• Surprisingly, a wide range of below-the-line activities account for a large share of
the total promotional mix all over the world. The big three advertising groups are
WPP, Interpublic and Omnicom who put together, account for 43.7 per cent of
global advertising and marketing services.
• They experience a larger decline in revenue from advertising. Revenues from
activities like direct marketing promotions, PR and research are on the rise.
• 7. Salesmanship Contest:
• The contest is called ‘the world’s greatest salesperson’. As we know Ogilvy, the
founder of an agency went door-to- door to sell the Aga stoves in Scotland in
1930s. Advertising is salesmanship in print, but has moved too far from it. A
contest is to be held by Ogilvy one Worldwide to test how well one understands
people and one’s creativity.
• The contest will be held on a branded channel on Youtube and will use other social
media like Facebook and Twitter. The product to be sold is a common, everyday
red brick. If you can sell it, probably you can sell anything. It is chosen as it is
ubiquitous and will not cost much when contestants buy it for their video
submissions. Indeed the contest is brickmanship!
Sales Promotion – Techniques

• 1. Issuing Coupons:
• Coupons are issued by producers of packaged goods or by retailers that
could be used in retail shops that can be redeemed at discounted prices
when purchasing products/services. These coupons are either
advertised by producers/retailers in newspapers or distributed in
weekly flyers via mail across households.
• For example- Big Bazaar issues coupons for selected items in their
weekly flyers that are distributed via mail or along with newspapers.
• 2. Free Samples:
• Free samples are small and packaged portion of the (main) merchandise distributed for
free. Free samples are developed for introducing new products. These samples may be
distributed door-to-door (through personal selling) or retail stores.
• For example- Sensodyne Toothpaste meant for relieving tooth sensitivity is a unique
product introduced in India. The manufacturer of Sensodyne has been reaching out to
local dentists of Mumbai who have been distributing free samples of these toothpastes to
create awareness among their patients.
• 3. Reducing Sales Price:
• This involves offering products to consumers at discounted or reduced prices by a certain
percentage from the regular price of the product. This activity aims at attracting
consumers to other or newer brands, seasonal and unseasonal goods. For example, a 15 to
60 percent off on clothes before some festive season in retail shops are examples of sales
or sales promotion.
• 4. Holding Fairs and Exhibitions:
• Producers of new brands or innovative products are introduced by holding fairs and
exhibitions. For example- The Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) organises several
business and trade fairs on specific industries. Between February 26th and 28th CII has
organised the International Engineering & Technology Fair (IETF) for businesses in
engineering and manufacturing industry to promote Business-2-Business (B2B)
networking (CII, 2014)
• 5. Distribution of Gifts:
• Producers may distribute gifts to consumers to increase sales of products. For example-
sales up to Rs. 2,500 will be given a gift worth Rs. 500.
• 6. Competitions or Contests:
• Producers can organise competitions or contests among salespersons to encourage them
to generate more sales from new customers. Companies can offer a car or consumer
durables for generating certain percentage of sales in a particular month or quarter.
• 7. Free Service:
• Producers / retailers may promise free service to consumers for a specified period of time
after sales. For example, few car retailers offer free servicing for the first 6 months if
certain car components were damaged or under performed.
• 8. Special Rebate:
• Rebate is a partial refund to someone who has paid more or extra on purchase of a
specified quantity or value of goods within a specified period. Unlike price cut off or
discounts, rebates are provided after the full payment of full invoice amount.
• 9. Full Finance @ 0%:
• Under this method, the product is sold and money is received on installment basis at 0%
or without interest rate. The seller determines the number of installments in which the
price of the product will be recovered from the customer.
What Is Integrated Marketing
Communications (IMC)

• Integrated Marketing
Communications (IMC) refer to the
promotional mix elements that drive
integrated campaigns. Core IMC
tools include advertising, public
relations, direct marketing, sales
promotions, personal selling, and
sponsorships.
8 Integrated Marketing
Communications Tools for Driving
Growth
• 1. Advertising
• Advertising broadcasts messages to a broad audience through media like print, radio,
television, and digital platforms. Ads can rapidly increase brand visibility and associate
brands with desired impressions. Creative advertising also engages audiences
emotionally to build brand loyalty.
• 2. Personal Selling
• Through person-to-person outreach, sales teams can directly address prospect needs
and nurture relationships. Personal selling allows for customized conversations to
overcome objections and convey value.
• 3. Direct Marketing
• Direct mail, email, SMS, and other direct channels enable targeted, measurable
communication. Marketers can track responses to optimize and expand direct marketing
programs.
• 4. Mobile Marketing
• With widespread mobile device usage, brands can reach customers on the go through
SMS, mobile apps, and other portable touchpoints. Mobile’s always-on nature makes it
ideal for time-sensitive promotions.
• 5. Social Media
• Social platforms like Facebook and Twitter facilitate meaningful
conversations with current and potential customers at scale. Brands
can boost engagement through social listening, content creation, and
community management.
• 6. Public Relations
• PR activities like press releases, events, and spokesperson
partnerships shape positive brand narratives through third-party
validation. This earned media provides high-credibility
endorsements.
• 7. Sales Promotions
• Tactics like coupons, contests, and loyalty programs incentivize
purchases. Sales promotions encourage trial use and repeat
business.
• 8. Sponsorships
• Sponsoring events, causes, and influencers taps into associated
passions. Sponsorships boost brand exposure while also
demonstrating social responsibility.
Steps involved in implementing an IMC
strategy
• Identify target audiences – Define key customer segments and buyer personas
you aim to reach. Understand their demographics, psychographics, needs, media
habits, etc.
• Determine marketing objectives – Set specific goals like increasing brand
awareness by X% or boosting sales by Y%. Objectives should link to larger
business goals.
• Map out customer journeys – Chart how audiences interact with the brand
across channels as they move through awareness, consideration, and
conversion.
• Audit existing assets/channels – Take stock of current marketing initiatives and
assets usable for IMC. Assess reach and performance.
• Develop synchronized messaging – Create consistent positioning and
messaging that resonates across channels.
• Execute coordinated campaigns – Develop synchronized campaigns with
aligned timing, offers, visuals, and captions.
• Analyze results and optimize – Evaluate campaign KPIs to identify high-
performing platforms and creative. Refine strategy.
What Is Surrogate Advertising?
• Surrogate advertising refers to a form of advertisement that duplicates
the brand image of one product to promote another product of the same
brand.
• The word surrogate means a ‘substitute’. Usually, brands use surrogate
advertising to promote a banned product under the veil of a substitute
good.
• Surrogate goods could either resemble a similar commodity or an entirely
different product. Meaning, companies advertise their products and
services by disguising them for some other product under the same brand
name.
• A popular instance of this can be a liquor product advertised as either a
soda drink or an entirely unrelated product like music CDs within the
same brand name.
Examples Of Surrogate Advertising
• Surrogate Advertising In Liquor Industry
• Today, the liquor industry intentionally blurs the line between
products by advertising ‘old wine’ in a ‘new bottle.’ In other words,
companies sell alcohol-based drinks under the veil of soda, fruit
juice, & cocktail mixers.
• A prevalent example of this is Imperial Blue’s series of
advertisements on music CDs to promote their whisky brand in India
where it is banned to advertise an alcohol product.
• Big brands like bagpiper soda, cassettes & CDs; royal challenge;
kingfisher fall under this category.
• Surrogate Advertising In Tobacco Industry
• In recent years, many brands are softly targeting consumers by selling them
tobacco-based goods under the disguise of pan masala and hookah
substitutes.
• For instance, the renowned actor who played James Bond’s character, Pierce
Brosnan, endorsed Pan Bahar, a pan masala brand, by becoming its brand
ambassador.
• Big brands like Manikchand group, Dharampal Satyapal limited, and Kothari
products limited fall under this category.

• Surrogate Advertising In Cannabis Industry

• The evolution of cannabis marketing is accelerating. Most marijuana brands
sell their weed-infused products by labelling them as medicine.
• Big brands like ArcView and GW pharmaceuticals fall under this category.
5 Strategies For Surrogate
Advertising?

• Promotion By Extension
• Promoting new products with a familiar brand name is known as
brand extension. Today, several companies use the brand extension
to respond to a ban on the advertisement of a particular product
category.
• For instance, Kingfisher has promoted everything from soda to
calendar and airlines under the same brand umbrella.
• Promotion By Association
• Promotion by association focuses on the value proposition of a
brand and creates an impression in customers’ minds that the
brand is for brave people.
• Generally, such brands are endorsed by celebrities to help reflect
the values that a company seeks to portray.
• For instance, renowned Bollywood actor Shatrugan Sinha was
featured in the Bagpiper club soda ad to promote its brand.
• Promotion Through TV Commercials
• Many companies today make TV commercials, but most of them advertise a
product directly. But, in the case of certain products like alcohol, tobacco, etc.,
companies may be banned from doing so.
• Therefore, they create commercials so that they disguise an item as outside
the brand’s normal product. That is, they make use of surrogate TV
advertising.
• For example, a company known for making alcohol may make a commercial
highlighting a new soda.
• Promotion Through Events And Sponsorships
• Another type of surrogate advertising is done through events and
sponsorships.
• In this type of advertising, the company leaves its logo somewhere, such as on
a wall of an event or the outside perimeter of a sporting event. This tactic, in
turn, places the idea of the brand in the consumers’ minds.
• For instance, Royal Stag owned an IPL team and promoted Coke Studio
performances to advertise their brand.
• Promotion Through Public Service Announcement
• Public service announcements (PSA) is a prevalent
strategy for advertising products.
• Most of the products today are banned under surrogate
advertising laws and are associated with several health
risks. Therefore, through this advertising method,
companies can bring awareness about the risks of
smoking and use colourful company logos to do so.
• For example, a company can bring awareness around the
hazards of smoking but, at the same time, attracts
consumers by bringing attention to their brand.
Why Do Companies Use Surrogate
Advertising
• To circumvent a ban on the direct advertisements of a particular
product,
• To keep brands alive in the minds of the consumers,
• To cultivate an image of social responsibility of the brand,
• To advertise less socially accepted products via secondary brands or
products, or
• To advertise high revenue generating products like alcohol,
cigarettes, and tobacco.
Relationship
Marketing

• Relationship marketing is a marketing

strategy with the goal of maximizing
profits by building strong relationships
with customers and increasing their
satisfaction with products and services.
• This strategy depends on customer
relationships to lead business growth, as
opposed to expanding the market share of
the company's products and services. It aims
to build customer loyalty through repeated
transactions and word-of-mouth diffusion.
Relationship marketing strategies
• Database marketing
• Database marketing aims to increase sales by utilizing customer information such as
purchase history, demographics, and survey data, to provide a more personalized
experience. The purpose of database marketing is not to develop new customers, but
rather to build stronger relationships with existing clients, and it is a very effective method
of relationship marketing.
• Account-based marketing (ABM)
• Account-based marketing (ABM) is arguably the most popular B2B marketing strategy.
ABM involves pinpointing the highest-value clients and targeting all your marketing
messages, content, sales efforts, etc. towards them. By seeking quality rather than
quantity of customers, you can focus your resources on companies with high LTV
potential, thereby expanding your marketing ROI.
• One-to-one marketing
• One-to-one marketing is a hyper-personalized strategy. Communication is all based on
the customer’s unique values, interests, and situation. The main advantage of this
approach is that it can improve the cost-effectiveness of marketing by sending out
targeted information, while also improving the relationship with customers by providing a
better experience.