Marketing · Lesson 6

Advertising, media, sales promotion and personal selling

WAECNECO

What the syllabus asks

WAEC: meaning, functions, media, sample adverts) and 10 (Sales promotion: price-off, coupons, salesmen’s competition, loyalty, premiums, trade-in, sampling, training, merchandising incentives), with personal selling and PR from the promotion mix. JAMB does not examine Marketing.

NECO: meaning, functions, media, sample adverts) and 10 (Sales promotion: price-off, coupons, salesmen’s competition, loyalty, premiums, trade-in, sampling, training, merchandising incentives), with personal selling and PR from the promotion mix. JAMB does not examine Marketing.

What you will learn

Explain promotion and the promotion mix.
Define advertising, explain AIDA and classify types of advertising.
Explain the functions and criticisms of advertising.
Compare advertising media and choose media using cost per thousand.
Prepare and analyse a sample advertisement.
Describe the regulation of advertising in Nigeria.
Explain sales promotion, its objectives and WAEC tools, and personal selling and PR.

Key points

Promotion informs, persuades, reminds and builds image.
Promotion mix: advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, publicity/PR, direct/digital.
Advertising: paid, non-personal, identified sponsor; AIDA.
Types by purpose, subject, audience; informative, persuasive, reminder; institutional, generic.
Functions to producer, consumer and economy; criticisms include cost, deception, clutter.
Media: newspapers, magazines, radio, TV, outdoor, digital, others with merits/demerits.
Media choice: audience, product, cost (CPM), objective, competitors, law.
Advert parts: headline, illustration, body, proof, brand, call to action.
ARCON Act 2022: vetting by Advertising Standards Panel; Nigerian models rule; NAFDAC, FCCPC, NBC also regulate.
Sales promotion: short-term incentives to consumers, trade and sales force.
WAEC tools: price-off, coupons, contests, loyalty, premiums, trade-in, sampling, training, merchandising incentives.
Personal selling steps; publicity is unpaid; PR builds goodwill.

Start here: Promotion and the promotion mix

Promotion is the “communication” element of the marketing mix: all the ways a firm informs, persuades and reminds target customers about its products, brands and organisation. Even the best product at the right price in the right shops will not sell well if buyers do not know about it or do not believe its benefits.

The promotion mix (marketing communications mix)

Advertising: any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor (sections 6.2–6.8).
Sales promotion: short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sale (sections 6.9–6.10).
Personal selling: face-to-face (or phone) presentation by a firm’s sales force to make sales and build relationships (6.11).
Publicity and public relations (PR): building good relations with the public through favourable news coverage, events and goodwill (6.11).
Direct and digital marketing: communicating directly with targeted individuals by SMS, email, social media and websites to obtain an immediate response.

Objectives of promotion

To inform (about a new product, price change or location), to persuade (to prefer and buy a brand), to remind (keep the brand in mind) and to build image and goodwill.

Integrated marketing communications

All promotion tools should send one clear, consistent message. If television adverts promise “premium quality” but the sales staff are rude and the pack is dirty, the message is destroyed.

Choosing the mix

Consumer convenience goods rely more on advertising and sales promotion; industrial goods rely more on personal selling. In the introduction stage of the life cycle, advertising and free samples build awareness; in maturity, reminder adverts and promotions dominate. Budget, the target market and competitors’ actions also affect the mix.

Worked example 6.1

Which promotion tool suits an expensive industrial boiler best, and why? Personal selling: few buyers, technical product, need for demonstrations and negotiation.

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Practice questions

1. Advertising that tells consumers about a new product is

informative advertising
reminder advertising
competitive advertising
institutional advertising

Show answer

A: informative advertising
For launches.

2. Advertising that keeps an established brand in consumers’ minds is

informative advertising
persuasive advertising only
classified advertising
reminder advertising

Show answer

D: reminder advertising
For mature brands.

3. Small adverts grouped by type in newspapers are

billboards
jingles
classified adverts
display adverts

Show answer

C: classified adverts
E.g. jobs, property.

4. The promotion mix includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity and

grading
personal selling
manufacturing
warehousing

Show answer

B: personal selling
Personal selling is face-to-face.

5. Free media coverage that the firm does not pay for is

publicity
advertising
sales promotion
personal selling

Show answer

A: publicity
Often via press releases.

Key words

Promotion: Communication to inform, persuade and remind customers.
Advertising: Paid, non-personal promotion by an identified sponsor.
AIDA: Attention, interest, desire, action.
Institutional advertising: Advertising that builds an organisation’s image.
Generic advertising: Advertising a product class, not a brand.
Advertising medium: Channel carrying an advert, e.g. radio.
CPM: Cost per thousand people reached.
Call to action: Instruction telling the audience what to do.
ARCON: Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (Act No. 23 of 2022).
Sales promotion: Short-term incentives to buy or sell.
Premium: Free or cheap gift with a purchase.
Coupon: Voucher giving a discount.

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