Marketing mix usually uses sales promotion and advertising approaches
Question-Answer
Question One
Marketing mix usually uses two approaches which are sales promotion and advertising to boost sales. Advertising is an indirect strategy on the attempt to encourage product and service purchases by consumers. On the other hand, sales promotion is a direct methodology to persuade consumers of a given commodity or service to buy. Advertising is commonly performed to build the image of a brand to increase sales volume while the promotion is meant to push merely a short term sale of goods and services. It is thus worth noting that while advertising is an element of promotion, the promotion itself is a marketing mix variable. Sales promotion are usually enticement rendered to the customers, especially the loyal ones for a short period to boost sales of a particular item by the company. Adverting involves brand revelation to the people to win customer loyalty and to a considerable market share as well as wedging out competitors. Promotion is short-term, whereas advertising has a long-term impact. However, both strategies are aimed at boosting the sales of the product in a given company’s marketing mix. Examples of sales promotion include coupons, premiums, and contests, among others. Examples of advertising include billboards, newspapers, TV as well as radio adverts among other media.
Question Two
The long term effects that application of promotion would have on a product at the expense of advertising are many. One major demerit is that is increased price sensitivity as customers tend to wait until promotion deals are launched to purchase the products. Further, the quality image of the specific product may end up being tarnished. Since promotion is short-lived, the product has as well short-term orientation. Another problem that arises is that merchandising support from dealers is doubtful. The effect is reduced persistent loyalty by the buyers and thus become seasonal as it is for the promotions. In the long-run, promotion may result in reduced profit margins since people will only wait for the promotion to be announced for them to buy in bulk. This means that in the other times, the sales volume of that product will be low until the next promotion. Use of promotion alone in product marketing can thus kill persistent buying by the consumers and eventual decreased profit realization by the company. It is therefore essential to apply both strategies in the product marketing mix for a great success of the company’s business. However, promotion is equally vital to advertising in the product marketing mix and should be appropriately used in winning customer loyalty and boosting sales.