Marketing Communications Mix Strategies | Tesco

Although the “4P” characterization has led to widespread use of the term promotion for describing communications with prospects and customers, the term marketing communications is preferred by most marketing practitioners as well as by many educators. Consider that we may want to use marketing communications to refer to the collection of advertising, sales promotions, public relations, event marketing, and other communication devices. Promotion is considered as Sales Promotion. (Shimp 2007) {Terence A. Shimp (2007), Integrated Marketing Communications in Advertising and Promotion, 7th Edition, Ohio, Thomson South-Western, P: 4.}

Marketing Communication is used by organisations to communicate with customers with respect to their product offerings. In this sense, Marketing Communication is one side of the communication process with customers. Market research, in which suppliers seek to elicit information on consumer requirements from consumers, is the complementary component of the communication process. The following summarises this very simply: (Rowley 1998).

Source:” Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace”.

According to Rowley producer should communicate to reach the customers and in turn should listen to the customer’s needs and requirements to enhance the product and service.

Tesco proudly announced that one of the reasons to its Success is listening to their Customers and its suppliers. Tesco has adopted multiple qualitative research techniques to reach their customers such as focus groups, accompanied shops, home visits to collect the feedback in order to straighten the things and respond quickly. Modestly they say “Its simple – we listen and respond, providing customers with what they tell us they want”. { [online] < http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/listening/> (March 19, 2010)}.

Marketing Communications Mix also know as Promotional Mix consists of Advertising, Personal Selling, Sales Promotion, Direct Marketing, Internet Promotion and Publicity.

Marketing communications Mix strategies:

Source:” Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace”.

Push Strategies:

A promotion strategy that calls for using the sales forces and trade promotion to push the product through channels. The producer promotes the product to wholesalers, the wholesalers promote to retailers and the retailers promote to consumers (Kotler et al. 2005).

Pull Strategy:

A promotion strategy that calls for spending a lot on advertising and consumer promotion to build up consumer demand. If the strategy is successful, consumers will ask their retailers for the product, the retailers will ask wholesalers and the wholesalers will ask the producers (Kotler et al. 2005).

Push Strategy aims at Intermediaries, its make good use of Sales promotion and Personal Selling.

Pull Strategy aims at direct customers, its make good use of Advertisements.

Advertising:

Source: You tube : Tesco Christmas 2009 advertisement.

[Online]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n8y85QTa1g8 (March 19, 2010)

This Advertisement is about promotional offers at Tesco for Christmas, It states that “everyone could enjoy a finest Christmas at Tesco” with an affordable range of products.

Advertising is a paid form of non-interactive showcase of products and services to the consumer through print media or other common advertising channels (Rowley 1998).

Advertising Models:

AIDA Model:

Attention: Making customer aware of the product.

Interest: Developing an interest in the product.

Desire: Making customer think that he needs the product.

Action: Purchase is made.

“Designing communication strategies is important to identify whether the objective is to draw to attention, cultivate interest, stimulate desire or provoke action”(Rowley 1998).

Communication Objectives:

Source:” Promotion and marketing communications in the information marketplace”.

From the above objectives, AIDA is strongly recommended (Rowley 1998).

According to Rowley a communication strategy should have a message and it should go along with its communication objective. The message should reflect the unique selling proposition (USP) of the products.

The organizations should concentrate on elements of the message that need to be considered are: Content, Structure, Format and Source.

Importantly these Advertisements should be target oriented; the Organisations should often have a strategy on the market to target.

Impact of Advertisements:

A good communication strategy would yield results per expectations.

It should be market oriented and should reach market without any cost to the market.

Directive would leave an impact, provided its ethical.

Positives of Advertisements:

It can create awareness in the targeted market.

It can reach markets far and wide.

Positioning of the product and Brand image could earn customers trust.

Negatives of Advertisements:

It cannot answer the customer queries.

Always may not provoke customers to purchase decision.

Too many Advertisements may cause audience loose concentration.

Personal Selling

According to Baker (2003) personal selling can be defined as the personal contact with one or more purchasers for the purpose of making a sale. To be effective, marketing management needs to integrate personal selling with other promotional elements, with other organizational functions such as distribution and production, and with the customer and competitive structures prevailing in the market.

Different stages in Personal Selling:

Generating leads and identifying prospects

Pre-call planning

The approach

The presentation

Overcoming objections

Closing

Follow-up.

Baker says Personal selling is a two-way approach and it employs push strategy and is relatively expensive per contact and according to a 2001 survey, the average cost of an outside salesperson is in excess of 55,000 pounds per annum. The actual time spent on face-face customer communication is typically around 20-30 per cent of working hours.

Sales management issues:

Selection of sales Team

Training

Leadership and supervision

Remuneration

Evaluation and control

Impact of Personal Selling:

Efficient sales force often yield results

Personal selling increases the customer’s interest and desire on the product and it could lead to purchase

Personal Selling should act as forum for answers to all the customers’ queries

Positives of Personal Selling:

High Interactive communication between the buyer and the seller

Detailed product information and features

Relationships can develop

Negatives of Personal Selling:

Cost oriented Team

Not appropriate approach towards thousands of prospective buyers

Sales closure time could lead to customer dissatisfaction

Sales Promotion:

Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage purchase or sales of a product or service (Kotler et al. 2005).

As per the above definition, sales promotion offers reasons that would achieve immediate sales. It seeks to lure people to buy now.

Promotional Tools:

Samples

Coupons

Rebates

Price packs

Premiums

Advertising specialties

Patronage rewards

Point-of-purchase

Competitions, lotteries and games

Impact of Sales Promotion:

It helps to lure consumers and attract them from competitors

Customers trying our products, giving a chance to retain them

Positives of Sales Promotion:

Increase immediate sales

Interim strategic tool

Negatives of Sales Promotion:

Not for long-term usage, as customers may get used to this.

Too much involvement into sales promotion may harm the brand image

Seasonal Promotions:

Advertisement Models:

Internet promotion: Its interlinked with Place i.e. Mix in Mix.

Sales Promotion:

Public relations:

Promotional Strategies:

Pull Strategy:

Push Strategy:

Mercer (1996), in emphasizing that communication must be a two-way process, says

(p. 309):

“The ideal form of promotion is the conversation which takes places between the expert sales professional and his or her customer. It is interactive and conversation is specific to the needs of both. Other forms of promotion, which deal in the “average” needs of groups of people can only hope to approximate to this ideal”.

Promotional Mix:

Place:

Introduction:

The main purpose of this report is to determine the importance of the Location in retailing. It includes an analysis of Tesco and Corner Shop locations by taking into account all the factors of well chosen place for retail store as well as current situation on the Market. Report discusses the role location played in the success of those retailers. It also tries to assign the importance of the Location in comparison to other elements of the retail Marketing Mix.

First ‘Tesco Metro’ has been opened in 1992 and are usually located in the town and city centre locations (http://www.tescocorporate.com/page.aspx? pointerid=3DB554FCAE344BD88EEEEFA63D71B831). They are usually smaller than ordinary ‘Tesco’ store but bigger than Tesco Express with the size varying between approximately 7,000 to 15,000 sq.ft.

Source: Online Available http://www.tesco.com/talkingtesco/stores/.