Marketing communication: principles and practice

SALES PROMOTIONS
Ask your mum about the Hoover ‘free flights’ débâcle! A classic example of
a promise that could not be kept.
Ways of encouraging the purchase of products include competitions,
discount vouchers, and salesforce prize incentives. Sales promotion activities
help salespeople to do a better selling job through sales presentation support
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materials, and stimulate additional selling effort by offering prizes and other
rewards. Retailers and wholesalers are encouraged to sell more through
displays, direct mail, or specially prepared advertising. Selected prospective
customers are influenced through video, trade shows, and direct mail.
Advertising and selling impact is enhanced through samples, coupons,
premiums, and competitions and draws.
According to Gardener and Trevidi (1998), sales promotions accounted
for almost three-quarters of the advertising and promotions budget in the
early part of the 1990s (see Box 9.14 for a look at character merchandising).
At the same time, around eight out of ten people who responded to a sales
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BOX 9.13
DIGGING THE DIGGERS IN MALAGA
Take 200 UK distributors, their top customers, 30 JCB excavators of various shapes
and sizes, and a plush armchair conference centre in southern Spain during March.
What have you got? The launch of a range of new products and a marketing strategy
that resulted in the restructuring of the business!
March is the start of the construction-equipment selling season and Spain has the
nice weather at that time of year, while Malaga has a superior airport and the conference
facilities of the Torrequebrada Hotel.
The launch took the format of a series of conferences over a two-week period with
welcoming dinner followed by formal presentations supported by video. Temporary
grandstands were used to house the equipment demonstrations, and delegates were
treated to a display of horsemanship and flamenco dancing.
This format was judged to be more cost-effective than five or six national events
throughout Europe. One customer commented, ‘if the aim is to demonstrate quality and
commitment, they’ve done very well’.