Marketing communication: principles and practice

Marketing functions and management decisions
Remember that we have defined the business enterprise system as a
knowledge transformation system that creates and provides value. In essence,
the manager has to ensure that activities and decisions logically include the
definition of a need satisfier, the translation of the consumer’s or buyer’s
need into the language of the production system in order to invent a technical
means of producing and delivering the promised and agreed value. Through-
out this generative and productive process, representation of particular
knowledge is necessary in purposeful interaction.
van Waterschoot and Van den Bulte (1992) identify four generic marketing
functions for engaging in actions that can consummate exchanges (see Table
7.1). Marketing functions are intermediate outputs of the marketing system
that lead to outcomes, while activities or tools are inputs. The manager should
pay attention to the function of each marketing and communication tool.
Any classification should be based on how mix elements are used, rather than
on any inherent characteristic (that might determine how to use them). The
various tools may or may not be promotional, depending on how they are
used. It seems that managers most often assume that they are promotional
and thus use them for that purpose. But what other purposes or functions
might the various tools serve?
Each tool has a primary (basic) role in the consummation of an exchange,
as well as a complementary role. Some tools have a fixed contribution over
a long period, while others are applied for a short period as additional
(situational) incentives to move the exchange forward.
Promotional communication is intended to create awareness, construct
knowledge, and motivate purchase. Persuasive communication effort is
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undertaken to overcome a lack of awareness, a lack of credibility, or to change
the preference structure of a ‘chooser’. 
We see in Figure 7.3 that sales promotion is not a separate aspect of the
promotion category of tools, but rather an underpinning bridge. What are
often termed sales promotion tools are tactical situational adaptations that
support the strategic aspect of the offering – usually the product itself. For
example, the buyer’s need is mainly fulfilled by the product features as
benefits, but in certain cases a high price can satisfy the status needs of a
consumer, as can the use of an exclusive distribution network or advertising
the brand through a highly regarded medium. Sales promotion acts to
overcome barriers to purchase action. Buyers experience a sense of risk about
acting in certain ways, in terms of psychosocial, well-being, financial, and
time costs. Sales promotion tools trigger action by providing situationally