A View of the Communication Process

The marketing communications mix (promotions mix) consists of five modes:

1. Advertising
2. Sales Promotion
3. Public relations and publicity
4. Personal selling face to face intervention
5. Direct Marketing mail, telephone or fax

We now view communications as the management of the customer buying process

over time. To communicate effectively marketers need to understand the fundamental
elements underlying effective communications. Sender and receiver are two elements
that represent the major parties; message and media represent communication tools;
encoding, decoding, response and feedback represent communication functions; and
noise is random and competing messages. For the message to be effective, the senders
encoding process must mesh with the receivers decoding process.

The senders task is to get his message through to the target audience. These are
potential problems:

1. Selective audience people are bombarded by too many messages, so hard to

get their attention
2. Selective distortion people twist message to hear what they want. Add things
that are not there (amplification) and ignore things that are there (leveling)
3. Selective recall difficult to get message in persons long term memory

Fiske and Hartley outline for effective communication.

1. The greater the monopoly of communication source, the greater the recipients
change or effect in favor of the source.
2. Communication effects are greatest when message is in line with receivers
existing opinions, beliefs, and dispositions. resonate
3. Communication can produce the most effective shifts on unfamiliar, peripheral
issues, which do not lie at the center of the recipients value system. new
4. Communication is more likely to be effective where the source is believed to
have expertise, high status, or likeability. -> expert
5. The social context group or reference group will mediate the communication
and influence whether or not the communication is accepted.

Developing Effective Communications

1. Identify the Target Audience
o Image Analysis need to assess the audiences current image (the set
of beliefs, ideas, and impressions that a person holds regarding an
object. Peoples attitudes and actions toward an object are highly
conditioned by that objects image) of your company or products
 o Familiarity scaleNever Heard of, Heard of Only, Know a Little Bit,
Know a Fair Amount, Know Very Well.
o Favorability scale: Very Unfavorable, Somewhat Unfavorable,
Indifferent, Somewhat Favorable, Very favorable.
o Semantic Differential a tool used to research the specific content of
its image. This involves the following steps.
Develop a set of relevant dimensions get customers to
identify the dimensions they would use in thinking about a
project. For example, people think about health care when you
ask about a hospital
Reduce the set of relevant dimensions
Administer the instrument to a sample of respondents
respondents rate dimensions on a scale
Average the results
Check on the image variance
2. Determining the Communication Objectives the marketer is seeking
responses from target audience:
o cognitive put something in consumers mind
o affective change consumers mind
o behavioral get the consumer to act

Response hierarchy model different models for consumer response stages.

All the models assume that the buyer passes through responses in listed order
(see book for illustrated model).

3. Designing the Message after defining desired audience response, develop

an effective message. The message should gain attention, hold interest, arouse
desire, and elicit action.

Formulating Message requires solving four problems:

1. Message Content what to say to the target audience. In determining the best
message, want appeal, theme, idea or unique selling proposition.
o Rational appealappeal to audiences self-interest.
o Emotional appealattempt to stir up negative or positive emotions
that motivate purchase.
o Moral appealdirected at what is right and proper.
2. Message Structure structure and content of message. How to say message.
o Stimulus Ambiguity Best ads ask questions and let audience to
reach conclusions.
o Two sided arguments praise products advantages and shortcomings.
Appropriate when product must overcome some sort of negativity.
Tend to work better with an educated audience
o One sided arguments only praise product. Work best with
audiences that are initially predisposed to the communicators position.
3. Message Format how to say it symbolically. Also physical format of
message, i.e.: headlines, copy, illustration, color, and sounds are all important.
4. Message Source who should say message. Messages delivered by attractive
or popular sources achieve higher attention and recall.
 o Credibility spokesperson must be credible. Individual should be
exhibit expertise, trustworthiness, and likeability.

Selecting The Communication Channels must select effective channels of

communication. There are two types of communication channels:

Personal Communication Channel

Involves 2 or more persons communicating directly with each other. Provides
opportunity for individualizing the presentation and feedback. Further distinctions are:

Advocate Channels company sales people contacting the target market

Expert Channels consist of independent experts making statements to target
buyers.
Social Channels consist of neighbors friends etc, talking to target market.

Steps to stimulate personal influence influence is very important to potential buyers

1. Identify influential individuals and devote extra effort.

2. Create opinion leaders by supplying certain people with the product on
attractive terms
3. Work through community influentials, disc jockeys, class presidents, etc.
4. Use influential people in testimonial advertising.
5. Develop advertising that has high conversation value
6. Develop word of mouth referral channels
7. Establish an electronic forum

Non-personal Communication Channels

Carry message without personal contact.
Media; Events; Atmospherespackaged environment, i.e.: elegant hotels are
furnished extravagantly

Promotions
Establishing a Total Promotion Budget how to decide on budget. Four methods:

1. Affordable method What the company can afford. Ignores role of

promotion as an investment.
2. Percentage of Sales method Poor because views sales as determiner of
promotion rather than a result. Leads to budget set by the availability of funds
rather than by market opportunities.
3. Competitive parity method achieves share of voice parity with their
competitors. Should not base your spending on competitors spending, doesnt
make sense.
4. Objective and Task method most desirable method. Develop budget by
defining specific objectives, tasks that must be performed to achieve
objectives, and the costs of the respective tasks.

Deciding on Promotion Mix distributing the total promotion dollars between these
promotional tools:
 1. Advertising some distinctive qualities are:
o Public presentation adv. is highly public mode of communication
o Persuasiveness is a persuasive medium that allow seller to repeat a
message many times
o Amplified expressiveness dramatize the product and the company
through art, color and sound
o Impersonality is not as compelling as company sales rep.
o Advertorials print ads designed to look like newspaper article
o Infomercials
2. Sales Promotion diverse. Offer three distinctive benefits. Use sales
promotions to create a stronger and quicker response. Effects are useful for
short run strategy.
o Communication gain attention and usually provide info that leads
consumer to product
o Incentive incorporate concession or inducement that gives value to
customer
o Invitation include distinct invitation to engage in the transaction now.
3. Public Relations and Publicity
o High credibility news stories and features add authenticity and
credibility
o Ability to catch buyers of guard
o Dramatization like advert., has ability for dramatizing a company or
product
4. Personal Selling most cost effective tool at later stages of the buying
process. Three distinctive benefits:
o Personal confrontation interactive relationship between two people
o Cultivation allows relationships to exist between buyers and sellers
o Response makes buyer feel obligated to listen to sales talk, even if
response is a polite no thank you
5. Direct marketing there are different forms, but they all share these
characteristics:
o non-public message addressed to specific person
o Customized message can be customized to appeal to the addressed
individual
o Up-to-Date message can be prepared very quickly for delivery
o Interactive can be altered depending on persons response

Factors in setting the promotion mix must consider several factors when setting
promotion mix

1. Type of Product Market promotional tool utilization varies between

consumer and business markets. Business markets concentrate on personal
selling, while consumer markets concentrate on advertising. However,
advertising can help business markets:
o awareness building
o comprehension building- explain new features and their uses
o efficient reminding
o lead generation ads and brochures can generate leads for sales
o reassurance reminds customer how to use product and reassure them
about purchase
 2. Personal selling can improve consumer markets:
o increased stock position persuade dealers to take more stock and
devote more shelf space to product
o enthusiasm building
o missionary selling sales reps can sign up more dealers to carry
companys brands
3. Push vs. Pull Strategy
Push strategy involves manufacturer marketing activities (sales force and
trade promotion) directed at channel intermediaries. Goal is to induce the
intermediary to order and carry the product and promote it to end users.
Appropriate where there is low brand loyalty in a category, brand choice is
made in the store, product is an impulse item or product benefits are well
understood.
Pull strategy involves marketing activities (advertising and consumer
promotion) directed at end users. Purpose is to induce them to ask
intermediary for the product and thus induce the intermediary to order the
product from the manufacturer. Appropriate when there is high brand loyalty
and high involvement in the category, people perceive differences between
brands, and people choose the brand before they go to the store.

Company Market Rank top ranking brands derive more benefit from advertising
than sales promotion

Measuring the Promotions Results after implementing the promotional plan,

communicator must measure its impact on the target audience. Collect feedback from
audience about recognizing or recalling the message, how many times they saw it,
what points they recall, how they felt about the message, and their previous and
current attitudes toward the product and company. Should also collect behavioral
measures of audiences response, such as how many people bought the product, liked
it, and talked to other about it.

Managing and Coordinating Integrated Marketing Communications integrate

all communication disciplines for better clarity, consistency and maximization of
communication. This is an innovative idea.