"Advertising is the most 'important' element in the promotion mix." Discuss whether you agree or disagree by evaluating the other elements of the promotion mix. PART 1 ADVERTISING

Essay by basketballerUniversity, Bachelor'sB, August 2004

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Introduction

The concept of the promotion mix is defined by Arens as "a blend of communications tools used by a firm to carry out the promotional process to communicate directly with target markets." (Arens, pg. 8) In a sense the promotional mix represents the tools and activities of promotion. These processes and activities are then coordinated through integrated marketing communications (IMC) in order to attempt to create a synergistic effect to a campaign. The elements involved in IMC are many and numerous. Depending upon the perspective an individual might adopt, those elements can range from a simple configuration of the promotional mix through to a fully integrated and culturally driven mission and corporate strategy.

In this essay I will be arguing that advertising is not the most "important "element in the promotional mix, rather that the tools of promotion all play an equally important role in an IMC campaign.

I will show this by examining the various elements of the promotional mix and evaluate the advantages they posses both individually and when integrated.

Advertising

Advertising is usually the first element that comes to mind when considering the promotional mix. It also tends to be the most glamorous and elaborate tool. This is primarily because of the huge money that is poured into advertising around the world annually (500 billion on media space alone!). In addition to this advertising is the physical product which we as audiences view as part of a company's campaign (TV, print etc) making it the first one that we usually recall. I think that advertising means different things to different people. On a larger scale it can be used to create brand awareness or loyalty by a multinational company. On the lesser scale it can increase the amount of bums on seats for a...