Q: "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 3 DIRECT MARKETING

Essay by basketballerUniversity, Bachelor'sB, August 2004

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Sales Promotion

Sales promotion affects the demand of a service or product differently to advertising. Whereas advertising is designed to create awareness and image the role of sales promotion is primarily to elicit an immediate purchase from the potential customer. Once again sales promotion doesn't seem as stylish or sophisticated as mass media advertising yet it has grown at an annual rate of about 9-12 percent. In comparison advertising expenditure has only grown at an annual rate of 6-8 percent. (Semenik, pg 384) Sales promotion is a kind of bubble term which includes sales techniques such as coupons, competitions, sampling and trial offers and product placement just to name a few. These elements of sales promotion are primarily designed to stimulate short term demand for a product or service where as advertising generally cultivates long term demand. Sales promotion is also known to cause customers to switch brands because of appealing discounts or rewards created through sales promotion.

Most advertisers on the other hand tend to promote brand loyalty.

Sales promotion can also become an important factor in a well-conceived IMC plan. A simple and intrinsically satisfying view of IMC is that the messages conveyed by each of the promotional tools should be harmonised so that audiences perceive a consistent image of a product or organisation. One interpretation of this perspective is that the key visual triggers (design, colours, form and tag line) used in advertising should be replicated across the range of promotional tools used, especially sales promotion. The more the theme of a promotion can be tied directly to the advertising campaign, the more impact these messages will generally have on the consumer. Just as ineffective or poor integration between advertising and sales promotion can have an undesirable effect on a brand. A company such as BMW which...