BLOCK 1: Marketing Communication
WEEK 1
Learning Outcomes:
- define marketing communications
- demonstrate awareness of the development of marketing communications
- examine the role of marketing communications in a changing environment
- recognise the primary tools of the marketing communications mix
- apply the primary tools of marketing communications in a range of contexts
What Is Marketing Communications?
Marketing communications is a process through which organisations and audiences attempt
to engage with one another. Through an understanding of an audience’s preferred
communications environments, participants seek to develop and present messages, before
evaluating and responding. By conveying messages that are relevant and significant,
participants are encouraged to offer attitudinal, emotional and behavioural responses. (Fill &
Turnbull 2019)
The notion of ‘audience’ suggests a wider range of potential targets beyond just customers.
Marketing communications speak to a wide range of different stakeholders. For example, in
the business-to-business (B2B) sector, marketing communications is a key means of
communicating with other organisations in the supply chain.
Despite the growing influence of digital media, the principal role and purpose of marketing
communications has not changed drastically over time. According to Fill and Turnbull (2019),
the purpose of marketing communications is to engage with target audiences to achieve one
(or more) of four functions, which they refer to as the DRIP model:
- Differentiate: One function of marketing communications is to help differentiate an offering
(brand, product, service, idea) from competitors in the marketplace. This is especially
important where the offering competes in a largely undifferentiated marketplace (as in fast
moving consumer goods (FMCG) categories).
- Reinforce: It can help the product reinforce experiences of the product use in one of two
ways – it might take the form of after-sales service or purchase protection cover and/or
involve various forms of follow-up incentive to encourage repeat purchases through
coupons, discounts or loyalty programmes. Alternatively, marketing communications might
be employed to remind people about the availability and value of a particular offering.
- Inform: A key role for marketing communications is to inform the audience and/or potential
customers about an offering. This might take the form of advertising a new product or
providing additional materials through catalogues, brochures, a press release, or personal
selling.
- Persuade: Historically, the main role of marketing communications has been to persuade
potential customers of the desirability and value of the offering and to entice a purchase.
Marketers use incentives, seductive advertising, tempting offers, and skilled salespeople to
help move the customer from interest to purchase.
,The Marketing Communications Mix
Advertising: advertising is far more than just a form of impersonal, paid-for
communication. It draws from popular culture, but it also plays a significant role in
shaping the cultural landscape. And, with the development of digital technology, its
cultural influence is only expanding.
Advertising is unique in that it serves all four functions of the DRIP model. It is one of
the main tools for differentiating an offering and typically has an element
of persuasion. It also informs whilst helping to reinforce the purchase decision.
Sales Promotion: often used as a tool of immediacy in order to encourage customers
to act in the moment, to make larger purchases, and/or to make repeat purchases.
The main advantage of sales promotion is the short-term sales boost that can be
achieved when customers take advantage of an offer.
In reference to the DRIP model, the main function of sales promotion
is persuasion and differentiation. It achieves this in three main ways.
Communication, Incentives and Invitations.
Public Relations: In the internet age, PR has become a much more important
element of the MC mix. The need to manage and control the flow of information
about an organisation has become more critical in the light of social media and other
sites that provide a platform for those that might seek to challenge, question or
undermine the reputation of the organisation.
Public relations’ main functions are differentiating the offering, informing the
audience about the offering and reinforcing the purchase decision.
Direct Marketing: Direct marketing (incorporating interactive and database marketing)
is an approach that seeks to target individual customers with personalised messages
and to build lasting relationships. The attraction of direct marketing over broadcast
advertising is that each communication can be directed at a named person who may
have a personal interest in the products or services being offered.
Direct marketing can be influential in several ways, depending on whether it plays a
primary or supporting role. If direct marketing is the primary communications tool,
then the function will be to inform and persuade. As a support tool, direct
marketing’s principal function is to inform.
Personal Selling: Personal selling involves interpersonal communication between the
organisation and external parties. As a non-media communication channel, personal
selling is particularly valuable for instilling confidence in consumers, for responding to
questions and for persuading sales prospects to buy. It can be a very flexible tool and
has the potential to attract and keep attention, has an emotional dimension, and
offers greater credibility than mass media communications. (Hackley, 2010, p. 132)
The main function of personal selling is persuasion at the point of sale. A sales
encounter might also include informing and differentiating, but this would reflect
the dynamic of the sales situation rather than being a key function of the tool itself.
, WEEK 2
Learning Outcomes:
- Understand the various roles that marketing communication play and know how it relates to
organisational objectives.
- Apply communication process models to marketing campaigns.
- Recognise various models of communications and their applications.
- Understand the role of communications in establishing brand identity and creating brand
value.
In the context of business, communication ensures that activities such as production,
distribution, pricing and finance are all performing effectively and efficiently in order to
achieve organisational objectives.
Successful communication is critical to the ultimate success of any organisation.
The Importance of Communication in Marketing
Customers are exposed to thousands of advertisements every day but remember only a
fraction of them. Once an organisation has reached its target audience, it must ensure that
the message has the intended effect.
Communications can inform, persuade and remind customers about an offering.
A key aspect of communications is the process by which information is transmitted to the
target audience. Persuasive messaging through the marketing communications mix is
essential for organisations to survive in today’s competitive environment.
- Who is the communicator?
- What is the content of the message?
- Who is the audience?
- What medium or means of transmitting the message is to be employed?
- What is the intended effect on the audience receiving the message?
A key role for communications in marketing is building brands.
A marketing communications campaign is a planned sequence of interactions with existing
or potential customers over time. Some of the most common objectives of marketing
communications campaigns are:
- Creating brand awareness
- Persuading the customer
- Positioning the brand
- Changing attitudes
- Educating the customer
- Discouraging the customer
- Entertaining the customer
Brand awareness is the extent to which customers can recognise and recall an
organisation’s offering. Creating brand awareness is a vital step in promoting a new brand or
maintaining an existing one.
