Marketing communications
What you need to study from the textbook:
- The core text of the chapters is the most important for the exam
What you do NOT need to study from the textbook:
- Vignettes ‘business insights’ and ‘research insights’ (separate boxes): (Some of
them) covered in class, which you do not have to study
● no exam questions on them
● can use them as examples on the exam, but there will be no specific
questions about them
- End of chapter cases in the book: illustrative (business examples), as extra
information
● No questions on them formally, but you can use them as examples
- Additional research and business examples I give in the slides
● No questions on them formally, but you can use them as examples
Pure definitions will not be asked on the exam!
Chapter 1: integrated communications
Marketing & instruments of the marketing mix
Marketing = the process of planning and executing the conception,
pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods, and services to create and exchange
value, and satisfy individual and organizational objectives.
Value is at the core of marketing (communications)
Instruments of the marketing mix:
- These 4 tools represent the focus of marketing communications
- Went from the 4 p’s to the 4 c’s because we look from the consumers' point of
view.
- We focus on the last P/C
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,Marketing communications (MC) & instruments of the
communication mix
Marketing communications = the process through which organizations and audiences
engage with one another
- This used to be a one-way relationship, but now we have a feedback loop from
customers to the organization
- There is also a lot of ‘noise’, which was often forgotten in the past. When you
communicate something your audience will not always receive it since there is an
information overload
Instruments of the communication mix:
- Advertising
- Brand activation (promotions, in-store, experience)
- Direct marketing communications
- public relations
- sponsorship
- exhibitions and trade fairs
➔ offline and online: offline is still relevant!
1. Advertising
- One-to-many (mass): e.g billboard, tv spot, radio
- Monologue: feedback not possible
● Different from online advertising (which allows feedback)
- Paid! ↔ Organic advertising
● Consumers know this and get ‘persuasion knowledge’ which means
they become skeptical because they know we try to influence them
=> so often not very clear how we can measure the effectiveness of
ads
- Often long term
● The main goal is not to stimulate action, but to change consumers'
mindsets and how they feel about the brand
- Via intermediary effects
● Works on people their behavior and buying process
● e.g when you see an ad for a smartphone you will not immediately run
to the store, but they want to get the idea of the phone in your head
and make you like it through multiple exposure points
- Online advertising (we won't go into detail)
● Advertising on websites, email, social media, mobile advertising)-
● Also focuses on people's minds instead of behavior
● Mass
● Feedback and interaction are possible
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,2. Brand Activation
- Short term
● Want to stimulate instant purchase (influence thoughts and feelings
not the main goal)
- Sales promotions
● Sales stimulation
● Incentive-based: get a price discount, more volume, extra points
● Image destroying?: sales promotion puts the focus on the price rather
than on the product (e.g quality), and if you use this a lot you get
people to focus on the price perception rather than on the product
=> So not a good marketing practice since it does not focus on the
product and its characteristics. Luxury brands do not use price
discounts e.g apple, Tesla
=> can also use sales promotions without focussing on the price e.g
Hermes rewards you if you buy more of the brand (loyalty)
- Point-of-purchase communications: e.g in-store communications (pictures at
the shelves, Redbull pics on fuel nozzles)
● targets people when they can immediately buy it
● restroom advertising: can not do anything else at the time
- Experience marketing:
● The art of creating an experience where the result is an emotional
connection to a person, brand, product or idea
● Make people love or like your brand
● Other terms: field marketing, customer service, special events,
product promotions, PR stunts…
● Creating connection through a designed emotive experience
● Examples:
❖ BBQ week with brands in supermarket
❖ Test drive with car
❖ Flagship stores like Nike or M&Ms
Flagship store = The lead store in a retail chain acting as a showcase for the brand
or retailer. Its job is to draw customers into the brand over and above making sales.
The focus is on experience and creating a destination store that people want to visit.
3. Direct Marketing
- Direct mailing, telemarketing, catalog selling
- Online and offline (increasingly online)
- Personal
- Measurable (due to it being very personal), which is a huge difference from
advertisement
4. Public relations
- Mainly corporate communications tool
- Building and maintaining goodwill and reputation
- Generate positive publicity (can also be negative since it is out of the
company’s control)
- Many stakeholders e.g bankers, politicians
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, PR Advertising
Earned Visual
Media controls content Paid
Not expensive Expensive
Written Complete control of content
Credible: third-party validation Less trusted
Need to persuade media Guaranteed placement
All about the brand All about a product or service
5. Sponsorships
- Cash or kind
- Provide something to
- Return, especially sales
- Strong image carry-over effects e.g you really dislike a certain football player
and they carry a T-shirt with a brand, you will carry over this feeling towards
the brand
- Other sponsors e.g football players wearing shirts with multiple brands on
them (can be confusing for customers)
- Match-up between sponsor and sponsored organization is needed e.g on
sustainability
- Provide something to the sponsored organization (funds, know-how) and
expect something in return (not always focussed on sales)
Personal vs. mass communications:
- Big distinction between previous instruments (1-5) is the difference between personal
and mass communication
- Traditional advertising/ media belongs to the mass c.
- Important take away: online advertising combines both and has both benefits
- PC influence on individual: not distracted by environment so we focus on the whole
ad (selective perception is low) this is also low because we do not have persuasion
knowledge (feeling that we are being influenced)
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