Hoofdstuk 9
Noise is the surrounding distraction present during the communications process,
and varies from children playing during the commercial break, through to
arresting headlines in a magazine. Interference is deliberate attempts to distract
the audience’s attention with intelligent communications. Sending the same
message by more than one route is called redundancy, and is a good way of
ensuring that the message gets through.
A sign is ’anything that stands for something (its object) to somebody (its
interpreter) in some respect (its context)’.
Semiotics is really more of a theoretical approach than an academic discipline,6
and uses spoken language as the prime example of a sign system (although it is
not limited to language). Semiotics pays attention to the reader (or observer)
since meaning can only be derived socially; it is an interaction between the
reader and the text.
Syntactics is about the structure of communications. Symbols and signs change
their meanings according to the syntax, or contexts, in which they appear.
Semantics is concerned with the way words relate to the external reality to which
they refer. It is not actually about the study of meaning (although this is a
common misconception), but is really concerned only with the appropriateness of
the words themselves.
Developing effective marketing communications follows a six-stage process, as
follows:
1 Identify the target audience.In other words, decide who the message should get
to.
2 Determine the response sought. What would the marketer like members of the
audience to do after they get the message?
3 Choose the message. Write the copy, or produce an appropriate image.
4 Choose the channel. Decide which newspaper, TV station or radio station the
audience uses.
5 Select the source’s attributes.Decide what it is about the product or company
that needs to be communicated.
6 Collect feedback. For example, carry out market research to find out how
successful the message was.
Communications often follow the AIDA approach:
A Attention; I Interest; D Desire; A Action
The basic promotional mix consists of advertising, sales promotion, personal
selling and PR.
Advertising is defined as ‘a paid message inserted in a medium’. This definition
can be broken down as follows:
• Paid:news about a company or its products is not necessarily advertising;
sometimes a medium (television, radio, newspaper or magazine) will carry a
message about a company in the form of a news item, but this is not advertising
unless the space is paid for.
• Message:there must be some kind of communication intention in an
advertisement, however obscure.
• In a medium: the message must appear in a newspaper, magazine, billboard or
broadcast medium. Leaflets through doors, company names printed on Tshirts,
and telephone selling are not necessarily advertising (but they are promotion).
Advertising is a non-personal communication, in that it has to speak to a large
number of people, so the message has to be clear for all the target audience to
understand.
Advertising can be used for the following purposes:
• To help the salesforce to open sales. For example, an ad may contain a reply
coupon for a brochure, which the salesperson can follow up.
, • To stimulate demand for the product category. This is used by institutions, or
firms that have a large market share: for example, the UK Meat and Livestock
Commission advertises British pork on behalf of farmers and butchers.
• To promote specific brands. This accounts for most advertising activity.
• To counteract competitors’promotional activities. Often used to counteract a
possible loss in market share due to a new competitor entering the market.
• To suggest new ways to use the product. Sherry importers Harvey’s of Bristol
ran a series of advertisements showing sherry served with various mixers in an
effort to attract a younger group of consumers and reposition sherry as a pub
drink.
• To remind consumers about the product. For example, advertisements for
traditional Christmas foods are run during December.
• To reinforce consumers’good feelings about the product. For example, in the
United Kingdom Tetley Tea is advertised using down-to-earth cartoon characters
representing ‘typical’ Yorkshire people who have heart-warming personalities.
Advertising can also be used to improve awareness of the company itself. This
type of advertising is called institutional advertising. It is almost a public relations
activity, but the media space is paid for. Most advertising is product advertising,
which means the products are the main part of the ad. Advertisements contain
three key elements: the brand itself, the pictorial element, and the text.
Four elements appear to be important in the effectiveness of advertising:
• awareness,
• liking,
• interest, and
• enjoyment.
Sales promotions are short-term activities designed to generate a temporary
increase in sales of the products.Sales promotions have four characteristics, as
follows:
1 Attractiveness. This is the degree to which the customer perceives the
promotion as being desirable.
2 Fit to product category. Apromotion which has no relationship with the product
is less likely to appeal to customers.
3 Reception delay. If the promotional gift or discount will not arrive for some time,
it is less attractive.
4 Value. High-value promotions work better than low-value ones, but it is the
value as perceived by the customer which is important.
Sales promotion will often be useful for low-value items, and is most effective
when used as part of an integrated promotion campaign. This is because
advertising and PR build sales long term, whereas sales promotion and personal
selling tend to be better for making quick increases in sales. The combination of
the two leads to the ratchet effect: sales get a quick boost from sales promotions,
then build gradually over the life of an ad campaign. Sales promotions can be
carried out from manufacturer to intermediary (trade promotions), from retailer
to consumer (retailer promotions) or direct from the manufacturer to the
consumer (manufacturer promotions). Trade promotions can be used for the
following purposes:
• To increase stock levels. The more stock the intermediary holds, the more
commitment there will be to selling the stock and the less space there is for
competitors’ stock.
• To gain more or better shelf space. The more eye-catching the position of the
product in the retail shop, the more likely it is to sell.
• To launch a new product. New products always carry an element of risk for
retailers as well as manufacturers. This means that the manufacturer may need
to give the retailer an extra incentive to stock the product at all.
Noise is the surrounding distraction present during the communications process,
and varies from children playing during the commercial break, through to
arresting headlines in a magazine. Interference is deliberate attempts to distract
the audience’s attention with intelligent communications. Sending the same
message by more than one route is called redundancy, and is a good way of
ensuring that the message gets through.
A sign is ’anything that stands for something (its object) to somebody (its
interpreter) in some respect (its context)’.
Semiotics is really more of a theoretical approach than an academic discipline,6
and uses spoken language as the prime example of a sign system (although it is
not limited to language). Semiotics pays attention to the reader (or observer)
since meaning can only be derived socially; it is an interaction between the
reader and the text.
Syntactics is about the structure of communications. Symbols and signs change
their meanings according to the syntax, or contexts, in which they appear.
Semantics is concerned with the way words relate to the external reality to which
they refer. It is not actually about the study of meaning (although this is a
common misconception), but is really concerned only with the appropriateness of
the words themselves.
Developing effective marketing communications follows a six-stage process, as
follows:
1 Identify the target audience.In other words, decide who the message should get
to.
2 Determine the response sought. What would the marketer like members of the
audience to do after they get the message?
3 Choose the message. Write the copy, or produce an appropriate image.
4 Choose the channel. Decide which newspaper, TV station or radio station the
audience uses.
5 Select the source’s attributes.Decide what it is about the product or company
that needs to be communicated.
6 Collect feedback. For example, carry out market research to find out how
successful the message was.
Communications often follow the AIDA approach:
A Attention; I Interest; D Desire; A Action
The basic promotional mix consists of advertising, sales promotion, personal
selling and PR.
Advertising is defined as ‘a paid message inserted in a medium’. This definition
can be broken down as follows:
• Paid:news about a company or its products is not necessarily advertising;
sometimes a medium (television, radio, newspaper or magazine) will carry a
message about a company in the form of a news item, but this is not advertising
unless the space is paid for.
• Message:there must be some kind of communication intention in an
advertisement, however obscure.
• In a medium: the message must appear in a newspaper, magazine, billboard or
broadcast medium. Leaflets through doors, company names printed on Tshirts,
and telephone selling are not necessarily advertising (but they are promotion).
Advertising is a non-personal communication, in that it has to speak to a large
number of people, so the message has to be clear for all the target audience to
understand.
Advertising can be used for the following purposes:
• To help the salesforce to open sales. For example, an ad may contain a reply
coupon for a brochure, which the salesperson can follow up.
, • To stimulate demand for the product category. This is used by institutions, or
firms that have a large market share: for example, the UK Meat and Livestock
Commission advertises British pork on behalf of farmers and butchers.
• To promote specific brands. This accounts for most advertising activity.
• To counteract competitors’promotional activities. Often used to counteract a
possible loss in market share due to a new competitor entering the market.
• To suggest new ways to use the product. Sherry importers Harvey’s of Bristol
ran a series of advertisements showing sherry served with various mixers in an
effort to attract a younger group of consumers and reposition sherry as a pub
drink.
• To remind consumers about the product. For example, advertisements for
traditional Christmas foods are run during December.
• To reinforce consumers’good feelings about the product. For example, in the
United Kingdom Tetley Tea is advertised using down-to-earth cartoon characters
representing ‘typical’ Yorkshire people who have heart-warming personalities.
Advertising can also be used to improve awareness of the company itself. This
type of advertising is called institutional advertising. It is almost a public relations
activity, but the media space is paid for. Most advertising is product advertising,
which means the products are the main part of the ad. Advertisements contain
three key elements: the brand itself, the pictorial element, and the text.
Four elements appear to be important in the effectiveness of advertising:
• awareness,
• liking,
• interest, and
• enjoyment.
Sales promotions are short-term activities designed to generate a temporary
increase in sales of the products.Sales promotions have four characteristics, as
follows:
1 Attractiveness. This is the degree to which the customer perceives the
promotion as being desirable.
2 Fit to product category. Apromotion which has no relationship with the product
is less likely to appeal to customers.
3 Reception delay. If the promotional gift or discount will not arrive for some time,
it is less attractive.
4 Value. High-value promotions work better than low-value ones, but it is the
value as perceived by the customer which is important.
Sales promotion will often be useful for low-value items, and is most effective
when used as part of an integrated promotion campaign. This is because
advertising and PR build sales long term, whereas sales promotion and personal
selling tend to be better for making quick increases in sales. The combination of
the two leads to the ratchet effect: sales get a quick boost from sales promotions,
then build gradually over the life of an ad campaign. Sales promotions can be
carried out from manufacturer to intermediary (trade promotions), from retailer
to consumer (retailer promotions) or direct from the manufacturer to the
consumer (manufacturer promotions). Trade promotions can be used for the
following purposes:
• To increase stock levels. The more stock the intermediary holds, the more
commitment there will be to selling the stock and the less space there is for
competitors’ stock.
• To gain more or better shelf space. The more eye-catching the position of the
product in the retail shop, the more likely it is to sell.
• To launch a new product. New products always carry an element of risk for
retailers as well as manufacturers. This means that the manufacturer may need
to give the retailer an extra incentive to stock the product at all.
