Public Relation: Tools

Public Relation

Company relate to large number of interested public. Public, any group that have potential and interest on companies ability to achieve its target. There are some function which perform under public relation:

1. Press Relations- News and information about organization in the most positive light.

2. Product publicity- Sponsoring efforts to publicize specific products

3. Corporate Communications- Promoting understanding of the organization through internal and external communications.

4. Lobbying: Dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation.

5. Counselling- Advising management about public issues, and company positions and image during good time and bad.

Major Tool in Marketing PR

Publications:  Companies rely extensively on publish materials to reach and influence their target markets. Like, Annual Reports, Articles, Brochures, Magazines and Audiovisual material

Events: To caught attention for new product or company, arranging special events, like, news conferences, seminars, outing, trade shows, exhibits, contests and competitions, anniversaries.

Sponsorship: Companies promote their brands and corporate name by sponsoring sports and cultural events and highly regarded causes.

News: One of the major tasks of PR professionals is to find or create favourable news about the company, products and its people.

Speeches: increasingly, company executives must field questions from the media or give talks at trade associations or sales meetings, and these appearances can build the company's image.

Steps for making effective public relations:

1st: Make Objective: PR can be Awareness, Credibility, Enthusiasm. Company have to set goal or objective for marketing public relation.

2nd: Chose Messages and Vehicles: After electing objective, company have to decide how to reach target market and what deliver to target market.

3rd: Implement Plan And Evaluating Result: It's difficult to measuring PR, the easiest measures of marking PR effectiveness is the number of exposures carried by the media. Publicists supply the client with a clipping book showing all the media that carried news about product and summary statement. This is not effective tool to get result because it contain no indication of how many people read, heard, or recalled the message.

A better measure is the change in product awareness, comprehensions, or attitude resulting from the PR Campaning.

Sales Promotion: tools and evaluation

Sales Promotion

Select Objective:

The major objective of sale promotion are : (for Consumers)

• ·         Encourage consumer to purchase of large-size units
• ·         Building trial among nonusers
• ·         Attracting competitors customer to switch our product by building trial

Objective for retailers:

Carry new items and higher levels of inventory,

• ·         Encouraging off season buying,
• ·         Encouraging stocking of related items
• ·         Offsetting competitive promotions
• Objective for Sales Force
• ·         Encouraging support of new product and model
• ·         encouraging more prospecting
• ·         stimulating off-season sales

Selecting Consumer Promotion Tools:

Major consumer promotion tools are:

• ·         Samples: Free amount of product or service
• ·         Coupons: Saving on purchasing product
• ·         Cash refund offers (Rebates): price reduction after purchase
• ·         Premiums (Gift): low cost or free incentive to purchase of particular product  
• ·         Frequency Program: rewards on frequency in purchasing company's product
• ·         Prizes (contests, sweepstakes, games): Prize like to win gold coin, cash, trips on purchasing something.
• ·         Product warranties: it's promise from company to buyer, they will fix it or refund the money during a specified period
• ·         Tie-in Promotion: two or more companies team up on coupons, refunds
• ·         Cross-promotions: using one brand to advertise another non-competing brand

Selecting trade promotion tools

• ·         Price -off : discount off the list price on each case purchased during stated time period
• ·         Free Goods: offers of extra cases of merchandise to intermediaries who buy certain quality or who feature a certain flavor or size

Major business and sales-force promotion tools

• ·         trade shows and conventions: participate in trade shows and conventions
• ·         Sales Contests: Gives chance to get extra income or gift to sales personnel for getting sales target

Evaluate

Manufactures can evaluate the program using sales data, consumer surveys, and experiments. Sales data helps analyze the types of people who took advantage of the promotion, what they bought before the promotion, and how they behaved later toward the brand and their brands.

Consumer surveys can uncover how many recall the promotion, what they thought of it, how many took advantage of it, and how the promotion affected subsequent brand-choice behavior.

Experiments vary such attributes as incentive values, duration, and distribution media.

Advertising - Planning, Execute, Evaluation

Advertising - Planning, Execute, Evaluation

Planning:

Setting Advertising Goal: What's aim to do advertising? whether their aim is just inform about product,  persuade, remind or reinforce.

Deciding on the advertising budget: How does company know, how much to spend? Company have to know where to spend, where to target. industrial companies underestimate the power of company and product image building and under spend.

Execute

Developing the advertising campaign: Advertisers go through three steps: Message generation and Evaluation, creative development and execution(TV ads, Print ads, Radio ads, Firm ads), Social-responsibility review.

Selecting Media: Advertiser always search low cost media to attempt target audience.   

Deciding on media timing and allocation:

Continuity: ads appear evenly throughout a given period. Frequently purchased items, and in tightly defined buyer categories

Flighting: calls for spending all the advertising budget in a single period. This type of ads basically for those product which selling on season.

Pulsing: Its continuous advertising at low weight level reinforce periodically by waves of heavier activity. Those who favor pulsing believe the audience will learn the message more thoroughly, and at a lower cost to the firm.

Evaluating:

Communication effect research: Marketer should perform test, before ad and after ad.

Sales effect research: What sales are generated by an ad that increases brand awareness.  

Share of expenditures -> share of voice -> share of mind and heart -> share of market

Steps For New Product Development

Steps For New Product Development

Step one: Idea Generation:-

product development start with one of idea. Idea can come from interacting with various groups and using creativity-generating techniques. For example, Karshanbhi Patel, founder of Nirma Washing Powder, his idea to deliver Washing powder at lower cost.

Idea comes from different direction.

Scan and analysis of customers problem which they are facing.

Market Research

Suggestion from target audience, employee, partners

Mind mapping

New idea arise from lateral marketing that combines two product conepts or ideas to create new offering.

For example

Gas station stores            = gas stations + foods

cyber cafes                         = cafeteria + Internet

Sony Walkman                  = audio + portable

2nd Step: Idea Screening:-

Screening idea means look out suitability, look at ROI, affordability, market potential. before investing on idea, need to consider this all possibility

In Company, Idea avoid idea in two times of errors: DROPS- error, it's occurs, when company rejected good idea without understand it. : GO-error, company permits a poor idea to move into development and commercialization.

3rd Step: Concept Development and testing:-

Product idea convert into several concepts. like, who will use this product?, What primary benefit should this product provide?, When will people use product?

Product testing means preparing and presenting product concept or physically, and offer to customer and analysis the reaction of product. The more the tested concepts resemble the final product or experience.

4th Step: Develop Marketing Strategy

Marketing strategy at primary stage can be divided in three part, First: Target Market Size, Structure and behavior. Second: outline plan price, distribution strategy, and marketing budget for a year. Third:  plan for long-run sales and profit.

5th Step: Business Analysis:-

After development of marketing strategy and product concept, time to analysis business attractiveness. look at out, the cost, sales, and profit that satisfy company's need.

Their need to be check Estimated total sales, estimated cost and profit, Risk analysis, breakeven analysis. If result are satisfactory time to move to the development stage.

6th Step: Product development:-

After product approval, next stage to technical and R&D. In R&D, a prototype (Limited model) model will be created. Its goal to find safety, design and specification.

Customer tests, when prototype is ready, it's go to customer test before they enter the market. Basically, company do two type of testing, Alpha testing: the product testing within the firm to see how to performs in different applications. Beta testing: with customers.

7th Step: Test Marketing:-

Test marketing is different from consumer test. In test marketing, company chooses few representative cities, and the sales force tries to sell the trade on carrying the product and giving it good shelf exposure.

The company puts advertising and promotion campaign similar to the one it would use in national marketing. Test marketing measure, the impact of alternative marketing plans by varying the marketing program in different cities.

8th Step: Commercialization (Launch)

When the concept has been developed and tested, Final decision need to be made to move the product to its launch into the market. Most new-product campaigns rely on sequenced mix of market communication tools.

When(Timing), Where(Geographic strategy), To Whom (Target-market), How (Introductory  market strategy)

Pricing: objective: Methods

Pricing

Objective

Why company set price? this question comes in mind. their some of the objective give idea about set price

1. Company set price to earn Profit. Aim of company to manufacture product sell to customer and earn profit. in short, Maximize Profit. Profit may be long-run, or short-run.

2. Company set Price to increase sales volume. Company facing competition, over capacity, consumer mind set, Therefore company have to survive. For Survival company have make pricing strategies.

3. Company set price to grab maximum market. to increase market share.

4. Ultimately, Company have to grow

5. Company unveiling a new technology favor setting high price to maximize  market skimming. For example,  Sony introduced the world's first high-definition Television (HDTV) in Japan.

Pricing Methods

1. Mark up Pricing: Most preferable method is mark up pricing. Add a standard mark up to product's cost.

one of company's cost

Fix Cost                                10 $

Variable cost      300000$

expected unit sales = 50000

Unit Cost = Variable Cost + (fixed cost/unit sales) = 16$

Now, suppose manufacturer want to earn 20% on sales.

Mark up Price = unit cost/(1-desire return on sales (20%)) = 16/(1-0.2) = 20$

2. Target-Return Pricing:  Firm determines the price that would yield its target rate of ROI. For example, Company want to achieve a 20% ROI specifically $200000

Target Return Price: unit cost+ (desired return x invested capital)/unit sales

                                                    =16+ (0.2 x 1000000)/50000 = 20$

3. Going-Rate Pricing: It's price largely on competitors' prices. Changing more or less than major competitor/s. This method is quite popular. Where costs are difficult to measure or competitive response is uncertain.

4. Auction-Type Pricing: Growing more popular, specially on internet. Best example is Ebay.

   

How to Built Brand: Brand Building Strategies

Brand building strategies

According to the American Marketing Association (AMA), A Brand is "name, term, sign, symbol, or design or  combination of them, intended to identify a goods and services of one seller or group of sellers and to differentiate them from those of competition."

What can be Branded

Physical Goods: best known and highly regarded consumer products, like Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Nescafe, Sony etc.

Service: British Airways, SOTC travel, Fdex, etc. are strong brands existed for yers, the pervasiveness of service branding.

Retailers and Distributors: Sales India (for electrical, in Baroda, Gujarat (Inida)), Mobilewala (for mobile phone, Baroda Gujarat), Barafwala (Distributor of feeding shop, Bahruch Gujarat(India) ) are some example of retailers and Distributors who are brand in local market.

People: actors, politician, religion masters

Sport art and entertainment: Cricket, football, Star Wars,  

Geographic Location: Gir national park, Gir Gujarat, Safari SA,

Steps to Build Brand

First: Define your brand:

At this stage have to give answer of question "Who are you?", awareness of brand. For example, how often and how easily the brand is evoked under various situations and circumstances. you need to know what your brand stands for and you want to contributing to environmental, social, and economic wellbeing of consumers.

Second: Differentiate and Position your Brand

At this stage have to give answer of question "What are you?". need to give performance in primary characteristic and secondary futures, product reliability, suability, serviceability, efficiency, style and design, price. Create image for user profiles, purchase and usage, situations, personality and values, history, heritage and experiences. Once a come up with unique value proposition, you should use a good branding strategy to position your brand in a way that will help consumers see and appreciate the gather value of brand over competing once in the market.

Third: Response of Brand

At this stage have to give answer of question "what about you?" Analysis brand respond by brand judgments and brand feelings.

Brand judgments are customers' personal opinions about and evaluations of the brand, which consumer form by putting together all the different brand performance and imagery associations. Brand judgment may be basis on quality, credibility, consideration, and superiority.

Brand feelings are customers' emotional responses and reactions to the brand.  it's also relate to the social currency evoked by brand. Feeling basis on warmth, fun, excitement, security, social approval, self-respect.  

Fourth: Relationship (personalize)

If want to brand build to be successful, then have to personalize it. At this stage have to give answer the question of "what about you and me?". In brand building, invite customers to be co-creators of brand values so that they can feel that they also own it and relate with it. At this stage you have to give consumers reason to participate and engage with your brand for a lifetime.

Product Life Cycle: PLC

PLC: Product Life Cycle

Through PLC company will know

• Product have a limited life
• Product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunies, and problems to the seller
• Profit rise and fall from different stages of the plc
• Product required different marketing, financial, manufacturing, purchasing and human resource strategies in each plc stage

PLC is in curve shaped, this curve is typically divided into four stage: Introduction, growth, maturity and decline.

Introduction: This is most costly stag in PLC, in this stage company introduced new product, built market. The size of market product is small, therefore profit also low.

Growth: Strong growth in sales and profit. Company built brand preference and market shares

Maturity: A slowdown in sales growth because the product has achieved acceptance by most potential buyers. Profit stabilize or decline because of increased competition. This is probably the most competitive time for most products or businesses, to maintain market share need to invest wisely in marketing. Need to product modification or improvements which might give them a competitive advantage.

Decline: Product will start to shrink, sales show a downward drift and profits erode.

Example:

Introduction stage: 3D TVs

Growth Stage: LED TVs

Maturity Stage: DVD

Decline Stage: CD

BCG Matrix

BCG Matrix

BCG Matrix is based on the company's business units that divided in to four categories based on combinations of market growth and market share. This model developed by Bruce Henderson of the Boston Consulting Group in 1970's.

In this metrix consider two factors important for the growth and success of firm one is market growth rate and another is relative market share.

Market Growth Rate is the overall industry's growth rate, as much high it is that much attractive it is to be in that business and leads to consumption of cash.

Relative Market Share is the firm's market share in comparison to the market leader in that sector and lead to the generation of cash.

There are divided into four segments on the basis of different combinations.

Question Mark: When high market growth rate and low relative market share that time business under question mark. Question marks are growing rapidly and thus consume large amounts of cash, but because they have low market share they do not generate much cash. Question mark also know as problem child.

If potential to gain market share and become star and eventually a cash cow.  when the question mark does not succeed it, market growth decline, it will degenerate into a dog.

Question Marks must be analyzed carefully in order to determine whether they worth the investment required to grow market share.

Star: A business unit comes under stars when both its market growth rate and relative market share are high. Stars generate large amount of cash, if a star can maintain its large market share, it will become a cash cow when the market growth rate declines.

the portfolio of a diversified company always should have star that will become the next cash cow and ensure future cash generation.

Cash Cow: As leader in a market, cash cows exhibit a return on assets that is greater than the market growth rate, and thus generate more cash than they consume.

Business consume less funds as market growth is slow but it is generating more funds as it ahs dominance in the market share because of its experience in market.

Because the cash cow generates a relatively stable cash flow, its value can be determined with reasonable accuracy by calculating the present value of its cash stream using a discounted ach flow analysis.

Dog: Business which have low relative market share and slow market growth. Thus neither generate nor consume large amount of cash.

Dogs are cash traps because of the money tied up in a business that has little potential. such business are candidates for divestiture.

Limitation

BCG Matrix is not much relevant as per today's market. There are other factor also affected rather than market growth rate and market share. like number of competitor, market size, sector of the business etc.

BCG Matrix shows that each business unit is independent of the others. In some case, business unit that may be helping other business units gain a competitive advantage.

Matrix depends on breadth of definition of market. a business unit may dominate its samll niche, but have very low market share in the overall industry.

Role and Relevance of Segmentation and Positioning

Segmentation

As per Philp Kotler segmentation is "Market segmentation is the sub dividing of a market into homogeneous sub section of customer where by sub section may conceivably be selected as a market target to be reached within a distinct marketing mix"

Company rarely Satisfy everyone in a market. Therefore marketer want to start dividing the market in segment. Everyone not go to same hotel, resort, restaurant. Not drive same Car/Bike.

Therefore marketer divided market by:

Geographic Segmentation: It's basis on geographical area like, Nation, State, City Etc. For example, KFC add pure vegetarian dish in his menu for Indians.

Demographic Segmentation: Basis on age, gender, income, family size, education, occupation etc. For example, BlackBarry mobile phone, targeting Business personal, Sport Bike targeting youngsters.

Psychographic Segmentation:  Basis on personality, status, lifestyle, social class etc.  For example, Rolex watch, targeting high profile customer, luxurious lifestyle.

Behavioral Segmentation: Basis on customer buying behavior, like customer usage rate, type, occasions, loyalty, Benefit sought. For example Sensodyne tooth pest targeting those customer who have sensitive teeth.  

Benefit of Segmentation:

Reduce Risk

Increase Market Focus

Increase Market Efficiency

Target Market

Once a company decide segment market, it must decide how many and which ones to target. that's also call targeting group.

Suppose Ms are Market Ps are product in below figure

1. Single - Segment Concentration: Company focus on one product for one market

     m1     m2     m3

P1

P2 *

P3

2. Selective Specialization: Company focus on different product in different market, for example, P&G

     M1     M2     M3

P1                           *

P2 *

P3              *

3. Product Specialization: Company target different market for one product. for example Colgate tooth pest, offers for sensitive teeth, child pest etc

     M1    M2     M3

P1

P2 *       *             *

P3

4. Market Specialization: Company target different product for same Market. for example Colage provide all dental care, like tooth brush, tooth pest, mouth wash.

     M1     M2    M3

P1 *

P2 *

P3 *

5. Full Market Coverage: Company offer all product for all market, for example TATA Group, Microsoft, GM, Coca-cola.

     M1     M2    M3

P1 *       *             *

P2 *       *             *

P3 *       *             *

Understand Your Market And Competitor

Understand Your Market And Competitor

There are best way to understand market by conduct market research.  major three way to we conduct market research

1. Secondary Research (Desk Research): collect information throw existing information like internet, research paper, industrial publication etc.

2. Field Research (Primary Research): Collecting information by yourself by using survey, questionnaire, and other research tools.

3. Commercial Agency: hire external research agency who conduct research for you.

There is another way to analysis where our company stand for. that is SWOT analysis  

S for Strength: analysis what are our strength of our company. strength can be anything, like row material, place, service etc.

W for Weakness: analysis where our company not doing well compare to competitor, and how to overcome or minimize it.

O for Opportunity: continues searching in which area we can served. always finding new area and new uses of product

T for Threats: time to time scan market for new technology, substitute are eating our market.  For Example,  few years Mobile phone is Threat for Camera, Walkman industry.

Competitor: competitors as companies that satisfy the same customer need.

Macro and Micro Environment Effect Marketing

Environments And Their Influence On Marketing

Basically, there are three type of Environment Macro, Micro, Internal. This environment directly or indirectly affect the activity of marketing, Organization can control some of environment and some are not.

Macro Environment

1. Political Environment : Government regulation affecting marketing by regulation of pricing, tax policy, trade, tariffs, and political stability. Government also control influence on the health, education, and infrastructure of nation

Example: Indian government control on ads of tobacco, and Band on TV ads of smoke

2. Economical Environment: When time are good, sales also good, But, when time are bed, need to focus on marketing strategies and promotions. Economical condition of nation determining how much expendable income your consumer base has to spend and how much fear they may have about spending it. There are others factor like, economic growth, interest rates, exchange rates and inflation rate.

3. Social Environment: Social and cultural factor are important to consider while making and implementing  marketing strategy of product. it includes culture, awareness, health conscious, population growth rate, age.

4. Technological Environment: R&D activity, rate of technology change, automation, how fast accept technology, technology sift cost, innovation.

Example: Internet marketing growing very fast.

Micro Environment:

1. Customer: Marketing plan should aim to attract and retain customers through products that meets  "needs and wants" of customers.

2. Suppliers: Suppliers provide businesses by providing raw material.  for example, an increase in raw material price will affect an organisation's Marketing Mix strategy and may even force increase price. Close supplier relationship are effective way to remain competitive and secure quality products.

3. Competitors: Can the organization offer benefits that are better than those offered by competitors? Does the business have unique selling point (USP)? Competitor analysis and monitoring is important to maintain, improve position within the market.

4. Shareholders: Company need investment to grow. shareholders want to return from the money which they invested. shareholder pressure to increase profits. This pressure accept organisational strategy.  

5. Employees: Employing staff with relevant skills and experience in essential. Training and development play a critical role i achieving a competitive edge. If employs staff with motivation, skills or experience it will affect customer service and ultimately sales.

Marketing Mix : 4 Ps of Markeing : four Ps

Marketing Mix

4ps

Marketing mix help to understand of integrated marketing program to create, communicate and deliver value to customer.

Marketing mix help to make decision for influencing their end consumers and channel partners.

Product: 

which product we offer to our customer: Tangible (Goods) , Intangible (Service)

Variety of product	Product quality
Product design	Product future
Band	Packaging
Size	Warranties and return

Price:

Price is numeric value of product for that buyer have to pay.

Price on:

List of Price: the value on package, which depend on  distribution plan, value change cost, and how to defend rival.

Discounts            Allowances         Payment period                               Credit terms

Promotion:

Promotion is communication for targeting market, its create companies' stand for,

Promotion include:

Sales promotion               Advertising         Sales force          Public relation   Direct marketing

Place:

Place means, how to provide product to customer, how to end user get the product

Place include:

Distributors        Channel partners             Locations 

Reference: 

Marketing Management by Philip Kotler