Organisations that sponsor different types of events have as objectives to promote their brand and increase awareness and interest among target consumers. Associating a brand with a certain event can change the consumer’s attitude towards the brand or can help target new markets. For instance, Heineken who is an official sponsor of UEFA Champions League, has come up with a unique concept to communicate and interact with its target audience in Nigeria. Heineken opened The Heineken House where, after a selection that took place in bars around Nigeria, the football fans were taken into The House and apart from being able to enjoy the live games of Champions League in a very relaxing atmosphere, they were also welcomed with a cold beer and were invited to take place in draws where the winners were given invites to The House and other freebees. The Heineken House campaign helped increase the usage of the brand and reinforced the premium quality associated with the brand but it also increased visibility and awareness of its UEFA sponsorship amongst the locals. Sponsoring such a high profile event creates instant association between the brand and event in the eyes of its audience, that are the majority of Heineken’s target market. Just like exhibitions, the events that an organisation chooses to sponsor might be attended by important people, part of the decision making unit of potential customers.
The objectives likely to be set with the use of coupon promotions are to maximise the redemption rate, to increase the display space allocated to the brand within a store as the retailer must have enough stock to avoid customer disappointment, to increase demand during a period of year where specific products/services are not sought for, to create trail and awareness for a new product or to increase sales of an existing product. Another objective can be the measurement of customer response to their brand or product/service, which will be easily achieved by counting the returned coupons. A customer is more likely to buy a product again if there is a coupon attached to the item he just purchased and Boots, for example, is more likely to stock more L’oreal products due to the coupon promotion used by the brand on the back of the till receipt, giving 20% off a repeat purchase. And a browser might be convinced to buy a personalised calendar at the end of January just because he can use a 50% discount coupon at .
Prize promotions, like competitions can help reach organisational objectives such as increasing brand awareness, gaining market share by encouraging new customers to purchase their product for the first time, boost up sales for a temporary period and most of all, they can increase the organisation’s consumer data base. For example, H. Samuel, acting as a retailer for Guess Watches enclosed a form in Cosmopolitan magazine for a competition that would take the winner to London for a Guess make over. By asking the participants to leave their name and address and pick their favourite watches out of a line up, Guess was able to increase their consumer data base, but may also have a better idea of the budget for next year’s promotional campaigns due to the market test they conducted by asking participants to pick their favourite watch. By asking participants to drop the form at any H. Samuel store, the retailer increased the flow of potential customers, now putting the matter of sale increase into the hands of their qualified staff within the stores.
An organisation that has to use ‘middlemen’ to get their products to the end consumers has to use different below the line activities to ensure sales through sale staff dedication and knowledge of their product, brand awareness, display space and maximise their market share over competitors.
A manufacturer of capital goods for instance, has to ensure that the retailer they work with will continue to stock their products over those of their competitors and they may achieve this objective by offering the retailer the best discounts on substantial orders and special terms on delivery or payment (trade promotions). Increasing sales and brand awareness and interest is crucial to any organisation and they could employ below the line activities such as tailor-made promotions to motivate staff to push the promoted product at the point of sale. Merchandising is also used to increase brand awareness and stimulate consumer to make purchases, by ensuring product visibility and availability. For example, Wrigley that offer impulse products like chewing gum, sweets and mints rely on merchandisers to deliver stands to the retailers and arrange their products to ensure best visibility to encourage sales.
To compile a consumer data base specific to your product/service that helps you identify your target market, to encourage interest in a new product or service, to generate sales or orders, and to develop relationships by building brand recognition and loyalty are all important organisational objectives. Direct mail can be used to achieve these goals. Building brand recognition and loyalty can help ensure market leadership and needs to be sustained by constant contact with the customer by informing them of new products and upgrades available for the products they have already purchased or sending personalised offers. Direct mail is probably the best way for an organisation to target down to the individual level and measure the results of their campaign by simply counting the responses they received, whether they are forms with customer information or orders. Examples of organisations that use direct mail to achieve these kinds of objectives are Freemans and Littlewoods, that send catalogues with their products or offers all through the year, or the local clinic that sends out flyers to announce the beginning of the Heart Health Awareness Week and draw attention to their services.
Charities, much like sponsorships, are employed by organisations to increase their visibility within the market, but also to build a reputation of being concerned with public issues, like the environment, human or animal rights. ASTON VILLA football club has supported ACORNS CHILDREN”S HOSPICE TRUST since 2006. ’ACORNS is a registered charity, offering a network of care to life-limited children and support for their families across the West Midlands, UK.’
3.Conclusion
Below the line activities are becoming increasingly important within the communication mix of many companies, not only for those dealing with fast moving consumer goods but also industrial goods, and are likely to be employed more often than any other promotional activities in the near future.
4.References
Cosmopolitan Magazine, December 2008 UK issue
E.M.M., Trade Marketing Analyst at Wrigley, Romania