Promotions & Advertising

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Lily Li        Unit-3        AVCE Business

Promotions & Advertising

The purpose of promotion is to communicate directly with potential or existing customers, in order to encourage them to buy the product and recommend it to others.  The promotional mix involves different forms of promotions. There are:

  • Personal selling
  • Public Relations
  • Sales promotion
  • Direct Marketing
  • Trade Fairs and Exhibitions
  • Sponsorship
  • Advertising

  • Personal selling

It is a form of promotion which involves direct contact between the Lancôme’s sales representatives and prospective customers. Normally it can be seen on the street or in centres.

Advantages

  • It is easier to persuade customers to buy the product
  • The selling person may know what the feeling/reaction of the customers is
  • It is clear to let customers know everything about the product such as functions, where it made and background etc

Disadvantages

  • If the selling person is not adroit in the conservation, customers may be unhappy and go away
  • Customers may not have time to listen to the selling person’s introduction of the product

  • Public Relations

Public relations is all about publicising and promoting a positive image of Lancôme organisation’s achievements with a view to influencing customers to buy products.  Major retailers spend a great deal on public relations to promote a responsible, caring and high-quality image.  Other companies carry out public relations to:

  • Increasing understanding of the company, its scope and products
  • Bring the company and its products to the attention of a wider audience
  • Generate more business and profits

  • Sales promotion

A sales promotion is an attempt to communicate with our customers and encourage them to purchase or stock the product as well as to recommend it to other people. Consumer promotions are used to encourage potential consumers to try a product and, hopefully, to purchase it again. These may involve free samples of the product, discount coupons or voucher, free gifts, buy one get one free, etc.

Advantages

  • It is easy to make more profits than other promotions
  • Usually this is a good way to attract people to buy the products
  • The expenditure on this promotion is not very much

Disadvantages

  • Sometimes the sales promotion cannot attract customers to buy because customers may not think that is necessary.  For example company may have ‘3 for 1’ special offer, but for a customer, he/she may think that 3 items are too much for her/him.  Therefore this sales promotion does not work on them.
  • It does not work on the new product because customers may know nothing about the product because it is new.  Company must have other promotions for the new product to make it is known by the customers.

  • Direct marketing

The place component of the marketing mix does not just comprise decisions about location and distribution.  There are a range of techniques that would allow Lancôme to approach potential customers directly. By using different styles of communication like the telephone, post and the internet, the company can target potential customers anywhere.

Advantages

  • This is a direct way to tell customers about the information of the company or a new product. Therefore it can help company develop the relationship with existing customers/potential customers
  • This is a cheaper and less time-consuming way to promote

Disadvantages

  • Customers may throw the mail away or deleting the text message when they receive it because they think that is ‘Junk Mail’
  • This is more difficult to increase sales and make profits because this is not a good way to attract people to buy the products.

  • Trade fair and Exhibitions

It is an organised gathering of companies from different organisations for the display and promotion of their goods and services. By doing this Lancôme would attracts prospective customers.

Advantages

  • This is a good way for all companies to promote their goods or services, especially new one.  Therefore customers will know more about the background of the companies, their products and services through the trade fairs.
  • For customers, it is an excellent chance to have ‘general shopping’.  They can find out more updated products and services.

Disadvantages

  • There are too many competitors because trade fairs are for all companies
  • This is not a promotion by individual organisation.  Therefore everything of the promotion is not decided by a particular organisation

  • Sponsorship

It is the material support of an event, activity or organisation by an unrelated donor.  Lancôme can reinforce awareness among its target market by sponsoring an event which attracts a similar target market.

Advantages

  • This is a good way to increasing the image of the sponsor and promotes the virtues of a specific of products.
  • After raising the image of the organisation, it will help to make it more popular, or even increase the sales and make more profits
  • After this promotion is done, the benefits are more than other promotions

Disadvantages

  • This is not easy for the small businesses to be sponsors or spondees
  • If the sponsor can’t make sure the event will be successful, they may have risk of losing lots of money as well as the image of the organisation

  • Advertising

Advertising is an important part of an organisation’s promotional activities. It’s the most effective tool and is used to inform, persuade and publicise to remind customers about Lancôme products and activities.  Advertising is a mean of increasing sales.  When a Lancôme product is new on the market and nobody has ever heard of that product, advertises are put up to show what the product is.

When a business wants to advertise they have to think about how to advertise and what they need in order to advertise.  Advertising cost a lot of money so Lancôme have to carefully plan out how to advertise or they will be spending too much money on advertisement and won’t gain anything from it.

There are several places in which businesses would want to advertise their product.  They could advertise in the newspaper, magazines, television, radio, transports (buses, tube trains and taxis), etc.

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Advantages

  • Advertising can be seen anywhere, which means this is an easy way for customers to know more ‘news’ about the company or products.
  • A good advertising can let customers have a good impression, especially new products.

Disadvantages

  • A poor advertising can’t let the customers have a good impression, sometimes could be even worse
  • The expenditure on advertising is too much.  It is not guaranteed to make profits if company can’t provide a good advertising

Promotions and advertising analysis

Below-the-line


Figure 14: Below-the-line promotional activity


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