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Introduction

BA (Hons) Business Studies with Specialisms Year II Marketing Communications MKT326M2 Outline the key elements of the communication process. What particular issues need to be considered when designing marketing communications mixes across cultures? Module Co-ordinator: Lorna Stevens Student: Sinead Stevenson (41051900) Introduction Marketing communications can be defined as communications by means of promotion within a target audience or market. To communicate with consumers in order to persuade them to buy the company's products is by no means the only objective. To view it as being only sales-orientated is to underestimate the complexity of modern marketing communications. "It is necessary to target customers in an integrated fashion to inform, persuade and remind prospective and existing consumers and customers of the firm, its products and services and how these are differentiated to appeal to and satisfy targeted needs, wants and desires of target markets."1 Marketing communications does not entail the continuous application of tried and tested techniques, rather it is constantly moving and dynamic, not just in terms of messages, but also medias, monies expended and changing consumer mindsets. An example of this, product placement, which involves the deliberate featuring of a product or brand in a film or television programme, was in its infancy even five years ago. Today, however, it represents a useful - if still marginal - element of the communications programme for many consumer goods organisations. It is also about creativity. ...read more.

Middle

Noise Noise is anything that interferes with the communication process so that the receiver gets a message that is different from the one the source sent or gets no message at all. Interference with TV reception, radio static, poor colour reproduction in magazine ads, are all examples. Noise also occurs when a source uses a sign that is unfamiliar to the receiver or that has a different meaning from the one the source intended. Noise may also originate in the receiver. A receiver may be unaware of a coded message because his or her perceptual processes block it out or because the coded massage is too obscure. Feedback After a message has been sent, the source is interested in securing feedback from the receivers. It may not be immediate and the longer it takes the less valuable the feedback becomes. Feedback generally is more immediate when the source uses interpersonal communication channels like personal selling. Channel Capacity Each communication channel has a limit on the volume of information it can handle effectively. For example, an individual source can only talk so fast, and there is a limit to how much an individual can take in aurally. Now that the basic communication process has been explored, it is worth considering how promotion is used to influence individuals, groups or organisations to accept or adopt a firm's product. Product Adoption Process The following stages of the product adoption process are generally recognised as those that buyers go through in accepting a product. ...read more.

Conclusion

Instead, they need to be seen as the component parts of a promotions or communications mix, which, in turn, is just one part of the organisation's overall marketing mix. Because of this, it is essential that the marketer develops a clear understanding of the nature of the interrelationships that exist between the individual elements of the communications mix and how these then influence and are in turn influences by the elements of the marketing mix. However, it is often still the case that either these interrelationships are not fully understood or, because of a series of organisational constraints, the elements of the communications programme are managed largely independently. Having developed and implemented the communications programme, the marketer then needs to measure its effectiveness through developing a detailed feedback loop so that lessons for the future might be learned. The consequences of this are typically seen in a number of ways, but most obviously in terms of the organisation's failure to deliver a consistent and seamless message to the marketplace. Therefore, the planner needs to manage each of the individual elements in as optimal a way as possible. The rationale for this is that marketing communications is an area of exciting diversity and development. The last word has not been written on the subject of marketing communications nor its theoretical nor practical foundations. Questions and issues abound, but the answers are within today's and tomorrow's practitioners and theorists. ...read more.

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