The Effectiveness of Promotional Strategies
THE ROLE OF PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE ECONOMY
If left to their own initiative, consumer may not appreciate the message to information presented by the company in order to draw their attention towards the company or its products. This account for the reason promotion has become the nub- rub of towards competes industrial would.
Kelvin Amaechi (1991) confirmed the function of promotional element in Nigerian economy. He stated by promoting out that “since marketing entails management which is constantly seeking to identify and satisfy the needs of consumers and promotion being one of he “your walls” of marketing helps to influence consumer reaction towards goods and services which can make or mars the country’s economic growth”.
All these lead to the right importance of promotion in the progress of the economy and it contribution towards the satisfaction of the management function to identify and satisfy consumer needs. He also pointed out that promotional activities help in the marketing of product and service in the advancement of economic growth through.
The creation of consumer awareness or interest in the market which encourage diversification and new products development
Encourage competition, which helps to increase production and product quality and also reduce demand push inflation.
The encouragement of market media and consumer researcher which enriches the nations data for purposeful economic planning and growth strategies .
The creation f product awareness in the relevant market which in turn encourage wider distribution of goods and services to the benefit to transportation or haulage sub-sector the Nigerian economy. He stressed the luke-warm attitude towards promotion decreasing the understanding of recent innovation in consumer and industrial markets by consumer and industrialists.
PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY: Promotional mix namely: Advertising, sales promotion, personal selling. They must be blended to carried out in such away that the message communicated to the consumer as well achieve as it is intended in promotional objective which can be to increase the consumer awareness to build new customer for the firm.
C.S. Onyebuage (1991) confirmed that promotional strategy is collecting referring to the planning and implementation of persuasive or already existing consumers. He further stressed that it is controlled, integrated programming of communication method and materials designed to present any company and its product with the aim of facilitating sales and thus contributing to the long term profit performance of the firm promotional state. Promotional strategies has always been regarded as a key factor behind every marketing success, though promotion is one of the most difficult component of marketing efforts to manage and measure effectively .
Therefore any industry, be it Agro-Allied to effectively carry out its promotional activities, its promotional activities, it should have a good promotional objectives that has a specific sales communication task as well as defined audience and period of time when the result or objectives are to be achieved.
Onyekan (1989) stated that promotional strategic should be based on a series of answers to important such as “To whom should promotional be addressed” what blend of promotional be addressed” what blend of promotional variable could be used, what communication objectives should be sought? What should be the content of the message. What media mix are to be used? What allocation of the total budget should promotion take? He maintained strongly that in every population tha compose different individuals with different needs and wants, life cycle and taste, the most effective promotional strategy is to different single out those segment of the population with bright prospect and address the promotional message to them .
Ojionueme (1994) maintained that “the effectiveness of any promotional message depends upon the skill, versatility and talent of the designers”. Because of the techniques involved in promotional planning, it cannot just be left in the hands of the todders if the result is expected to prove the strategies effective.
ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS PROMOTIONAL VARIABLES
Promotional activities can play a comprehensive role when directed towards helping a company to justify its existence and maintained positive stand in the marketing environment as it relates to it consumers.
Ojioneme (1994) writing on promotion as tool wrote the earlier mentioned sub-systems of the promotional activity include”. Advertising, personal selling sales promotional public relations and publicity. Writing on the impact of promotional activities in industries and manufacturing firms, Nicked (1988) said “In the recent past, advertising, personal selling, sales promotion, public relations and publicity were viewed as the only element in promotional circle”.
His view sounded as if he was about introducing more element into the promotion mix, however ,he concluded that “This promotion mix of five elements when properly combined skilled promotion strategies will achieve ang promotional objectives.
Advertising. According to Boza Chuks Ebue (1995) he defined advertising as an impersonal form of communication or presentation of goods, ideas or services conducted through paid. Media under open or identify sponsorship. Agro- Allied products advertise be if for consumption or for industrial users are carried out with the aim of creating a positive image at increasing sales by informing, persuading and educating customers in the availability of the product and its need. Prints and electronic media are mostly used in attaining this objective.
In relation to industrial advertising ,it is a way of creating awareness and preference for non-retail goods and service among special buyers who engaged in the manufacturing process. Industrial product are not bought in the conventional market retail store, they are bought through management or industrial distributors or indirectly from the manufacturers. Thus, Olympic milling industries producing raw materials for brewing industry finds it difficult to visit different brewers headquarters in different states for orders; so they employ local distributors or salesmen who are acting as the company’s sales agent, for they are always at the disposal of customer.
For advertising as a promotional strategy be effective, advertising research must be carried out. This is concerned with analyzing different media combination of media and evaluating the degree of success with which advertising objectives have to be achieve. It follows that certeria should be agreed by which success may be measured. For example the rate of growth of the sales of a product brand awareness of company. In some cases, the principal role of advertising may be defensive maintaining the present market position of a specific brand of a product method can now be developed to measure effectiveness.
Personal selling: This can be defined a “seller promotional presentation conducted on a person to person basis with the buyer E.O Adirka (1998). It can be used for many purposes viz creating, developing new product reference, negotiation of price etc personal selling permits all kinds of relationship to a deep personal friendship personal confrontation and immediate response characterize it. It further sub-divided into
- Face to face selling: This is a personal sellers promotional presentation conducted in a face to face eyeballs to eyeball basis with the buyers. It involves an alive immediate and interactive relationship between two or more persons. Each participle to observe at close hand, the characteristic and needs of the other and make immediate adjustment.
- Telephone: This can be described as a personal selling type of non- face to face sales presentation through a communication devices. (telephone) more effectively and efficiently
The telephone is very good instrument of contact that helps to turn lot of non- contact time into customers contact time. However, the telephone through very useful is very rude instrument which can interrupt one at any time. Whether the massage it carries is trivial serious moreover there is a way of knowing how serious the message is until you put the telephone.
Nwokoye Ahianuzu (1987) defined personal selling as “the use of salesmen to push the demand for a product or service”. The sales force must be properly selected, trained and motivated for their affective performance.
Personal selling provides opportunity for the company through its salesmen or agent to come to personal relationship with its market. There is greater persuasion in personal selling than in other promotional tool and therefore, immediate purchase is offer anticipated as the response of the customers. Through personal selling, information about a product can reach where it may never reach through advertising
Sales promotion: sales promotion is something extra that can arose interest, create a buying desire, spark an immediate reaction form customers, middlemen or company’s sales force” sales promotional activities are directed to consumers, middlemen or the firm’s own sale force, it embrace all activities, which carried message in the media, and tools directed or controlled directly by the company itself.
It is used to increase the sales of a product especially at a time when normal sales are sluggish. Sales promotion may take any of these price reduction, premium, gift and extra for samples, discount, coupon, contest, personality promotion, sponsorship of various activities and programmes and other relevant avenues.
PUBLIC RELATION: IPRA Journal (1996) maintained that public relation is the act and science of planning and implementing honest two ways communication and understanding between the company or organization and many of different public with which it relates in the course f itsday today operations. It is aimed at achieving good will and proper projection of organization image.
Public relation activities are carried out elear and continuously with the following groups.
Internal public which includes that company’s employees
- Various segment of the organizational framework production, marketing, personnel and financial department
- The company sales force
- Directors of the company
- Workers union in the company
External public which include
- Customers, the press, shareholders, dealers and suppliers.
- Local communication state and federal government
for public relations to affective. There should be a smooth internal communication system with the various levels of employees.
Employees should be informed regularly in house journal, wall papers and other appropriate methods
A suggestion scheme should be run. All these will project the firm as a good cooperate citizen.
PROMOTIONAL OBJECTIVE IN AGRO- ALLIED INDUSTRY.
Definition of a company’s objectives be it promotion is a key requirement towards involving a sound promotional strategies for any product or services. This will have a great impact on the product or services. Market ability intelligent and constructive promotional strategy require clearly stated goals which the company is striving to achieve through the use of deficiencies in, promotional activities most Agro –Allied industries employed in the country is that objectives are stated in such a way that during the final analysis, it becomes useless for management purpose. For example where the projective is to increase sales and there is shortage of products in stock, it will create demand shortage, which will dissatisfy the purchasers.
With out an explicitly statement of promotion goals that are understood, workable and acceptable by all parties involved in carrying out promotional plans, effectiveness of the company’s promotional programme is this reduced.
Promotion success of Agro –Allied products varies with objectives set for the promotion strategies to be achieved. The following can be considered as the objectives of promotional strategies in Agro-Allied industries.
To provide information to consumers and individual users.
To increase demand and differentiate their products
To accelerate product values and stabilize sales
For Agro-Allied industries to effectively define the promotional strategy objectives, this sequence is necessary.
Collect all relevant information on consumers.
Access the marketing plan
Obtain management approval
PROMOTION PLAN AND PLANNING
Planning is process by which managers visualize and determines future actions that will lead to the realization of designed objectives.
Promotional planning of possible problems which may arise in the future in the course of executing promotional efforts, and also formulating a promotional directed programme that will intervene if the problem breaks, to restore conformity. The plan also specifics which promotional tools will be used, which formula for the allocation of organization’s funds or resources.
Kotler (1988) sees planning as the managerial process of developing and maintaining a viable lit between the organization, objectives and resources, and the changing marketing opportunities.
According Akpala (1990) planning is the process of using related facts and assumption about the future to arrive at course of action to be followed in seeking specific goal”. Therefore, specific undertaking to select in advance for a company, the functional staff, train and equip such staff with adequate order to achieve promotional goals.
Jain (1990) put together concerns the relationships of the organization to its environment incorporates the affect of the environmental changes into the corporate and formularize new strategies.
Media selection: It involves which medium or combination of media an organization or company will use to achieve portable return in its promotional activities media selection is basic understanding of the capabilities and cost of the major advertising media available to a company of target consumer information, market trend, media information and extent of budget available.
The basic necessary of media strategy is reach. This refers to the number of time that the promotional massage is exposed with a given advertising budget, the promotional message can reach more people given the suitable media. Based on the said parameter, the available media are radio, television, newspaper, magazines, directed mails outdoor, bill boards and posters. Another variable is commercial massages over a long span of time.
Television reach reflects the number of unduplicated (separate house hold receiving a particular broadcast over a specified time) this same definition applies to radio within the industry, this is generally a four weeks period. Some reach is referred to as a cumulative audience. For example, if the same fifteen (15) million house hold watch Olympic semolina advert, each week period. The total audience id 60 million ie 4×5 but total reach is still fifteen (15) million separate householders total reach is still fifteen is important to advertisers who need to know how many different house holds and person receiving their massage.
Nwalia (1999) carried out a research on Designing effective promotion strategy for an industrial product. He defined promotion as an exercise in information, persuasion and communication in variable, they are related because to inform is to persuade and in the contrary, a person who is persuaded is also being informed. This simple point to the fact that consumer is supreme. Whether the customer decides to buy or not also depends on the producer and other aspects of the marketing process.
The manipulation of the four marketing tools therefore, the basic duty of promotion is to disseminate information to encourage and let potential customers know of your product. However once intermediaries are introduce in a market pattern, it is not ideal for a product to communicate only with the ultimate consumer or industries buyers.
HCHO (1996) Carried out a research the marketing of insurance service in Enugu Metropolis .
Evaluation of insurance companies promotional strategies, he said, fundamental ingredients which differentiates services from the physical products. Firstly, the production service may not most of the time demand the use of tangible goods and when such is done, there is no transfer of the little of the tangible product.
Services in addition are inseparable from the person Dr. producer, this suggests the individual producing the service in a essential component of the service and determines the level of satisfaction derivable from the service
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This article was extracted from a Project Research Work Topic
“THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY AGRO- ALLIED INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA. (A CASE STUDY OF OLYMPIC MAIZE MILLING AGRO ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED AWKA).”
