Advertising and Promotions

Study Advertising at Home

• learn to take a product or service and promote it effectively
• study how to write an advertisement, plan an advertising campaign, improve sales and more
• 100 hour, self-paced distance education course in advertising
• improve a business, strengthen a career, get a job

There are ten lessons in this course, each requiring about 10 hours work by the student. This course is designed as a program to first help you understand the marketing world, then to assist you in making decisions and developing skills in marketing. Emphasis is placed on profitability and efficiency!

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Analysing the Market
   • Scope and nature of Promotions and Marketing,
   • Role of Marketing, Approaches to Marketing (The Production Approach: 1820sto 1910s, The Sales Approach: 1920s to 1960s, The Marketing Approach: Stage One – 1960s to 1980s, The Marketing Approach: Stage Two – 1980s to Present),
   • Goals of Marketing,
   • What makes people buy (Attitude, Defining attitudes, How attitudes form, Changing attitudes)
   • Practical Applications (Strengthen an existing attitude, Develop a change in attitude, Increase involvement, Focus on changing several different attitudes toward a product, Message Evaluation & Selection, Message execution, What words sell, Deciding to Buy, Rational Decisions, Heuristic Procedures),
   • Decision Making Process (Recognising a Problem, Seeking Information, Evaluating Alternatives, Purchase Processes),
   • Understanding Communication (Types, Methods, Channels, etc),
   • Managing the Marketing Process (Organising, Analysing, Select Targets, Develop the Mix, Managing the marketing Effort),
   • Market Research (Types of research, Gathering data), Managing the Marketing Plan
2. Target Marketing
   • The Process of Identifying a Target Market,
   • Micro marketing,
   • Developing a Marketing Plan,
   • Organising a Planning Process,
   • Reviewing (Mission statement, Goals & Objectives),
   • Establishing Market Objectives,
   • Increasing Market Share,
   • Expanding Product Mix,
   • Broadening Geographic Range,
   • Expansion through Export,
   • Maximising Customer Service,
   • Develop Objective Focussed Strategies,
   • Increasing Market Share,
   • Analysing Opportunities,
   • External Influences (General economy, Government, Overseas, Demographics, Technology, Changing customer values, Competitor activity, Alternative marketing methods);
   • Internal Influences (Resources, Market Share, Product characteristics, Advertising, Price, Financial capacity, Innovative potential);
   • Selecting Target Markets –Market Segmentation, Mass Marketing, Concentrated or Niche Markets, Differentiated Markets;
   • Physical Basis for Segmentation, Behavioural basis for Segmentation, Developing a Marketing Mix (Product, Price, Promotion, Distribution),
   • Brand Names, Symbols, Logos, Packaging, Positioning and Image, Providing warranties;
   • Price (Pricing Objectives, Pricing Methods, Cost-Price margin, Competition based Pricing, List and Discount Pricing)
3. Display and Display Techniques
   • Channels of Distribution,
   • Market Coverage (Intensive, Selective, Exclusive Distribution),
   • Warehousing,
   • Physical
   • Distribution and Coverage,
   • Inventory Control,
   • Determining Emphasis within Marketing Mix,
   • Product Life Cycle,
   • Product Strategy,
   • Shop Layout, Fixtures and Fittings, Space Available, Displaying Products for Sale,
   • What Sells Best,
   • Spacing, Quantity Displayed,
   • Merchandising Suggestions, Stock Control,
   • Merchandising Program,
   • Signs, Signposting.
4. Advertising and Promotions Strategy
   • Promotional Element,
   • Publicity,
   • Public Relations,
   • Forms of Advertising,
   • Sales Promotion,
   • Personal Selling Method,
   • Promotion Principles,
   • Scope of PR,
   • Steps in Designing a PR Strategy (Set Advertising Objectives, Decide Advertising Budget, Decide Advertising Message, Decide Media to Use, Evaluate Advertising Effectiveness).
5. New Product Development
   • Product Line Decisions,
   • New Products,
   • Tracking Trends,
   • Knowing Your Customers,
   • Packaging,
   • Cost-Benefit Analysis,
   • Financial Forecasting,
   • Project Revenues and Costs,
   • Expenditure Breakdown,
   • Revenue Breakdown.
6. Sales Techniques
   • Promotion and Sales,
   • Steps in the Sales Order,
   • Understanding Persuasion,
   • Materials of Persuasion (Know the Audience, Subject and Yourself, Influencing Opponents, Influencing Neutrals, Handling Criticism, Logical Persuasion);
   • Questioning,
   • Sales Staff Training, Theory of Helping, Strategies (Traditional Approach, Task Approach), Common Strategies for Staff Training and Teaching
7. Writing Advertisement
   • Purpose of Advertising,
   • Writing an Effective Advertisement,
   • Structure of an Ad,
   • Importance of Colour and Size,
   • Advertisement Creation (Develop Product Awareness, Provide Information, Develop a Desire, Develop Conviction, Differentiate Brand, Make a Decision),
   • The Advertising Message, Message Generation, Combining Rewards and Experiences to design a message, Delivering the Message,
   • Advertisement Creation Checklist,
   • Verification and Proofing
8. Electronic Marketing -Telephone & Email
   • Telephone Manner,
   • Managing an Unmanned Phone,
   • Internet Promotions ( Larger audience, Lower Conversion Factor, Different Etiquette, Different Cost Structures, etc),
   • Netiquitte,
   • Ways of Using Web, Web sites,
   • Site Construction, Site Use,
   • Emails
9. Direct Mailing
   • Types of Direct Mailing (The Direct, The Informative. The Reminder, The Utility);
   • Advantages,
   • Disadvantages,
   • Appropriateness
10. Exhibitions & Shows
    • Types of Exhibitions,
    • Judging it’s Value,
    • What can go Wrong,
    • Catering for People Overload,
    • Measuring Success,
    • Organising an Event,
    • Planning a Display

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school's tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Analyse a market and understand what prompts people to choose one product or service over another.
• Determine the promotional effort on an identified target market.
• Explain how to organise and/or conduct displays.
• Plan an advertising program.
• Review a promotions campaign.
• Explain how to choose and develop marketing of new products and services.
• Explain how to organise and/or conduct promotions.
• Develop a sales approach for a product or service which has a difficult sales history.
• Plan a sales staff training program
• Develop different advertisements and different promotional leaflets or brochures
• Describe promotional and advertising techniques using electronic media, in particular the phone and the internet.
• Determine an appropriate direct mailing campaign.
• Design a show/exhibition stand
• Explain how to organise or conduct shows

What You Will Do

• EXAMPLES OF TASKS YOU MIGHT BE ASKED TO UNDERTAKE
  • Go shopping (your routine weekly shopping if you like). Take notice of how different sales staff communicate with you. Note the techniques they use (verbal & non verbal), and how effective they are. Note the type of impression they seem to be creating. When you come home, write down notes on your observations.
  • Look through newspapers or magazines at advertisements or articles which discuss products offered for sale and find what you consider to be good examples of each of the following types of communication:
• Combination of verbal & non verbal communication together
  • Explain why you think these are good examples?
  • Select a product or service which you would like to improve the marketing of. This might be something you are dealing with in your own business or a business you work for; or it might be something you think has potential -an idea you would like to develop into a business OR something another business is dealing with, but not handling as well as what you think they should be.
  • Develop an advertising campaign for this product or service.
• You will need to select a method for determining an advertising budget, and then set that budget.
  • You will then need to find out the costs of advertising in different places.
  • You will then need to write advertisements for these various places. The campaign should be well targeted. NB: We do not expect you to present a highly detailed and involved campaign. This could take longer than the whole course! Put about 10 hours of work into this project, at the most, and then you will present what you have been able to achieve in that time. (You need to not only develop the ability to put a campaign together... but you need to be able to put it together within a reasonable time frame).

Tips from our Advertising and PR Tutors

CREATING AN ADVERTISEMENT

For an advertisement to work, it should take the potential customer through the following 6 stages:

1. Developing Product Awareness

The advert must first catch the attention of the potential customer and in doing so, make them aware that the product exists.

2. Provide Information

Next, the advert must raise the potential customer’s knowledge of the product. In writing an advert, you need to carefully consider - what are the most important “facts” to be included in the advert. An advertisement of any kind will have limitations to the quantity of information it can contain.

You need to be selective, and use the most pertinent information, that will provide the best reason for a person to buy. At the end of this stage, the customer should like the product.

3. Develop a Desire for the Product

A liking for the product is converted to a wish to possess it. This conversion may occur for any of many reasons; for example: an attractive appearance, nice taste, novelty or uniqueness factor, a perceived use by the customer, etc. At the end of this stage the customer should desire to possess the product

4. Develop Conviction

Desire is not enough to ensure a sale; given that customers have limited budgets, and must choose between different purchases (They may desire many things but can only purchase some).

Conviction comes through the customer making comparisons, and from those comparisons: choices.

An advertisement can facilitate conviction through such things as testimonials, money back guarantees, test reports, or sometimes through the corporate image or goodwill that has been created over a long period.

5. Distinguish Brand or Model Preference

For many products and services, there can be variations offered for sale, within the product.

Examples:

• A person may have developed a conviction to buy a car, but they still haven’t decided whether to buy a 4 cylinder or 6 cylinder version.
• A person may have decided to purchase a box of chocolates, but they are still not firmly set on whether to buy the Cadbury’s brand, or the Nestles brand.

In this stage, the advertisement needs to focus the customers attention on a particular brand or model.

6. Make Firm Decision.

The advert needs a prompt; that is, component that promotes a decision, in order to move the potential customer toward the closure of a sale.

Examples might be:

• A coupon
• A discount offer
• A reason to go to the shop (eg. free entertainment on a particular day)
• Bonus gift if you buy before a particular date
• A point of contact and a message urging contact (eg. Phone Today for a free handbook)
• Using words like “Free”, “Bonus” or “Discount” are widely accepted as tried and proven strategies in this stage.