INTRODUCTION OF PROMOTION

MEANING OF PROMOTION

Promotion is a term used frequently in marketing and is one of the market

mix elements. It refers to raising customer awareness of a product or brand,

generating sales, and creating brand loyalty. It is one of the four basic elements

of the market mix, which includes the four P's: price, product, promotion, and

place.

In relation to the project, Promotion is also defined as one of five pieces in

the promotional mix or promotional plan. These are personal

selling, advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, and publicity. A

promotional mix specifies how much attention to pay to each of the five factors,

and how much money to budget.

PURPOSE OF PROMOTION

Promotion facilitates large-scale marketing. It is a medium of mass

communication. Manufacturers supply information about new products

through it. The fact that companies spend millions of dollars on it through TV,

radio, the internet, and newspapers indicate its benefits in sales promotion.

Advertising is within the scope of a promotion, which is one element in the

marketing mix. It is getting popularity in the present highly competitive and

consumer-oriented marketing. All products old and new, consumer and

durable, cheap and costly need extensive advertising for sales promotion and
customer support. Latest communication techniques now are used for making

it more attractive and agreeable.

Behaviour of Consumers

Hierarchy General Specific Selected

of Effects Behavioural Behavioual Promotional

Objectives Objectives Elements

Awareness Obtain customer Advertising,

Provide recognition, gain publicity, point of

Knowledge Information customer knowledge purchase & window

displays

Linking

Develop Positive Obtain favourable All media

Preferences attitudes and attitudes, gain advertising,

feelings preference for publicity and

Conviction company personal selling

Purchase Stimulus and Sustain strong

retain desires customer P.O.P. displays,

preference, special offers, direct

maintain continued mail, personal

 purchase selling.

TYPES OF PROMOTION METHODS USED BY PRO-ACE INFO

TECH

Promotion is the part of marketing that specifically involves communicating

company or product information to targeted customers. This is a key

component of the broader marketing system, because it is what usually makes

customers aware of you, attracted to your brand, interested in buying and

ultimately, loyal customers.

Advertising, public relations and personal selling are three staple methods

of promotion

ADVERTISING

Advertising is crucial in marketing but is also equally important and essential

to social, cultural and political aspects of our lives. The American Marketing

Association (AMA) defines advertising as,

Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of

ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.

AMAs definition of Advertising Suggests:

 Advertisement is a paid form of communication

Advertiser exercises control over it

Advertising will be meaningless if advertiser is unidentified

AMAs definition suggests

It is Non- Personal Selling

It needs the sponsor of the message known of mass communication for large scale selling
It is a medium

It acts as a valuable marketing tool

What is Included in Advertising?

(i) The information in an advertisement should benefit the buyers. It should

give them a more satisfactory expenditure of their rupees.

(ii) It should suggest better solutions to their problems.

(iii) The content of the advertisement is within the control of the advertiser,

not the medium.

(iv) Advertising without persuasion is ineffective. The advertisement that

fails to influence anyone, either immediately or in the future, is a waste

of money.

(v) The function of advertising is to increase the profitable sales volume.

That is, advertising expenses should not increase disproportionately.

What is excluded from Advertising?

Advertising is not an exact science. An advertisers circumstances are never

identical with those of another; he cannot predict with accuracy what results

his future advertising efforts will produce.

(i) Advertising is not a game, because if advertising is done properly, both

the buyer and the seller benefit from it.

(ii) Advertising is not a toy. Advertiser cannot afford to play with

advertising. Advertising funds come from sales revenue and must be

used to increase sales revenue.

Pro ace info tech expenditure budget

Pro ace info tech expenditure

Sr.no Variable expenditure
1 seminar 18,500
2 broacher 34,000
 3 newspaper 15,000
4 Hoarding/ billboard 30,000
5 radio 3,500
6 television 2,0000
7 Social media 4,500
total 1,29000

FEATURES OF ADVERTISING

Provides information about products or services to prospective Buyers

Advertising is a Paid form of communication

Non personal presentation since the message is given to all

Advertising publicizes goods, services, ideas and events

Aims at the persuasion of potential customers

Features of Advertising
It becomes effective and result-oriented when it is target oriented

It is an art, science and a profession, and is now universally accepted

Advertising is an Important part of Marketing Mix

It needs Creativity and it is called Essence of advertising

1. Provides information: Advertisement is done for the primary purpose of

providing information about products or services to prospective buyers. The

details of services such as courses on which training is provided, prices,

 benefits, companys name, so on; are in the advertisements. The key message

and brand name are also there. The information supplied educates and guide

consumers and facilitate them to make a correct choice while purchasing a

service.

2. Paid communication: Advertising is a form of paid communication. The

company pays to the media for giving publicity to their Advertisement message.

The company also decides the size, slogan, etc. given in the advertisement.

3. Non-personal presentation: Advertising is non-personal in character as

against salesmanship, which is a personal or face to face communication. Here,

the message is given to all and not to one specific individual. This rule is

applicable to all media including the press. However, even in it, target

consumers or target market can be selected for making an Advertisement

appeal.

4. Publicity: Advertising publicizes goods, services, ideas and events. It is

primarily for giving information to consumers. This information is related to the

features and benefits of goods and services of different types. It offers new

ideas to customers as its contents are meaningful. The aim is to make the

popularize ideas and thereby promote sales.

5. Primarily for Persuasion: Advertising aims at the persuasion of potential

customers. It attracts attention towards a particular product, creates a desire

to have it, and finally induces consumers to visit the market and purchase the

same. It has a psychological impact on consumers. It influences their buying

decisions.
6. Target oriented: Advertising becomes effective and result-oriented when it

is target oriented. A targeted advertisement intensively focuses on a specific

market or particular groups of customers (like teenagers, housewives, infants,

children, etc.). Here, the selection of a particular market is called a target

market.

7. Art, science and profession: Advertising is art, science and a profession,

and this is now universally accepted. It is an art as it needs creativity for

raising its effectiveness. It is a science as it has its principles or rules. It is also

a profession as it has a code of conduct for its members and operates within

standards set by its organized bodies. In its field, Advertising Agencies and

space brokers function as professionals.

8. The element of a marketing mix: Advertising is an important part of a

marketing mix. It supports the sales promotion efforts of the manufacturer. It

makes a positive contribution to sales promotion provided other elements in

the marketing mix are reasonably favorable. It is alone inadequate for

promoting sales. Many companies now spend huge funds on advertisements

and public relations.

9. Creativity: Advertising is a method of presenting a product in an artistic,

attractive and agreeable manner. It is possible through the element of

creativity. The creative people (professionals) introduce creativity in

advertisements. Without it, the Ads won't succeed. Therefore, creativity is

called the Essence of Advertising.

ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTSING

The advertising benefits two main groups, namely:

 1. Manufacturers
2. Consumers.

The advantages of advertising for Manufacturers are:

Large-scale production and marketing: Advertising is useful as a sales

promotion technique. It gives information to consumers and encourages them

to purchase more. Manufacturers expand their production base due to a higher

market demand created through advertisements.

Introducing new products: Advertising facilitates the introduction of new

products. Due to it, information about new products is given to the people

(prospects). A demand generates because of this, and the manufacturer can

sell new products along with the existing ones.

Creates new demand: Advertising spreads information and encourages

consumers to purchase new products. It creates a new demand. Customers are

offered various concessions in the initial period. It generates positive responses

from them, and soon new customers also respond. Thus, advertisement creates

new demand from non-users.

Effective personal selling: Advertising creates a proper background for

personal selling. It gives advance information to the prospects. They visit the

shop in order to purchase a particular product that they know through

advertisements in media. The job of a salesman becomes easy as consumers

develop an affinity for advertised products. In brief, it supports and

supplements personal selling.

 Builds brand image: Advertising build brand image and this develops
consumer loyalty towards a specific brand. Manufacturers introduce branding

to popularize their products with a distinct personality. Brands get popular

through advertisements. As a result, buyers develop loyalty towards a specific

brand.

Reduces cost of production: Advertising creates demand and promotes

sales. It enables a manufacturer to conduct production on a large scale. It

leads to a reduction in the cost of production and distribution. As a result, the

profit margin of the manufacturer increases.

Facing competition: Advertising aids a manufacturer to deal with market

competition effectively. It helps him to promote and popularize his products. He

can remove misunderstanding among consumers about his products through

appropriate advertisements.

Sales promotion: A manufacturer can make his sales promotion campaign

successful by using the support of advertising. He can prepare a proper

background for the success of such an ad-campaign as it facilitates direct

communication with consumers.

Goodwill builder: A manufacturer can build up goodwill in the business

world and also among the group of customers through advertising. The social

welfare programs and community service activities can get wide publicity

through advertisements. The public can notice even the progress of the

organization through it.

The advantages of advertising for consumers are:

 Information and guide: Consumers get information and guidance from

advertising. They can study the advertisements of competitors and select the

appropriate products that are best suited and profitable to them. It helps to

avoid their cheating and exploitation at the hands of middlemen.

Acts as a reminder: Advertising act as a reminder to consumers and

alerts them about the urgent product they need to purchase.

Attracts customers: Advertising leads to competition among

manufacturers and retailers. They have to offer something special in order to

attract buyers. Such attraction offers benefits to consumers. For example,

manufacturers have to bring down the price in order to attract customers. They

have to supply quality goods in order to attract them more. All this is beneficial

to consumers in terms of price and quality of goods.

Raises living standards: Advertising raises the standard of living of

people by supplying information about goods and services, which can offer

convenience and pleasure to them. It guides consumers in the selection of most

suitable products for their daily life. Thus, it provides a higher standard of

living to consumers as a social group.

Efficient product use: Consumers get information about uses or

benefits of different products through advertising. They also get guidance as

regards the right manner of using the product and help to avoid any possible

damage from the use of a purchased product. The information supplied

through advertisements helps to know how to use a product in different ways.

 Remove misunderstanding: Advertising helps most consumers in

removing their misunderstanding about certain products. They change their

attitudes towards products and services due to it.

Class of Media Types Included

Print Newspapers, Magazines, Journals and other publications
Broadcast Radio, TV (national network), Star TV, DD satellite

channels
Non- Broadcast Video, cable/closed circuit TV and cinema
Outdoor Posters, Hoardings, Neon signs, sky advertising etc.
Transit/Vehicula trains, Buses, Taxis and Auto rickshaws, Private vehicles

r
Point of Purchase Banners, Hangings, Packaging, Stickers, Painted signs,

Window display
Specialty media T-shirts, caps, stickers, badges, diaries, key-chains,

calendars
Miscellaneous Direct mail advertising, trolleys at airports

Importance of Advertising

1. Product Launch The foremost aim of advertising is promotion.

Hence, advertising is essential, especially for a new product that has to be

launched in the market. Advertising helps convey the information

regarding launch of the new product.

2. Retain the existing customers It is essential that customers

keep following, buying and using your brand. And this is where

advertising helps companies again! It keeps on reminding the customers

 about the brand and so, helps in retaining the customers and increasing

the sales.

3. Brand Promotion Promotion is quintessential if any brand wants to

stay in the market. This goal is achieved with the help of advertising which

promotes a product, company or service. When a brand gets established

with the help of advertising, it becomes a promise of quality and the

customers start expecting from a brand. Thereafter, the stage arises where

advertising starts acting as a reminder. It reminds and convinces customers

that their chosen brand is still there.

4. Educates people Advertising is not only about promotion! It also

educates people and makes the society aware about various issues. Many

social issues like female foeticide, child labor, child abuse, etc., are also

raised thorough sensible advertisements. Thus, advertising also helps in

educating people and spreading awareness.

5. Comparison Advertising also provides the opportunity of comparing

various products to the customers. Based on features, qualities or

specifications described through advertising, customers can take their pick

on the available products.

FIVE Ms OF ADVERTISING

The decision making in advertising is a five-step process. It is called Five M's of

Advertising. It consists of:

 1. Mission
2. Money
3. Message
4. Media
5. Measurement

Evaluation and broad decisions need to be taken in regard to these five areas

while organizing an advertising program or campaign.

The five M's of Advertising on which an advertiser has to make decisions:

MISSION

MONEY

MEASUR-EMENT

5 Ms of Advertising

MONEY

MEDIA

1. MISSION: First of all the marketing manager must be clear on the

companys purpose for advertising. Increase in sales figure will be a very

broad and to a certain context a vague objective. According to Mr. Philip

Kotler, a renowned authority in this field, there can be three possible

objectives behind advertising: Information- when a new product is launched,

the purpose should only be to inform people about the product Persuasion-

Persuading people to actually go out and buy the product. This objective is of
 paramount importance because of cutthroat competition. Any advertisement

must be persuasive in nature, attracting consumers towards the brand

Reminder: This objective is relevant for well-established companies. These

types of advertisements only try to remind the consumers of the brand

existence. For instance whenever we hear or read yeh dil maange more, we

tend to think about Pepsi. Same way we tend to associate two minutes with

Maggie noodles. The marketing manager should establish a clear goal as on

the purpose of advertising, information, persuasion or reminder.

2. MONEY: After the objective has been decided upon, the next step is to

decide upon the budget. There are several methods for deciding on the

advertising budget. The most common among t2hem is the percentage of

sales method. Under this method, a certain percentage of sales are allotted for

advertising expenditure. Though this method is used widely, there are some

problems with this method. The first issue is what percentage the company

should take? Even if a company somehow decides a percentage figure, this

would mean increase in advertising expenditure when sales are up and less

spending when sales are down. This in some ways is quite paradoxical,

because logically the reverse should happen. The company needs to spend

more on advertising when sales are down. But this method uses circular

reasoning and views sales as cause for promotion. In fact sales are a result of

promotion. Another method suggests that a company should spend as much

as its competitors are spending. This method claims that it would prevent

promotional wars. But then like each individual each company is also

different. It may not make any sense in spending like your competitor because

competitor might be on a different footing.

3. MESSAGE: As a common experience, we love some advertisements, while

the others just irritate us. An appealing advertising will win consumers and

will consequently induce them to purchase the product. On the other hand,

irritating advertising will create an adverse effect. This is why many

companies hand over this task to advertising agencies, which has

professionals to make impact -making ads. The message that company wants

to convey should be put in a manner that will arouse interest. Moreover it

should convincingly highlight upon the products USP. What is said is

definitely important but what is more important is how it is said. The tone

should be appealing. Words used should be catchy and retentive. These days

both electronic as well as print media are overflowing with ads. People have

no time to read or see them, and therefore they have to be attractive enough

to target audiences attention. This is the job of message.

4. MEDIA: Selecting the proper media vehicle for communicating the message

goes a long way in the success of any kind of advertising3. Each media

vehicle has its positive and negative points with a different reach and impact.

Therefore a company has to be very clear about its target audience. Choices

available are Internet, TV, newspapers, magazines, direct mails, radio and

hoardings. Everyone of this has its advantages and disadvantages.

Companies often go in for a media mix, i.e. they select more than one of the

available choices. Timing is of great significance here. Many industries face

seasonal fluctuations and pass through cycles. Therefore advertising should

be timed that way to take care of these fluctuations. A limited budget should

be prudently allotted among these media vehicles.

5. MEASUREMENT: It is necessary that effectiveness of any advertising be

judged. Only on the basis of this measurement, can further decisions

 regarding continuation or termination of the particular advertising campaign

be taken. An ad can be judged on the basis of its reach and impact on sales.

Good advertising is one that generates brand awareness and consequently

brand preference. How much of sales can be attributed to advertising, is a

difficult question to answer. Sales are influenced by many factors besides

advertising. It is not easy to isolate the impact of advertising on sales.

Nonetheless there are some advanced statistical techniques available that can

be used with the help of computer softwares like SPSS. Thus a systematic

and balanced understanding of these five Ms of advertising will help in

designing better advertising campaigns that create a favorable impact on the

target audience.

Functions of advertising agency

Advertising agency is an independent service-rendering organization. It delivers

various services and performs many functions for its clients, who are

advertisers. It is mainly involved in activities like planning, preparing and

placing of ads in media. It also performs non-advertising functions for them. It

offers them advisory and creative services. It does so to make a profit.

Following image depicts the major functions of advertising agency.

Main functions of ad agency are as follows:

1. Attracting clients
2. Research function
3. Advertising planning
4. Creative function
5. Media selection
6. Advertising budget
7. Coordination
8. Sales promotion,
9. Marketing research
10. Non-advertising functions, and
11. Public relations

Now let's discuss above main functions of an advertising agency.

1. Attracting clients

Advertising agency needs clients (advertisers). Without them, it cannot survive.

Ad agency always tries to attract clients usually by giving ads in trade journals.

It also seeks their attention by offering them various services. It offers expert,

cheap and quick services. It maintains good relations with them. It tries to give
 them full satisfaction. It strives harder to attain their goodwill and customer-

loyalty.

2. Research function

Advertising agency gathers information related to the client's product.

It collects following information about a product under its research function:

o Features, quality, advantages and limitations of a product

o Present and future market possibilities
o Competition in the market
o Situation in the market
o Distribution methods
o Buyers' preferences

3. Advertising planning

Advertising agency plans the entire ad campaign of its client.

Advertising planning is a primary function of an ad agency. It is done when its

research function is completed. That is, after analyzing the client's product, its

competitors, market conditions, etc. It is done by experts who use their

professional experience to make a result-oriented advertising-plan.

After making the advertising plan, it is shown to the client. If the client likes

and approves it, then the plan is executed (put into action).

4. Creative function

Advertising agency put the advertising-plan into action under its creative

function.

Creation of ads is the most important function of an ad agency. Generally, it

involves activities like:

o Copy writing
o Drawing photographs
o Making illustrations, layouts, an effective ad message, etc.

These jobs are done by experts like copy writers, artists, designers, etc. These

people are highly skilled and creative. They make an advertisement more

appealing. Attractive ads help to increase the sales of the product.

The ad agency must always use fresh ideas for creating ads. It must neither use

old tactics nor copy the ad-campaign of other products.

5. Media selection

Advertising agency helps an advertiser to select a proper media (ad platform) to

promote his advertisement effectively.

Media selection is a highly specialized function of an ad agency. It must select

the most suitable media for its client's ad. It must choose media, which has a

potential to give best results for the lowest cost. It must select more than one

media for the ad. For example, an advertisement can be put on television, the

Internet, newspapers, magazines, etc.

After selecting the media, the ad agency must maintain goods contacts with the

media.

6. Advertising budget

Advertising agency helps an advertiser to prepare his ad budget. It helps him to

use his budget economically and make the best use of it.
 Without a proper advertising budget, there is a risk of client's funds getting

wasted or lost. If an advertiser suffers a loss, he may not bring new projects. As

a result, there is a possibility of losing a potential client that can bring more

business to an ad agency.

7. Coordination

Advertising agency brings a good coordination between the advertiser, itself,

media and distributors. This is a very important function. If coordination is

proper, it will increase the sales of the product.

8. Sales promotion

Advertising agency performs sales promotion. It helps an advertiser to

introduce sales promotion measures for the dealers and consumers. This helps

to increase the sales of the product.

9. Marketing research

Advertising agency helps its clients to solve their marketing problems. It does

so by conducting a marketing research for them.

10. Non-advertising functions

Advertising agency also performs many non-advertising functions:

o It fixes the prices of the product

o It determines the discounts
o It designs the product
o It also designs its package, trademarks, labels, etc.

These non-advertising services help an advertiser to increase its sales.

11. Public relations

Advertising agency does the public relations (PR) work for its clients. It

increases the goodwill between its clients and other parties like consumers,

employees, middlemen, shareholders, etc. It also maintains good relations

between the client and media owner.

LIMITATIONS OF ADVERTISING

While on the one hand, advertising is regarded as the life-blood of modern

business; on the other hand, some scholars are of the view that money spent

on advertising is a waste. Those who hold this opinion are, as a matter of fact,

the critics of advertising and they hint at its evils.

(1) Adds to Costs:

An organization has to spend large amount on advertising. It increases the cost

of the services provided. To meet this expenditure, price of the services are

raised. No company pays for the advertising expenses out of his pocket.

Advertising, therefore, leads to unnecessary rise in prices. In this reference it is

said that advertising costs are passed on to the customer in the form of high

fees.

(2) Undermines Social Values:

Advertisement is a sort of day-dreaming for the people. These days it is taking

the people away from reality and into the realm of artificiality. Through its

medium people get information about new benefits.

(3) Confuses the Buyers:

Many a time distorted version of reality is shown in the advertising. Believing in

advertising, customers get attracted to the services. On its use, they feel

cheated.

(4) Some Advertisement is in Bad Taste:

Many times, foul language and objectionable pictures are used in advertising in

order to attract a particular class. They may be insulting to a particular class.

It causes decay of social values.

Such kinds of advertising are generally opposed by the people as it hurts their

feelings. In this reference it is said that some advertisements are in bad tastes.

Objections to Advertising or Criticism of Advertising:

Advertising has been subject to lot of criticisms. The following are main

objections raised on advertisements by a group of people. Along with objections

the answers to these objections are also mentioned below:

(i) Effect of Advertising on Values, Materialism and Life Styles:

The major objection on advertisement is that it promotes materialism. The

advertisements inform people about more and more products, the use of
existing products and the new products are shown dramatically to attract the

customers.

(ii) Advertising Encourages Sale of Inferior and Dubious

Products:
The advertisements show all types of products irrespective of their quality. With

the help of advertising anything can be sold in the market.

The objection to sale of inferior goods is not correct because what is inferior
and what is superior depends upon the economic status and preference. Every

one cannot afford to buy superior quality expensive products but it does not

mean they should not use the product.

(iii) Advertising Confuses Rather than Helps:

The number of advertisements shown in TV and Radio are increasing day by

day for example, if we take TV, there are so many advertisements of different

companies shown such as LG, Onida, Sony, BPL, Samsung, Videocon etc. each

brand claiming they are the best. These claims by different companies confuse

the customer and it becomes very difficult for him to make choice.

We do not agree with this objection because advertisements give wide choice to

customers and todays customer is smart enough to know and select the most

suitable brand for him.

(iv) Some Advertisements are in Bad Taste:

Another objection to advertisements is that advertisements use bad language,

the way they are speaking may not appeal everyone, sometimes women are

shown in the advertisements where they are not required for example, a woman
in after shave lotion and in advertisements of suiting etc. Some advertisements

distort relationship between employer-employee, mother-in-law and daughter-

in-law etc. for example, in advertisement of Band Aid, Detergent Bar, Fevistick,

etc.

(v) Advertisement Costs are passed on to the Customers in the

Form of Higher Price:

The most serious objection to advertisement is that it increases the price of

product because the firms spend a huge amount on advertisement and these

expenses are added to cost and consumer has to pay a higher price for the

product or service.

PUBLIC RELATIONS

Public relations involve the cultivation of favorable relations for organizations

and services with its key publics through the use of a variety of

communications channels and tools. Traditionally, this meant public relations

professionals would work with members of the media to build a favorable image

by publicizing the organization or its services through stories in print and

broadcast media. But today the role of public relations is much broader and

includes:

building awareness and a favorable image for a company or client within

stories and articles found in relevant media outlets

closely monitoring numerous media channels for public comment about

a company and its services

 managing crises that threaten company or its image

building goodwill among an organizations target market through

community, philanthropic and special programs and events

Objectives of Public Relations:

Within the overall objective of understanding the public and making itself

favorably understood, public relations have these objectives:

1. Creating awareness about the company, its goals, products and services

where this counts.

2. Sustaining the awareness as an ongoing process, keeping in mind what the

competitors are doing, and knowing that public memory is short.

3. Striving to be accepted by the various publics. Special efforts are required to

be accepted by employees.

4. Creating a bond of trust. In times of rumors, misinformation, etc., a

company has to establish the truth. In normal times, too, a company has to

promote its reliability. Just consider the frequent use of words like believe,

trust, reliable, safe, 100%, etc. in building a company image.

5. Getting cooperation from various quarters. A company has many publics on

whom it has to depend. Government organizations, providers of various

services etc. have to be wooed in such a way that they willingly help the

company.
6. Earning recognition. It is not enough to perform feats but it is necessary to

get these noticed and talked about. Through winning awards, certifications etc.

and getting these read and seen, a company gets recognition. Having so-and-so

as a client or collaborator may itself be a recognition. This has to be publicized.

Components of Public Relations:

Public relations as a bridge of meaning between the organisation and the

publics first, it has certain elements. These are:

1. Human Relations:

PR is getting along with the people or publics both internal and external. No

individual is rational. Each person who works in an organisation has to get

along with others. He is expected to understand and know thoroughly another

and demonstrate interest in his progress as one does his own.

2. Empathy:

Empathy is the power of understanding feeling of others. For instance feeling

sorry for others is sympathy. Empathy is the primary pre requisite for-a-

satisfying exposure in relationships where a certain degree of depth of

understanding is expected. That is to feel ones feeling stepping into the boots

of another who is affected.

3. Persuasion:

There are two ways of changing the mind of another or others namely by

persuasion and by force. The persuasion is positive and hence results in

positive outcome and force is negative and, therefore, the outcome will be not

encouraging. If you compel any person to do something instead of persuading,

that act can be depositism as it is against the principles of normal conduct

sanctioned by society. Instead, if one convinces the other to do and is able to

win his heart and head it is highly appreciated, accepted and acted up without

opposition.

4. Dialogue:

Dialogue is a conversation with some purpose. Dialogue is a reasonable

exchange of ideas bringing into being a new form of knowledge; the use of

dialogue is for influencing behaviour, selling goods or inspiring ideas.

Any dialogue involves conciliation; and compromise when one speaks to an

unfavourably disposed group or a person, the first effort is to conciliation

people or person and breakdown prejudice.

Under the circumstances, a person who succeeds in bringing a state of

urbanity into a gathering marked by discussion is a Wiseman. People have

variety of reasons for opposing any compromise.

There arises no question of opposition to the proposed compromise when a

person persuading communicates his idea clearly and accurately.

Communication is the greatest art of winning the hearts of people because; it is

a bridge of meaning.
The Need for Public Relations:

As we advancing socially and economically, the society is getting sophisticated

and every individual need latest information to live on this digital age. He

certainly would not be able to live will without using the numerous possibilities

of information offered from today through various media. It is a naked truth

that in this fast moving increasingly automated world men and women can no

longer exist in complete isolation.

The pace of technology is so fast that one is becoming more interdependent on

other. Thus, information is the breath of this digital age where outsourcing is

the maximum. There are four factors that speak very high of the real need for

public relations.

There are four fundamental forces that answer the question

why PR. These are:

1. Communication:

Technically, the means of communication have reached the stage of perfection

and sophistication and there is no end for this. Finance, the force behind all

activities, has made possible for majority of people to exchange information.

The level of education and understanding the importance of it by people is fast

increasing which increases exchange of information between the people.

Constitutionally also, education, is not only desirable but essential. It is a

different thing that all 1 billion and odd persons are highly qualified. What is
important is that rate of literacy and level of literacy both are increasing

making information to be exchanged for mutual benefit.

2. New Information Order:

If one thins, whether we are all correctly informed is really very difficult to say.

Good many books, discussions in academic circles, in radio and television, in

India and all over the world, and countless lectures excluding those in

Information Society and New Information Order, as far as one is aware, a

correct reply is yet to be received.

3. Information Load:

Information load is also called message load or quantity. Those people who do

not believe in others will attract our attention to the flood of information to

which we are all exposed today.

The correct answer to this is that this flood is largely without direction and

that it is inaccurate and incomplete. The information must be prepared. The

relevant information must be separated from trivial matter and should be

popped up in right direction.

The inability to appreciate or recognize, superficial knowledge is extremely

likely to result in dislikes, dissatisfaction and outright rejection with all their

disastrous effects, in the realization that ignorance.

What one needs is a fair means of information which eliminates or awakened

suspicious, that builds up better understanding and creates much needed

confidence. This is what is called as PR.

4. Mutually and Understanding:

By definition, PR where mutuality is founded on interaction between

consideration for public opinion, and the need of the communicator or

organization to inform or establish contact.

Understanding is created by providing clear insight into, and reporting on all

the essential matters. Confidence is cultivated by bringing the aim of the

organisation into harmony with public interest that wins and maintains

goodwill among general public.

From these points one thing is clear that the purpose of this activity for and

with the public is to act and not to react; to create an atmosphere of mutual

confidence through and active information policy the passive part of which

consists in answering all types of queries; to inform the public and exert

influence towards the inside as a form of corporate and social counter-control

to establish direct or indirect connections with the public in order to fulfil a

kind of interpreters function towards the public and to control communicative

reaction.

LIMITATIONS OF PUBLIC RELATIONS

1. PR cannot totally Whitewash Tarnished Image:

2. It cant hide anything in the Best Interest of the Company:

3. Public Relations cannot create Reputation out of nothing:

4. PR fails to have Valued Public Opinion:

5. Public Relations demands Public Speaking:

PERSONAL SELLING

MEANING

Personal Selling is a two-way flow of communication between a buyer and a

seller that is designed to influence the buyers decision. Personal selling can

take place in various situations for example; Face-to-Face, on the telephone, via

video teleconferencing or over the internet.

Personal selling (or salesmanship) is the most traditional method, devised by

companies, for promotion of the sales of their products/ services. Prior to the

development of the advertising technique, personal selling used to be the only

method used by companies for promotion of sales. It is, in fact, the forerunner

of advertising and other sales promotion devices.

DEFINITION

According to AMERICAN MARKETING ASSOCIATION Personal selling is the

oral presentation in a conversation with one or more prospective customers for

the purpose of making sales; it is the ability to persuade the people to buy

goods and services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyer.

According to PROFESSOR WILLIAM STANTON Personal selling consists of

individual, personal communication, in contrast to mass relatively impersonal

communication of advertising, sales-promotion and other promotion tools.

FEATURES OF PERSONAL SELLING

(i) Personal selling involves a face-to-face contact between the salesman and the

prospect.

(ii) It is an art of persuading the prospect, to appreciate the need for the service

canvassed by the salesman, in a democratic, cordial and social manner. This,

then, requires outstanding qualities in a salesman; specially the proficiency in

selling skills and techniques.

(iii) In personal selling, the emphasis is on the development of permanent and

lasting relations with prospects If a prospect is won; a sales transaction might

materialize with him subsequently in future. Obtaining an immediate sale may

be the natural ambition of a salesman; it should never be his target.

 (iv) A salesman sells product, by first selling his own idea or viewpoint to the

prospect. Personal selling, therefore, is the art of convincing the prospect and

influencing his mind, in a favourbale way.

(v) Personal selling requires a flexible approach; on the part of the salesman i.e.

the salesman should modify his approach in persuading the prospect, in view

of the psychology, needs and resources of the prospect.

(vi)The ultimate goal of personal selling is mutual satisfaction of the interests of

both the salesman and the prospect.

NATURE OF PERSONAL SELLING

Personal selling is an effective way of promotion. Personal selling is a

specialized job. Its nature highlights the following:

1. Direct and personal communication: Personal selling is the direct,

personal communication of information, in contrast to the indirect,

impersonal communication of advertising, sales promotion and other

promotional tools. It can be more flexible than these other tools. Sales people

can tailor their presentations to fit in with the needs and behavior of the

students undergoing training. They can see their customers reaction and

make adjustments on the spot.

2. Focused on Prospective customers: Pro-ace info tech focuses

personal selling techniques on Individual students or colleges that are known

 to be prospective customers if an organization has done the adequate job of

targeting its market. As a result wasted effort is minimized.

3. Sale making goal: the main motive of the company here is to makes sales,

that is get the actual customers who require the services of the company by

giving the company the required consideration for the services rendered.

4. Costly effort: A full-fledged personal selling effort is costly.

5. Promotional goal: personal selling is likely to carry the bulk of the

promotional load when the organization doesnt have enough money to

sustain an adequate advertising campaign.

ADVANTAGES OF PERSONAL SELLING

Less wasteful communication

In personal selling, the salesperson is able to seek out and pinpoint good

prospects for the product. The salesperson can use the communication efforts

only the good prospects.

Provides two way communication

Personal selling is based on the two way communication process. The

salesperson is able to meet buyer's objection and answer all questions raised

by the buyer on the product or service its attributes and terms and condition

of the sale.
 Flexibility of message
Personal selling allows the communicator to adapt the message according to

the situations.

Persuasion
Personal selling can achieve the highest degree of persuasion. The salesperson

may be able to visit the prospect several times in order to peruse sales.

Capitalize on social drives of buyers

The salesperson may develop social relationship with the prospects and

stimulate one off their social drives - ego, fear, love, hate, status and prestige -

and execute the sale.

Closing the sale

The salesperson can push for an order and close the sale

Perform non selling tasks

Salesperson often perform several tasks other than selling. They can help the

organization to gather information, handling customer complaints and

performing marketing research.

DIRECT MARKETING

Meaning

Direct marketing is an interactive mode of marketing through which the

marketer reaches out to his target customers at any location. It is the fastest

growing form of marketing in the present day.

Definition

According to Philip Kotler Direct marketing is the use of consumer direct

channels such as direct mail, catalog marketing, telemarketing, interactive TV,

websites and mobile devices to reach and deliver goods and services to

customers without using marketing middlemen to seek a measurable

response.

Some of the important media of direct mail advertising have

been discussed below:

1. Post Cards It is the most widely form of direct mail advertising due to
its high attention value and economy. It gets immediate attention. Post cards

are used to carry brief messages about product.

2. Sales Letters It is also most widely used form. Sales letters are sent to
induce the potential customers to buy a particular product.

3. Circulars These contain several pages and describe all details of a

product.

4. Stuffers It gives detailed specifications of a wide range of products. It is

a means of amplify the sales letter by providing illustrations.

5. Folders It is bigger than ordinary card. It can be conveniently folded. It

is made of heavier stock of paper or card-board.

6. Broadsides These are giant-sized folders. These are designed to impress

customers by their size, attractive colures and illustrations.
 7. Catalogues and Booklets These are illustrative price lists containing
the price and features of products.

8. House Organs These company magazines are sent to wholesalers,

retailers, salesmen, and prospective customers free of cost. In direct mail,

specific markets can be pinpointed with precise selectivity, and results can

easily be measured in terms of cost-per-order or cost-per-response.

However there are various merits of choosing direct mail media

such as:

1. Quick to produce: One can prepare and mail a small promotion within
days or weeks. Direct mail is perfect for quickly testing prices, offers, and

potential audiences. We have complete control over the media, the audience, and

our offer.

2. Quicker response: Not only is direct mail quicker to prepare, but response
time to direct mail is usually quicker as well. We can project the final results of a

mailing quickly and accurately. We can build an advertising campaign with more

confidence by testing small lists, then building to larger lists.

3. Highly targeted: A business can purchase mailing lists of potential

customers through a mailing list distributor such the Direct Marketing

Association or Dun and Bradstreet. For example, a small vitamin storeowner can

order lists of people who buy vitamins or health products in her market. She can

then prepare a direct mailing in hopes of getting these customers to shop at her

store.
4. Less competition: Our advertising message does not have to compete
with other advertising messages. And, our competitors are less apt to know our

current strategy.

5. More personal: Not only can letters be personalized via mail-merging

techniques, but we can use more informal language in writing our letter and we

can direct our letter to the specific interest of the reader.

6. Enhance newspaper advertising: Build on customer awareness by

complimenting our print advertising with the impact of targeted mail.

7. Easy to respond to: The inclusion of an order card and return envelope
makes it convenient for the consumer to respond to direct mail.

8. List of loyal customers: Direct mail allows us to build and maintain a

list of prime prospects for our future direct mail campaigns.

9. Cost Effective: Direct-mail advertising is cost effective. Companies can

easily design colorful or eye-appealing brochures with their computers and

desktop software and have thousands of copies printed affordably by a print

vendor. Additionally, a company can mail out smaller quantities of a direct-mail

advertisement as a test. Once the company determines that the first mailing is

successful, it can increase the number of mail pieces in subsequent mailings.

10. Highly Flexible: Direct-mail advertising is highly flexible. A small

company can use postcards to market its wares to save on costs. Small

manufacturers can also include free samples of products in their mailings. A

business owner can generally include as much information as she desires in a

direct-mail campaign, depending on how much she wants to spend.