Tag Archives: promotion
The Politics of Advertising
America has become the epitome of the free enterprise ideal. Mass production, mass media, mass promotion. Efficiency and economic choices have become so central to American culture that the very fabric of who we are is determined by it. This difference in culture from the rest of the world is readily visible in the way in whichAmerican corporations do business: with a focus on efficiency and quantity as opposed to refinement and quality. Advertising, the mass promotion of mass produced products, has become the primary mode of communication and education in today’s world. The result of a continued drive, at every level, for more material wealth, mass promotion has evolved into an art that invades every sector of American life and affects the way in which television and print media, as well as film and politics are run. These structures help to shape the way in which we all live our lives, and to shape the way in which American culture has and will evolve.
Advertising-the art of “selling it”-pervades America’s various industries, and helps to shape the way in which basic institutions many assume to be unbiased operate. Many assume that the influence of advertising is obvious in television, and it is perhaps this assumption that makes the in fact very subtle but complete influence of advertising on television media so dramatic. Television commercials are indeed rather obvious on the surface, but their influence runs much deeper than the 30 second slot allotted them in between scheduled programs. In fact, one news manager for a television station said that regular television programs are just there to fill the blank space between the commercials. For example, televisions companies spend hundreds of millions of dollars broadcasting sports events. Their revenue returns to them in the form of ad space, without which the television company would not have the revenue with which to broadcast the sports event. Even more surprising, however, is that without this advertising revenue, the sports even itself would be unable to continue. More money is raised selling the broadcasting rights to a television company-which in turn sells TV time to advertisers-than sports fans could possibly contribute through ticket sales.
Television and print-media news are similarly affected. Advertising determines which stories a newspaper or local news channel is likely to use as lead stories. The reason for this is viewership/readership. Because advertisers are willing to pay more for ad space on a TV program or in a newspaper or magazine that has a larger number of viewers, there is the incentive for news media both on television and in print to lead with stories that are the most tantalizing and shocking, even if they do not truly represent the state of affairs overall. Thus the adage, “If it bleeds, it leads…”
Mass promotion and advertising also displays itself more blatantly in the form of film media. Advertising in this media would seem the most limited, given that people are only at a film a relatively few hours, however, though the advertising seems to be indirect, film advertising is one of the most effective forms available. By tying products into the appeal of characters from films, product advertisers are able to increase the duration of exposure to promotion many times the length of the film itself. The association of kids films with fast-food products is particularly effective in that it not only builds up exposure to a particular product endorsement, but also because children develop strong brand loyalties that enhance long-term profits.
Perhaps the most subtle form of mass promotion is in politics. While it is obvious to many that political advertisements endorsing one or another candidate during an election are biased and meant to influence one’s opinions about the candidate in question, it is not clear to everyone that the advertising mentality has changed the way in which the entire political process is run. Television ads are merely the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the political process. Everything in a campaign from the candidate himself on down to policies and party platforms are all dependant on the “selling-it” mentality. Politicians and their campaign managers know that they must appeal to the general public as a product to a consumer, and so today candidates who speak eloquently, dress well, interact well with public figures, and adapt well to public life and attention are elected to office, sometimes over rivals who would have been more morally upright, more well-rounded, and better suited to the post.
This mass promotion of consumer goods-from politics on down to television commercials-has dramatically changed the way in which Americans live their daily lives and run this great experiment in democracy we call the United States of America. Americans have become consumers at every level: As the wealthiest five percent of the world’s population, Americans consume more man-made and natural resources than any other nation, mostly because we are a “throw-away” society. Commercialism has changed from mere product awareness to mass promotion-show consumers a reason why what they had before, though it still serves its purpose, is not enough, and why they need the latest and greatest product. Consumerism affects how Americans live their lives in other ways than mere product-consumption, though. Materialism drives Americans to be consumers rather than producers when it comes to self-identity and the kinds of make-up and clothing one wears, the kind of car one drives, and the kind food and drink one consumes carry great meaning.
Meaning, values, and priorities are conveyed through commercials as well, and American culture has been greatly affected by commercial values. People in America chose to embrace images and icons, trying to become more like those images by buying into the products they endorse. Americans compare themselves constantly to the images projected on television and in fact desire to become like those images. It is this mentality that lead Pope John Paul II to say that American culture is “a culture of death”-one which is based upon the material consumption of goods, instead of the inward development of character, for the determination of self.
The end result of a mass promotional society is one in which the political process, family life, and individual development are tied together under the influence of mass media. Basic social institutions such as news and communications (i.e. television and print media), entertainment, and politics are influenced and in fact driven by the promotion of products and services. The end result of a mass promotional society is one which lacks identity because it is always searching and comparing itself to the surface images and values presented by advertisements; one which is wasteful and weak, lacking moral strength and contentment; and one which is a culture of death, not knowing itself or others and therefore being unable to participate in the shaping of the future, but merely choosing from options presented before its non-creative members.
What is Strategic Marketing Planning?
Making spur of the moment strategic decisions reduces the likelihood that these decisions are the best.Every CEO and marketing executive periodically faces urgent strategic marketing challenges that can affect the future of the company for many years. Frequently these decisions are made without having an opportunity to study the situation and make the best possible decision.
A better approach is to perform an annual comprehensive review of markets and opportunities, then make long-term strategic decisions without the distractions of day-to-day marketing and sales activities. Daily decisions then fit into the company’s overall strategic marketing goals.
It’s important for a strategic marketing planning process to look at the company from the customer’s point of view by asking questions that have a long time horizon, such as:
- What needs or problems cause customers to consider buying from our company?
- What improvements in the customer’s personal or business life can we enable or improve?
- Which customer market segments are attracted to our company or products?
- Which customer motivations or values lead people to decide to purchase our products?
- What changes or trends in our customer base are affecting their general interest or attraction to products like ours?
Strategic vs. Tactical Marketing Plans
What makes a strategic marketing plan different from a more tactical marketing communications plan? The key difference is the focus on meshing overall customer situations with your overall company direction.
For business-to-business marketers, this means combining industry sector segmentation and product use with other factors related to purchase decisions. These include the purchase criteria and decision motivations that affect large, enterprise size purchases.
For example, the trend toward increased use of outsourcing to both domestic and global vendors creates markets for those suppliers. However, those vendors need to have a strategic marketing vision in order to see these new markets early enough to take advantage of the opportunity.
For consumer marketers, this means using geographic and demographic segmentation, as well as psychographic segmentation (i.e., values, attitudes, lifestyles), and product usage motivations.
For example, the aging population bubble creates a general increase in demand for a wide range of products. It also creates market niches that are large enough to make product development and marketing worthwhile.
The same shifts can also reduce demand for other products. These long term shifts in markets are frequently misinterpreted as short-term competitive pressures or fluctuations in the economy. Instead of increasing advertising or sales efforts, it might be better to abandon a declining market.
Without a strategic marketing plan a company could waste resources or miss an opportunity.
What’s the cost of missing an opportunity? Of course, it’s impossible to know at the time the opportunity is missed, but years later it will become clear when a competitor opens a new factory or enters a new market — and their revenue grows faster than their competitors.
In other words, the annual cost of a strategic marketing plan review is miniscule compared to the revenue, market share, and profitability it can generate.
Developing the Strategic Marketing Plan
The strategic marketing plan process typically has three stages:
- Segment the market
- Geographic
- Demographic
- Psychographic
- Behavior
- Profile the market segments
- Revenue potential
- Market share potential
- Profitability potential
- Develop a market segment marketing strategy
- Market leader or product line extension
- Mass marketing or targeted marketing
- Direct or indirect sales
After analyzing market segments, customer interests, and the purchase process, it’s time to create the strategic marketing plan. The strategic marketing plan document usually includes:
- Situational Analysis – Where is the company now?
- Market Characteristics
- Key Success Factors
- Competition and Product Comparisons
- Technology Considerations
- Legal Environment
- Social Environment
- Problems and Opportunities
- Marketing Objectives – Where does management want the company to go?
- Product Profile
- Target Market
- Target Volume in Dollars and/or Units
- Marketing Strategies – What should the company do to achieve its objectives?
- Product Strategy
- Pricing Strategy
- Promotion Strategy
- Distribution Strategy
- Marketing Strategy Projection
How to Use a Strategic Marketing Plan
Once a company’s executive team has approved the strategic marketing plan it’s time to take the next step — create the tactical marketing programs and projects needed to implement the plan.
These tactical programs usually include:
- Product Development Plan
- Marketing Communications Plan
- Sales Development Plan
- Customer Service Plan
Benefiting from a Strategic Marketing Plan
The top-down process of developing a strategic marketing plan helps insure that all tactical marketing programs support the company’s goals and objectives, as well as convey a consistent message to customers.
This approach improves company efficiency in all areas, which helps improve revenue and market share growth, and minimizes expenses — all of which lead to higher profitability.
How to and effective promotion
Probably the most difficult part in marketing is choosing the right promotional material to cater to all your marketing needs. This becomes a crucial part because it talks about the cost of printing and the assurance that it will work to increase sales and promotion.
Most promotional materials are made affordable so that the users will turn into their companies but if you are a customer, you should not just jump into decisions without further planning and without knowing if it will work for your company’s promotion.
If you are a customer, see to it that the prices are worth buying for and that the services are enough to add to the marketing potential of your business. Printers to this day have been made more affordable so that users who are at home can easily buy and use it.
As a business owner, you should first consider your needs for a promotion. If you are in a starting business, you need to have a variety of promotional materials, which will help you increase your sales faster. The business owners have relied upon printed promotional materials for the past few years.
Great article from allrighmagazine.com
Promotion: How to Make Your Business Envelopes Unique
By: brentdurell
Some business envelopes excel easily in marketing while other less than ideal envelopes just crash and get classified as junk mail. The factors that determine this go beyond the envelope printer who actually printed those envelopes. If we look at how people actually design and develop those discount envelopes, you will see that there are key factors that do make a big difference in the finished product.
If you want your business envelopes to of course always be on the successful side of the equation, it will be pivotal that you know about those correct key factors. Let me discuss with you, item by item the five major factors that do represent a big influence on the impact and performance of colored envelopes. Learning about them will be a big help in how you should develop the features of your own unique business envelopes.
1. The envelope color β The color is a big deciding factor of your business envelopes. You should realize by now that white envelopes do not cut it too much these days, and more or less that option should be out for you, especially if you want to make waves with these cheap quality envelopes.
What will make a huge difference is if you go for more distinct colors that people do not normally see. Besides being totally visible and eye catching, they will also be more memorable, getting their content read easily. So realize now that you will want to decide on a good envelop color as it will mean big with regards to their visibility and performance.
2. The logo marker β The logo you place on your envelope printing designs does count a lot. It is where people measure the official nature of your business envelopes. They judge the authority of your business envelope through the quality and impressive nature of your logos and supporting images.
Hence, you will want to be careful in composing your logo markers for business envelopes. Make sure that you use high resolution full color quality logos and images so that even your cheap craft envelopes will look like they have the authority and trustworthy nature to earn the attention of your readers.
3. The text font style βThe main content of most business envelopes is text of course. That means that the font style will make a big difference in how people will perceive these prints. Use old style fonts commonly used by amateurs and your envelopes will be branded as amateurs. Use creative styled fonts and they will of course consider your mails as more of a casual type print. Of course, if you use professional type web 2.0 fonts that will imbue a more modern sleek value to your prints. That is the power of the text font style, so decide on what you want to use very carefully.
4. The paper quality β Printing cheap envelopes online typically allows you to choose specific paper material options easily. This is a good thing because the paper quality and paper finishes will make a big difference on how your envelopes will look overall.
Use thin and rough paper and you will look cheap with these envelopes of course. Use thick and glossy paper and they might think it is another marketing type envelope print. So be careful as you choose your printing materials as they will have a direct effect on the impression of people with your envelopes.
5. Extra marketing headlines β Lastly, if you are the type of designer that uses extra headlines in business envelopes, you should realize that they can also be a big contributing factor in the performance of such prints. Using clichΓ© headlines will probably work against your envelopes of course since people already read too much of those.
Use something very specific and targeted however directly for your goal readers and you will see that they will elicit more positive responses from your business mails. So take note of this as they will be a big determining factor in your campaign.
Now that you know the major feature that make a big difference in envelopes, hopefully you will take great care in deciding precisely how those features are developed and composed. Good luck!
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