Consumer Sales Promotion – Doing it the Right Way

Sales promotion plays a vital role in promoting the products and its sales. As sales promotion is an activity directed towards the channel members as well as the end consumers. Each type of sales promotion has different types of activities involved like sales promotional tools that work good for wholesalers and distributors may not be appropriate for consumers. Similarly, sales promotion tools deployed for end consumers may be ineffective when employed against the wholesalers and retailers. Some of the most widely used ways to entice customers are discussed here:

1.Lucky draws
2.Free samples
3.Loyalty rewarding
4.Free product extras
5.Events invites
6.Discount coupons
7.Special price offers for limited periods
8.Trading opportunities
9.Consumer involvement in product design (lays chips)

1.Lucky draws
In this type of sales promotion the company usually asks the customers to send the empty packets or coupons of the product. The company then announces special prizes for the lucky ones out of draw. This scheme in the past has significant impact on the sales increase. This is one of the most costly methods of sales promotion but can have instant impact, provided the whole campaign has been handled well.

2.Free samples
This kind of technique is employed for either a new company and its new product or an existing company with a new product. At times the product’s packaging is changed. This also needs to be communicated to the customer. In this case small number of free samples is also given to the customers. Usually this method is used for two purposes. First is that customers should be able to identify the product. Second, the customer should use it without cost to know the utility he can derive from the use of that product. A company that persuades costumers through its products quality but due to lack of customer’s attention towards the specific product usually tries it to take advantage from this kind of promotion.

3.Loyalty rewarding
Under this method a company rewards customers for his regular purchase of the product or service offered. This technique not only helps to retain customers, but also making this realization to customer that company values his decision to purchase its products.


4.Free product extras
When the competition amongst companies on certain products gets intense, they often struggle hard to get the attention of their customers. When the products of different companies usually provide the same utility, then customers start comparing their prices and quantities. Usually a company charging more money for smaller quantities has to readjust its quantities or give some extra quantity in same price.

5.Events invites
At times the companies want to see the direct reactions of the customers to their products. In this search, companies often try to organize events that involve competitions while consuming their products. Like a detergent maker might hold a competition amongst house wives for washing clothes or other fun relating activities like a paint competition among kids. It is not necessary that the company’s events directly relate to its product. The company however tries its best to establish a connection, so it can promote the use of its products.

6.Discount coupons
Discount coupons are also one of the most widely used methods by a company to promote its products. In this method the company sends discount coupons hidden in its boxes. The customer who gets the discount coupons is sure to get the benefit. So he will usually make the purchases at discounted rates. Companies at times give time limits attached to the coupon. By including this intended pun, the companies cleverly make the customers go for purchases within a specified time. This helps company boost its sales for a specified period of time.

7.Special price offers for limited periods
In this case the company’s target is to increase sales only for a specific period. The company offers products at discounted rates for limited time.

8.Trading opportunities
Some of the companies also offer a trade in for older products. There are hundred of examples on it. For example television makers have long used this technique. By this way the consumers are given some reimbursement on the new purchase made.

9.Consumer involvement in product design
There is another sales promotion method which is very unique and advance. This type of method has been in vogue for quite some time now. One of the major benefits of this method is that when the consumer is involved in making of a product, he then not only appreciates the product but also uses it. He considers it as a product of his own creativity.

Source:
UK Wholesalers

Brand Name and Celebrity Image to promote business

Modern Marketing needs more than just developing a product, pricing it attractively and making it accessible in splendor shopping malls. Now a day’s, marketing is one step ahead than it was earlier. It needs to communicate with common people, address their inner fantasy world and attempt to inform consumers that your product (brand) is their ultimate choice. Many companies use known or unknown people to convey their message but how a message is delivered has a greater impact on consumers than the Brand name itself. Messages delivered by media icons or popular sources mostly achieve higher attention and recall that is why advertisers often use celebrities as their brand representative or spokespeople.

Brands are considered to have personalities and identified the characteristics like sincerity, excitement, competence, sophistication, ruggedness and zealous and consumers are likely to choose brands whose personalities match their own. So the choice of celebrity is critical that who is going to represent which specific brand. The celebrity must have high recognition, extremely positive high profile, immense likeability and high appropriateness to the product. For example, any sports personality has high recognition but due to involvement in drugs and rude behavior they have negative affect among youth and other groups. Similarly, many media images like Brad Pitt, Sindey Crafford, Britney Spears, Tom Cruise, Amir Khan, Shahrukh Khan, Amitabh Bachchan, Brett Lee and Ronaldino are successfully endorsing a large number of products because they have extremely high positive rankings in recognition and likeability.

Athletes and Sports Personalities usually endorse sporty apparels, shoes, blazers, sport products and sports companies, health and energy drinks. Media icons represent brands that are sophisticated, mild, and create fantasy like designer dresses, watches, cosmetics and fragrances. The known personalities (Celebrities) do not always cast a successful promotion of a specific brand to position in public mind. For example, if someone has a high liking towards a personality but not towards that brand to which he is endorsing, a two way effect can occur, either, the consumer will end up liking that celebrity a bit less or start liking that brand a bit more. But if that person will see his favorite celebrity continuously attached in praising other dislike brands, he or she will eventually develop a negative image of the celebrity and maintains the negative attitudes towards the brand.

According to an expert, a number of companies also use a specific personality to overcome the crisis if their brand faces at some point in time. Because, celebrities have an assuring personalities and they can give a positive reputation to that tangible product.

Source:
UK Wholesale Suppliers

Commonly used types of branding

Having a large pool of brand loyal customers is probably the best asset a business can have in the long run, it is always easier to hold on to an old customer when compared to the efforts it take in acquiring a new one. Building a brand is like building your stronghold in the market, it’s like a castle that will protect your business from the competition; however you need to keep building up and keep strengthening incessantly, in order to stay safe. Branding is not simply choosing a catchy title and spending hefty amounts to have it appear everywhere. Branding is the name of a thoroughly planned marketing strategy, where you choose your strongest point and foster your marketing plan around your strongest features, while adding new features with the passage of time.

Branding focused on company name:

Majority of the brands are based on company names. In this technique the business starts from thinking of a name which is unique, easy to remember and likeable, all at the same time. Once you’ve your company name established as a popular brand, the whole range of the products attached with this brand will get an upper hand in the market. Sometimes, the association of your brand name is enough for a soon-to-be launched product to hit it off with the brand loyal customers. Coca Cola, Microsoft, Nokia, Nestle, Pizza Hut, these are all examples of some enormously popular brand names. A company can focus on just one Brand for entire product range or choose a separate brand name for each of its products.

Iconic Branding - The untouchable:

Some businesses grabbed the idea of Branding and took it to a whole new level, becoming monstrously huge and almost unbeatable in their respective fields. In some cases it was the product alone, which took them to these heights (e.g. Google); in other instances there were some great marketing tactics involved (e.g. Nike). Some of them gain such popularity that they’ve started to represent the product itself, for example Google is now widely used as a term, standing for online search.

Mood Branding:

In a relatively new branding technique, businesses have started to attach a general feeling or attitude with the usage of some particular product. Companies make inspirational taglines to appear with the product. For example “Think different” by Apple or the famous “Do It” by Nike. These slogans are used extensively in the ads, so much so that the name of the product alone can ignite some specific feeling in consumer's mind.

Source:
Wholesale