What is an IMC strategy and what is at the heart of it?o IMC - Coordination of all promotional activities to produce a unified, customer-focused promotional message. The customer is at the heart of marketing communications. The Communication Process- What do encoding, decoding, feedback and noise refer to in regards to promotional strategy? o Encoding - Translating a message into understandable termso Decoding - Receiver’s interpretation of a messageo Feedback - Receiver’s response to a messageo Noise - Any stimulus that distracts a receiver from receiving a messageUnderstand what the AIDA Concept iso Steps through which an individual reaches a purchase decisiono A = Attention: attract the attention of the customero I = Interest: raise customer interest by focusing on and demonstrating advantages and benefits o D = Desire: convince customers that they want and desire the product or service and that it will satisfy their needso A = Action: lead customers towards taking action and/or purchasingKnow the five objectives of Promotion (all promotional tools) and be able to recognize exampleso Provide information – goal is to inform the market about the availability of a producto Increase demand – o May increase primary demand—the desire for a general product categoryo May increase selective demand—the desire for a specific brando Differentiate the product – product differentiation occurs when consumers regard a firm’s products as different in some way from those of competitorso Accentuate the product’s value – greater value helps justify a higher price in the marketplace; marketers must choose their words wisely when creating messages that accentuate their product’s value.o Stabilize sales – can stabilize variations in demandUnderstand what is meant by product placement o Marketer pays a motion picture or television program owner a fee to display his or her product prominently in the film or showUnderstand what Guerrilla Marketing refers too Unconventional, innovative, and low-cost techniques to attract consumers’ attentionUnderstand what Sponsorship is and what Ambush Marketing refers to o Sponsorships – organizations provide money or in-kind resources to an event or activity in exchange for a direct association with that event or activityKnow what Direct Marketing refers to and what all it includeso Use of direct communication to a consumer or business recipient designed to generate a response in the form of:o An ordero A request for further informationo A visit to a place of business to purchase specific goods or servicesKnow the factors that influence the Optimal Promotional Mix. (Refer to table looking at Choice of using Personal Selling vs. Advertising). Know the difference between pushing and pulling promotional strategies.o Pulling – promotional effort by the seller to stimulate final-user demand, which then exerts pressure on the distribution channelo Pushing strategy – promotional effort by the seller directed to members of the marketing channel rather than final usersAdvertising and Public RelationsKnow who the biggest spenders are in Advertising (both companies and industries)Know the difference between informative, persuasive, and reminder objectives of advertising and goals of eacho Informative advertising - Seeks to develop initial demand for a good, service, organization, person, place, idea, or causeo Persuasive advertising - Attempts to increase demand for an existing good, service, organization, person, place, idea, or causeo Reminder advertising - Reinforces previous promotional activity by keeping the name of a good, service, organization, person, place, idea, or cause before the public Know and understand the various Advertising strategies including comparative, celebrity testimonials,retail and cooperative advertisingo Comparative advertising - Emphasizes messages with direct or indirect promotional comparisons between competing brandso Used by firms whose products are not market leaderso Advertising by market leaders seldom acknowledge existence of competing productso Supported by the FTC, why?o Keeps marketplace competitiveo Keeps consumers informedo Keeps prices lowo Celebrity testimonialso Can improve product recognition o Can reach consumers of various ethnic groups o A celebrity who endorses too many products may create marketplace confusion o Can not control the celebrity o Retail advertising - Advertising by stores that sell goods or services directly to the consuming publico Source, message, and shopping experience seem to affect consumer attitudes toward these advertisementso Cooperative advertising - Retailer shares advertising costs with a manufacturer or wholesalero Interactive Advertising: Two-way promotional messages transmitted through communication channels that induce consumers to participate actively in the promotional effort.o Web and e-marketing, text message, Facebook, twitter, aps, etc..o Creates dialogue between marketers and shoppers providing more materials at the users request. o Challenge: to gain and hold consumers interest in an environment where they control what they seeKnow the various advertising appeals that are used and advantages/disadvantages.o Fear appeals o Imply or state that incorrect buying decisions could lead to bad consequenceso Can backfire if consumers find fear ads too strong or not credibleo Humor in advertising messageso Seeks to create a positive mood related to a good or serviceo Some advertisers believe humor distracts from brand and product featureso Ads based on sexo Immediately attract the consumer’s attentiono Do not appeal to everyoneKnow the elements of a print ado Four major elements of print advertisement: Headline, Body Copy, Illustration, SignatureUnderstand the importance of Media Selection and advantages and disadvantages of eachUnderstand what media scheduling is concerned with and what reach, frequency and Gross rating point indicateo Setting the timing and sequence for a series of advertisementso Influenced by a variety of factors:o Seasonal sales patternso Repurchase cycleso Competitors’ activitieso Effectiveness is measured in three ways:o Reach - Number of people exposed to an advertisemento Frequency - Number of times an individual is exposed to an advertisemento Gross rating point (GRP) - The product of the reach times the frequencyKnow what role public relations plays and the difference between Non-marketing and Marketing P.R. o Firm’s