Promotion Strategy

Table of Contents Sr No. | Title| P No. | 1. | Introduction| 2-5| 2. | Promotional Mix| 5| 3. | Sales process| 7-8| 4. | Advertising| 9-13| 5. | Other Methods| 14-15| 6. | Public Relations| 15| 7. | References| 18| Introduction What is promotional strategy ? Promotional strategy is the function of informing, persuading, and influencing a consumer decision. It is as important to non profit organizations as it is to a profit oriented company like Colgate-Palmolive. Some promotional strategies are aimed at developing primary demand, the desire for a general product category.For example, the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board promotes natural cheese through advertisements without referring to any particular cheese maker. But most promotional strategies are aimed at creating selective demand, the desire for a particular product. Land O' Lakes campaign—†The taste that stands above. Land O' Lakes 4-Quart Cheese†Ã¢â‚¬â€is an example. The objectives of promotion, the component s of the promotional mix—personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, and public relations are discussed, and finally, the factors that influence marketers' decisions in selecting a promotional mix are explained.Objectives of Promotional Strategy Promotional strategy objectives vary among organizations. Some use promotion to expand their markets, others to hold their current positions, still others to present a corporate viewpoint on a public issue. Promotional strategies can also be used to reach selected markets. Most sources identify the specific promotional objectives or goals of providing information, differentiating the product, increasing sales, stabilizing sales, and accentuating the product's value. An organization can have multiple promotional objectives.The National Pork Producers Council has developed â€Å"The Other White Meat† promotional campaign primarily to position pork as a white meat rather than a red meat. Other goals of the campaign include inc reasing the sale of pork and informing consumers that pork is low in calories and cholesterol, high in nutrition, easy to prepare, and versatile. To illustrate the versatility of pork, one advertisement in the campaign features 21 different pork dishes and offers consumers a free booklet for those and other pork recipes. Providing InformationIn the early days of promotional campaigns, when there was often a short supply of many items, most advertisements were designed to inform the public of a product's availability. Today, a major portion of advertising in the United States is still informational. A large section of the daily newspapers on Wednesdays and Thursdays consists of advertising that tells shoppers which products are featured by stores and at what price. Health insurance advertisements in Sunday newspaper supplements emphasize information about rising hospital costs.Industrial salespeople keep buyers aware of the latest technological advances in a particular field. Fashion retailers advertise to keep consumers abreast of current styles. Promotional campaigns designed to inform are often aimed at specific market segments. Warner Bros. Records, for example, created a compact disc advertisement targeted at the baby-boom generation. In explaining the purpose of the ad, a Warner executive said, â€Å"We believe that most boomers are unaware that our classic recordings of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s are on CD along with the current releases. The ad informs baby boomers that Warner releases not only contemporary recordings but also some of its best albums from previous years, including those by Fleetwood Mac, Van Morrison, and ZZ Top, on compact discs. Included in the ad is a list of classic recordings now available on compact discs. Differentiating the Product Marketers often develop a promotional strategy to differentiate their goods or services from those of competitors. To accomplish this, they attempt to occupy a â€Å"position† in the market t hat appeals to their target customers.Promotions that apply the concept of positioning communicate to consumers meaningful distinctions about the attributes, price, quality, or usage of a good or service. Positioning is often used for goods or services that are not leaders in their field. The advertisement for Murphy's Oil Soap in Figure 13. 2 is part of a promotional campaign The Murphy-Phoenix Company uses to differentiate its household cleaner from its much larger competition. While market leader Mr. Clean and other large competitors such as Top Job are promoted as â€Å"tough on dirt† cleaners, Murphy's Oil Soap is positioned as a gentle household cleaner.The positioning strategy is carried through in other ads in the campaign, in which caretakers of churches and opera houses emphasize the soap's gentle cleaning attribute. Increasing Sales Increasing sales volume is the most common objective of a promotional strategy. Some strategies concentrate on primary demand, others on selective demand. Sometimes specific audiences are targeted. In an effort to build the sales volume of its bodywear, Danskin developed an advertising campaign targeted at women age 18 to 44. Advertisements in the $3 million campaign, helped boost the sales of Danskin's adult garments by 30 percent in one year.The campaign theme—†All the World's a Stage†Ã¢â‚¬â€communicates the message that Danskin garments can be purchased not only for exercise and dance but also as everyday apparel. Stabilizing Sales Sales stabilization is another goal of promotional strategy. Sales contests are often held during slack periods. Such contests offer prizes (such as vacation trips, color televisions, and scholarships) to sales personnel who meet certain goals. Sales promotion materials—calendars, pens, and the like—are sometimes distributed to stimulate sales during off-periods.Advertising is also often used to stabilize sales. Hotels are crowded on weekdays with bu siness travelers, but these people go home on Friday. So many hotels promote â€Å"weekend packages† at lower rates to attract tourists and vacationers. A stable sales pattern allows the firm to improve financial, purchasing, and market planning; to even out the production cycle; and to reduce some management and production costs. The correct use of promotional strategy can be a valuable tool in accomplishing these objectives. Accentuating the Product's ValueSome promotional strategies are based on factors, such as warranty programs and repair services, that add to the product's value. Many Ford Motor Company advertisements promote specific car and light truck models. Some ads, however, are designed to promote Ford's 6-year, 60,000-mile powertrain warranty, while others concentrate on the Lifetime Service Guarantee offered by Ford dealers. These promotions point out greater ownership utility to buyers, thus enhancing the product's value. The Promotional Mix Firms use various elements to achieve their promotional objectives.Promotion consists of two components: personal selling and nonpersonal selling. Personal selling is a promotional presentation made on a person-to-person basis with a potential buyer. Nonpersonal selling consists of advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. The promotional mix is a combination of personal selling and nonpersonal selling. Marketers attempt to develop a promotional mix that effectively and efficiently communicates their message to target customers. Personal Selling For many companies, personal selling—a promotional presentation made on a person-to-person basis to a potential buyer—is the key to marketing ffectiveness. The promotional strategy of Merrill Lynch, a financial services firm, focuses on its 12,000-person sales force. Selling was the original method of promotion. Today, selling employs over 6 million Americans. The sales function of most companies is changing rapidly. In some cases, the change has been only cosmetic, such as when the title salesclerk is changed to account representative but the job function remains the same. Yet, many firms are making significant changes in their sales force. Sales duties have been expanded, and in some instances, the function itself has changed.The primary trend is toward increased professionalism on the part of sales personnel. Today's sales people act as advisors to their customers, helping them utilize more efficiently the items they buy. Sales Tasks Sales tasks vary significantly from one company or situation to another, but it usually includes three basic tasks: order processing, creative selling, and missionary selling. Order Processing: The task of order processing involves the receipt and handling of an order. Needs are identified and pointed out to the customer, and the order is processed.The handling of orders is especially important in satisfying customer needs. The Willamette Industries advertisement points out that t he firm's salespeople take a customer-oriented approach to order processing. They check the quality of the products their retail customers receive, know their customers' market, and ensure that products are available when customers need them. Route sales personnel for such consumer products as bread, milk, and soft drinks are examples of order processors. They check a store's stock, report the inventory level to the store manager, and complete the sale.Most sales jobs have at least a minor order-processing function. It becomes the primary duty in cases where needs are readily identified and acknowledged by the customer. Creative Selling: Sales representatives for most industrial goods and some consumer goods are involved in creative selling, a persuasive type of promotional presentation. Creative selling is used when the benefits of a good or service are not readily apparent and its purchase is being based on a careful analysis of alternatives. In new-product selling, sales people n eed to be very creative if initial orders are to be secured.Missionary Selling: An indirect form of selling in which the representative markets the goodwill of a company or provides technical or operational assistance to the customer is called missionary selling. For example, many technically based organizations, such as IBM and Xerox, provide systems specialists who consult with their customers. These people are problem solvers and sometimes work on problems not directly involving their employer's product. A person who sells a highly technical product may do 55 percent missionary selling, 40 percent creative selling, and 5 percent order processing.By contrast, the job of retail salespeople may be 70 percent order processing, 15 percent creative selling, and 15 classifying a particular sales job. The Sales Process Years ago, sales personnel memorized a sales talk provided by their employers. Such a canned sales presentation was intended to provide all the information the customer ne eded to make a purchase decision. The entire sales process was viewed as a situation in which the prospective customer was passive and ready to buy if the appropriate information could be identified and presented by the representative.Contemporary selling recognizes that the interaction between buyers and sellers usually rules out canned presentations in all but the simplest of sales situations. Today's professional sales personnel typically follow a sequential pattern, but the actual presentation varies according to the circumstances. Figure 13. 5 shows that seven steps can be identified in the sales process: prospecting and qualifying, the approach, the presentation, the demonstration, handling objections, the closing, and the follow-up. Prospecting and Qualifying: In prospecting, salespeople identify potential customers.They may come from many sources, such as previous customers, friends, business associates, neighbors, other sales personnel, and other employees in the firm. A re cent study indicated increased advertising in business publications results in more prospects for salespeople promoting industrial goods and services. In the qualifying process, potential customers are identified in terms of their financial ability and authority to buy. Those who lack the necessary financial resources or who are not in a position to make the purchase decision are given no further attention.The Approach: Salespeople should carefully prepare their approach to potential customers. All available information about prospects should be collected and analyzed. Sales representatives should remember that the initial impression they give prospects often affects the prospects' future attitudes. The Presentation: The presentation is the stage at which the salesperson transmits the promotional message. The usual method is to describe the good's or service's major features, highlight its advantages, and cite examples of consumer satisfaction. The Demonstration: A demonstration all ows the prospect to become involved in the presentation.Demonstrations reinforce the message communicated to the prospective buyer. In promoting some goods and services, the demonstration is a critical step in the sales process. Paper manufacturers, for example, produce elaborate booklets that their salespeople use to demonstrate different types of paper, paper finishes, and graphic techniques. The demonstration allows salespeople to show art directors, designers, printers, and other potential customers what different paper specimens look like when they are printed. Handling Objections: Many salespeople fear objections from the prospect because they view them as a rebuke.Actually, such objections should be welcomed, because they allow additional points in support of the sale and to answer questions the consumer has about the good or service to be presented by the sales representative. The Closing: The closing is the critical point in selling—the time at which the seller actua lly asks the prospect to buy the product. The seller should watch for signals that the prospect is ready to buy. For example, if a prospect starts discussing where the new equipment would fit in the plant system they are inspecting, it should give the sales agent a signal to attempt to close the sale.Effective closing techniques might be that the salesclerk can ask the prospect directly or propose alternative purchases. Or the salesperson may do something that implies the sale has been completed, such as walking toward a cash register. This forces the prospect to say no if they do not want to complete the sale. The Follow-Up: After-sale activities are very important in determining whether a customer will buy again later. After the prospect agrees to buy, the salesperson should complete the order processing quickly and efficiently and reassure the customer about the purchase decision.Later, the salesperson should check with the customer to determine whether the good or service is sat isfactory. Many firms employ telemarketers to conduct post-sale activities. Telemarketing: is a personal selling approach conducted entirely by telephone. Telemarketers employed by the Apple Bank for Savings in New York make follow up calls to customers to measure their reaction to the bank's services. Telemarketers also perform other functions in the sales process. At Apple Bank, they handle customer inquiries and help market the bank's financial services.For example, telemarketers call customers when their certificates of deposit are about to mature and suggest other savings alternatives. Advertising For many firms, advertising is the most effective type of nonpersonal promotion. Advertising is a paid, non personal sales communication usually directed at a large number of potential buyers. Firms in the United States account for about half of worldwide advertising expenditures. U. S. marketers spend more than $100 billion each year, or about $420 for each man, woman, and child.The nation's leading advertisers are Philip Morris; Procter & Gamble; General Motors; Sears, Roebuck; and Ford Motor Company, each of which spends more than $1 billion on advertising annually. Advertising expenditures can vary considerably from industry to industry and company to company. In the nonresidential general building contracting industry, for instance, advertising spending amounts to only two-tenths of 1 percent of sales. At the other extreme is the retail mail-order house industry, which spends 14 percent of sales on advertising. Types of AdvertisingThe two basic types of advertising are product and institutional. Product advertising involves the selling of a good or service. Advertisements for Nike Air shoes, Marriott hotels, and Packard Bell computers would be classified as product advertising. Institutional advertising: involves the promotion of a concept, idea, or philosophy, or the goodwill of an industry, company, organization, or government entity. For example, Texas p romoted tourism with the theme: â€Å"Visit a country where the natives are friendly and the language barrier is easily overcome. Institutional advertising by profit-seeking firms is called corporate advertising. A form of institutional advertising that is growing in importance, advocacy advertising supports a specific viewpoint on a public issue. Its purpose is to influence public opinion and/or the legislative process. Advocacy advertising is used by many nonprofit organizations. For example, advertisements by the National Rifle Association support Americans' constitutional right to keep and bear arms and speak out against the passage of gun-control laws.The Chemical Bank advertisement an example of a corporate advocacy advertisement. The ad expresses Chemical Bank's viewpoint concerning a current law that prohibits commercial banks from competing in the securities underwriting market. Advocacy advertising is sometimes referred to as cause advertising. Advertising and the Product Life Cycle Product and institutional advertising can be subdivided by its purposes: to inform, persuade, or remind. Informative advertising, intended to build initial demand for a product, is used in the introductory phase of the product life cycle.When Johnson ; Johnson introduced its Acuvue disposable contact lens—the nation's first disposable lens—it launched a massive advertising campaign directed at consumers and eye-care professionals to explain the health benefits of using the new product. Persuasive advertising attempts to improve the competitive status of a product, institution, or concept. It is used in the growth and maturity stages of the product life cycle. The Kinder-Care advertisement in Figure 13. 7 is an example of persuasive advertising. Since it was established in 1969, Kinder-Care used informational ads that promoted the centers' hours and programs.But now that the company has grown to almost 1,400 centers and competitors such as La Petite Academy, Children's World, and Gerber Children's Center have entered the market, Kinder-Care has shifted to a persuasive advertising approach. The theme of the campaign—†The Joys of Kinder-Care†Ã¢â‚¬â€promotes the idea of trust, which the firm's marketing research indicated was parents' major child-care concern. One of the most popular approaches to persuasive product advertising is comparative advertising, which makes direct comparisons with competitive products. Numerous companies have used comparative advertising in recent years.The Pepsi Challenge is an example of comparative advertising. Pepsi-Cola ads have used blind taste tests in which a majority of consumers choose Pepsi over Coca- Cola. Although Coca-Cola still leads the soft-drink market, the Pepsi Challenge helped increase Pepsi sales considerably. Reminder-oriented advertising, used in the late-maturity and decline stages of the product life cycle, attempts to keep a product's name in front of the consumer o r to remind people of the importance of a concept or an institution. Soft drinks, beer, toothpaste, and cigarettes are products for which reminder-oriented advertising is used.The Association of Railroads used an advertisement that began: â€Å"Today's railroads, America's great untapped resource. † Even police cars in some areas of the United States carry reminder-oriented themes such as â€Å"We protect and serve. † E. D. Bullard Company designed the poster shown in Figure 13. 8 to remind workers of the importance of wearing hard hats. Advertising Media All marketers face the question of how to best allocate their advertising expenditures. Cost is an important consideration, but it is equally important to choose the media best suited for the job. All media have dvantages and disadvantages; these are discussed in the sections that follow. Newspapers: Newspapers, with 26 percent of total advertising volume, are the largest of the advertising media. 9 Because newspaper advertising can be tailored for individual communities, local advertising is common. Newspapers also reach nearly everyone in the community. Other advantages are that readers can refer back to them, and they can be coordinated with other advertising and merchandising efforts. In fact, advertising is considered the third most useful feature in newspapers, after national and local news. A disadvantage is the relatively short life span.Television: Television ranks second overall to newspapers with 22 percent of all advertising volume, but it is the leader in national advertising. Television advertising can be classified as network, national, local, and cable. Television has a significant impact on potential customers despite its high cost. Mass coverage, repetition, flexibility, and prestige are other advantages. The medium's ability to reach huge audiences was demonstrated vividly by the 1989 Pepsi commercial featuring pop singer Micahael Jackson. The firm spent $5 million to beam the commercial to 250 million viewers in 40 nations, from Finland to the Philippines. The ad was pulled because of Michael Jackson’s image and legal problems. ) In addition to high cost, its disadvantages include the temporary nature of the message, some public distrust, and lack of selectivity in the ability to reach specific target market segments without considerable wasted coverage. Direct Mail: Direct mail is the third-leading advertising medium, with about 17 percent of total advertising expenditures. Its advantages include selectivity, intense coverage, speed, flexibility, complete information, and personalization. On the other hand, direct mail is extremely costly.It is also dependent on effective mailing lists, and it sometimes meets with consumer resistance. Radio: With 99 percent of all U. S. households owning on average five radio sets, radio is another important broadcast advertising medium. Radio, which accounts for 7 percent of total advertising volume, can be cla ssified as network, spot, and local advertising. Advantages of radio are immediacy, low cost, targeted audience selection, flexibility, and mobility. Disadvantages include the short life span of a radio message and a highly fragmented audience.Magazines: Magazines account for about 5 percent of advertising volume. Modern Maturity, with almost 20 million subscribers, is the nation's largest magazine in terms of paid subscriptions. It is followed by Reader's Digest and TV Guide, each with about 17 million subscribers. Advantages of magazines include selectivity, quality reproduction, long life, and prestige. The main disadvantage of magazines is that they lack the flexibility of newspapers and broadcast media, but the appearance of local advertising in various regional editions of national news magazines suggests that this problem is being overcome.Outdoor Advertising: One percent of total advertising expenditures are on outdoor advertising such as billboards. Its strength is in commu nicating simple ideas quickly. Other advantages are repetition and the ability to promote goods and services available for sale nearby. However, the message must be brief, and there are aesthetic considerations. Other Media Options: Other media include advertising in movie theaters and on airline movie screens. Recently, several firms such as Coca Cola, PepsiCo, Chrysler, and Hershey placed ads on videocassette movies.Many firms display their advertising message on trucks, while others use transit advertising. An advertising vehicle gaining in popularity is the hot-air balloon, used by organizations such as Maxwell House, Coors, Eastman Kodak, and the states of Maryland and Connecticut. These alternative media can be employed separately or in conjunction with advertising campaigns using more traditional media. Can you name the candy the space creature picked up in the film â€Å"E. T. â€Å"? Reeses Candy company's sales of Reeses Pieces went through the profit ceiling for this ex posure.As such, many other companies now pay thousands of dollars for this type of theatrical exposure and advertising. Sales Promotion Sales promotion consists of the forms of promotion other than advertising, personal selling, and public relations that increase sales through one-time selling efforts. Sales promotion was traditionally viewed as a supplement to a firm's sales or advertising efforts, but now it has become an integral part of the promotional mix. Expenditures for sales promotion total more than $100 billion each year. Point-of-Purchase Advertising (POP)Point-of-purchase advertising (POP) consists of displays and demonstrations promoting an item at a time and place near the location of the actual purchase decision, such as in a retail store. Video advertising on supermarket shopping carts is an example. POP can be very effective in continuing a theme developed by some other aspect of the firm's promotional strategy. Specialty Advertising Specialty advertising is the gi ving away of useful merchandise such as pens, calendars, T-shirts, glassware, and pocket calculators that are imprinted with the donor's name, logo, or message.Because the items are useful and are often personalized with the recipient's name, they tend to be kept and used by the targeted audience, giving the advertiser repeated exposure. Originally designed to identify and create goodwill for advertisers, specialty advertising is now used to generate sales leads and develop traffic for stores and trade show exhibitors. Trade Shows A trade show is often used to promote goods or services to resellers in the distribution channel. Retailers and wholesalers attend trade conventions and shows where manufacturers exhibit their lines. Such shows are very important n the toy, furniture, and fashion industries. They have also been used to promote the products of one nation to buyers from another. L. A. Gear used a trade show extravaganza to let retailers know about its diversified product lin e. The company, which originally produced a line of teenage fashion athletic footwear, expanded its offerings to include 80 women's shoe styles, a men's and a children's line, and an apparel collection. But most retailers carry a limited number of L. A. Gear styles compared to those of nationally recognized brand names such as Nike and Reebok.To build its brand recognition among retailers, L. A. Gear designed a trade show display replicating the city of Los Angeles, complete with a Beverly Hills Hotel and a 25-foot City Hall. The display includes a stage where dancers, gymnasts, and other performers entertained retailers attending the National Shoe Fair in New York and the Super Show, the trade show of the sporting goods industry. Don Wasley, L. A. Gear's vice-president of promotion, said, â€Å"When we created this trade show booth, it was to let the retailers know we'd arrived.We wanted them to take us seriously. Other Sales Promotion Methods Other sales promotion techniques incl ude samples, coupons, premiums, contests, and trading stamps. Most of these methods are used to introduce new products or encourage consumers to try a new brand. A sample is a free gift of a product distributed by mail, door to door, in a demonstration, or inside packages containing other products. Samples are particularly useful in promoting new products. PepsiCo used a novel sampling promotion to boost the market share of Pepsi Cola in Brazil.Young male students wearing T-shirts with the Pepsi logo dispensed Pepsi samples from refrigerated backpacks to beachgoers sunning themselves on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro. The promotion supported PepsiCo's â€Å"Taste of a new generation† advertising campaign in Brazil, where 50 percent of the population is younger than 20. A coupon is an advertising clipping or package inclusion stamps are similar to premiums in that they are redeemable for additional merchandise. Historically, they have been used to build loyalty to a certain ret ailer or supplier. Contests, sweepstakes, and games offer cash or merchandise redeemable by the customer.Offering what amounts to a small price discount, it can help get a customer to try a new or different product. Many retailers, including southern supermarket giant Winn Dixie, double the face value of manufacturers' coupons. In a recent survey comparing various methods of consumer promotion, 83 percent of respondents said coupons increased the value of their shopping dollar. The respondents gave sweepstakes and other sales promotion techniques much lower ratings. A premium is an item given free or at a reduced cost with the purchase of another product. Premiums are most effective when they relate in some way to the purchased item.To promote its new cinnamon-and-raisin biscuits and increase overall breakfast traffic, Hardee's fast-food restaurants offered the premium of a California Raisin figurine for 99 cents with the purchase of two biscuits. Sales during the four-week promotio n increased 18 percent, well above Hardee's goal of increasing sales 4. 5 percent. McDonals and Burger King promote theatrical releases through their â€Å"Kids Meals. † Trading as prizes to participating winners. The transit poster advertises an American Natural Beverage Corporation sweepstakes in which the grand prize is a 1957 Thunderbird Classic.The first person to spell â€Å"Cruisin†Ã¢â‚¬Ëœ by collecting specially marked bottle caps from Soho Natural Soda wins the car. Public Relations Public relations is an organization's communications with its various publics, such as customers, vendors, news media, employees, stockholders, government, and the general public. Many of these communication efforts have a marketing purpose. Johnson ; Johnson Health Care Company launched a five-year public relations campaign to educate the public on reducing childhood injuries.The Safe Kids program includes a free safety kit for children that contains Band-Aids and other J;J produc ts. The firm hopes the goodwill generated by the program will not only enhance its image as a caring and concerned company but also translate into more sales. â€Å"Building our image builds our business,† said a J;J executive. 14 Public relations is often used to supplement advertising and personal selling efforts. In some cases, however, public relations is used as a dominant element in a firm's promotional campaign. For example, in ddition to advertising, Paramount Pictures developed a public relations program to promote the Eddie Murphy movie â€Å"Coming to America. † The program was designed to change Murphy's image and broaden his appeal beyond his hard-core, young male fans. In the movie, Murphy plays a romantic and humorous leading man, a departure from his familiar tough-guy role in previous films such as â€Å"Beverly Hills Cop† and â€Å"Trading Places. † To stress the versatility of Murphy's talent, Paramount prepared publicity releases for n ewspapers and magazines and sent electronic press kits to television stations.These efforts resulted in extensive media coverage for the movie. For example, several magazines featured Murphy in cover stories, and radio stations gave the movie's soundtrack additional playing time. Selecting a Promotional Mix Selecting the appropriate promotional mix is one of the toughest tasks confronting marketers, but there are some general guidelines to assist in determining the relative allocations of promotional efforts and expenditures among personal selling, advertising, sales promotion, and public relations. These guidelines might be stated as a series of four rules.The first guideline is the decision whether to spend promotional monies on advertising or personal selling. Once this decision is made, the marketer needs to determine the level of sales promotion and public relations efforts. A second consideration is the market served by the good or service. For instance, a drill press is sold to the industrial market, so the manufacturer's strategy must emphasize the sales force. By contrast, California Raisins are sold to consumers; an effective advertising campaign is important to consumer products like raisins.The third rule deals with the value of the product. Most companies cannot afford to emphasize personal selling in marketing a low-priced item and instead choose advertising for the promotional strategy of goods like toothpaste, cosmetics, soft drinks, and candy. Higher-priced items in both industrial and consumer markets rely more on personal selling. Examples include time-share vacation condominiums and Boeing aircraft. Finally, the marketer needs to consider the time frame involved. Advertising is usually used to precondition a person for a sales resentation. An effective and consistent advertising theme may favorably influence individuals when they are approached by a salesclerk in a store. But except for self-service situations, a salesperson is typically in volved in completing the actual transaction. Advertising is often used again after the sale to assure consumers of the correctness of their selection and to precondition them for repeat purchases. Alternative Promotional Strategies The selection of a promotional mix is directly related to the promotional strategy the firm will employ.The marketer has two alternative strategies available to meet these goals: pushing strategy or pulling strategy. A pushing strategy is a sales-oriented approach. The product, product line, or service is marketed to wholesalers and retailers in the marketing channels. Sales personnel explain to them why they should carry this particular item or service. The marketing intermediaries are usually offered special discounts, promotional materials, and cooperative advertising allowances. In the last case, the manufacturer shares the cost of local advertising of the product or line.All these strategies are designed to motivate wholesalers and retailers to †Å"push† the product or service to their customers. The kiwifruit advertisement is an example of a pushing strategy. In it, the New Zealand Kiwifruit Authority suggests ways retailers can merchandise the fruit so consumers will buy it. A pulling strategy attempts to generate consumer demand for the product, product line, or service, primarily through advertising and sales promotion appeals. Most advertising is aimed at the ultimate consumer, who then asks the retailer for the product or service; the retailer in turn requests the item or service from the supplier.The marketer hopes that strong consumer demand will â€Å"pull† the product or service through the marketing channel by forcing marketing intermediaries to carry it. The General Foods advertisement for Maxwell House coffee in illustrates a pulling strategy. The ad announced a sales promotion that tied in with the Taste of Chicago outdoor food festival. Consumers who brought two empty coffee cans to the Maxwell Ho use cafe at the festival received $6 worth of free food tickets. The consumer pull influenced Chicago-area retailers to prominently feature the brand at their stores. With consumers edeeming about 49,000 empty cans, the promotion was so successful it produced record sales and moved the Maxwell House brand from third place to first in the Chicago market. Most marketing situations require the use of both strategies, although the emphasis can vary. Consumer products are often heavily dependent on a pulling strategy, while most industrial products are sold through a pushing strategy. References 1. Colton. M. Jo Ann (2000). The Entrepreneur's Guide to Business Basics 101; Advanced Marketing Technologie 2. http://www. smallbusiness. wa. gov. au/marketing-promotion-strategy/#selling

Medieval vs Renaissance Art Essay

There were no notions of real-life techniques and proportion. Figures, which were more prominent, were drawn larger than the others. All figures are motionless, they sit or stand and there are no attempts to depict movement. There is little in the way of nude bodies, erotic scenes and sexual connotations. People were painted with stoic, serious expressions; the lack of emotions was obvious. Pictures were not voluminous; they were flat and stable. The background was painted with one color. Artists used ordinary basic colors. Paintings weren’t very realistic, but the artists did not necessarily want them to be so. The art was treated as the means of connection with God, and the main purpose of it was to foster the spiritual development of the people. The Early Renaissance starts in Italy in fourteenth century AD due to a number of reasons. According to Jim Lane, perhaps the biggest factor contributing to the rise of the Renaissance was money. He states â€Å"when it became economically feasible to enclose an entire city in fortress walls, then those with money could begin to relax and enjoy it, which meant a craving for beauty that meant art. The city of Florence, Italy, is a classic exampleâ€Å"(Lane, 1998). The church was no longer the only institution with the resources to commission works of art. Religion was not able to serve as the only reason for creativity any more. While religious imagery still dominated many works of art during this period, secular and humanistic themes began to emerge as well. People were in the focus of this art period. They were depicted the way they looked in their real life. It was not uncommon for a wealthy merchant to commission a portrait of himself. People were interested in the anatomy of the human body. The knowledge of anatomy was reflected in the new art. Bodies looked not only real, but attractive for viewers. Most of them were depicted in motion, and appeared much more lifelike. This interest in anatomy precipitated the appearance nude images in paintings and sculpture. An emphasis on natural beauty, and the human form began to emerge. All figures were placed on the canvas considering the perspective. Painters paid attention to light; they started using the technique of shadows and lights in their paintings. Artists were interested in the way people express their emotions and did their best to render the emotional expressions on the faces of people on the paintings. The same features occurred in sculpture as well. It is obvious that art develops in relation to the prior art periods. Some periods build upon the tone and style of earlier periods, while others strike out in new ways in reaction to the earlier period. There are clear examples of how Renaissance art continued the traditions of medieval art. However, the combinations of new styles, techniques, subjects, and philosophies leads to the conclusion the Renaissance developed in reaction to the medieval era. The Renaissance served as the transitional period between the medieval art and the new period in human history. The Renaissance brought significant change to the world of art. Artists started creating art for the sake of art, and not necessarily for the sake of god. They created new art forms, and mastered their skills in order to make things look as they are in real life on the canvas. God was not the only point of depiction. The Renaissance Art is much closer to the conception of art which is common now. It uses mixed colors, shades, real sizes, and perspective. Unlike Renaissance art, medieval art is more primitive. The pieces of art were representations of crucial spiritual content. These differences are best explained by examining a few examples. For instance, the medieval Virgin Mary is rather specific (Duccio, 1300). She is depicted only with the upper part of her body. She holds the infant in her arms. Her face is cold and reserved. The background is static. All objects are two-dimensional; there is no volume or change in colors. The picture lacks dynamics. At the same time, it is a classical representation of Virgin Mary. It was created for the purpose of religious worship. The Virgin Mary is the main figure at the picture. In this respect, the infant on her hands is smaller than he should be in reality. Madonna is the representation of Virgin Mary in Renaissance art. Madonna Litta by da Vinci (1490) shows the tendencies of how the art developed. First of all, both Madonna and her child look lifelike. They appear much more human in their facial complexion, proportions and positions. They are not static. The child holds his finger in his mouth. He is playful and alive. Madonna holds him in her hands and looks at him carefully. Viewers can notice the feelings of comfort and pleasure in the way she looks at her baby. This transition from expressionless, some may say emotionless, depictions of humans to lifelike, active characters can be seen throughout Renaissance art. The Renaissance artists wanted to depict realism in their art. They strived to have the images correspond in some way to the real world. In this respect, they tried to learn how to paint the world they have, not only the world which belongs to Saints. This shift in philosophy during this period created the necessity to create art in a different manner. People became interested in themselves. This may be the most obvious reason why these two art periods are so different. At the same time, Renaissance art is the logical continuation of the development of art in human history. People do not stay the same; the world is changing, so the art changes too. It is hard to imagine that the Renaissance period would have developed in the manner that it did without the foundation laid during the medieval period. It’s clear that later periods built extensively off the techniques and philosophies developed during the Renaissance. The Renaissance served as the greatest transitional period from earlier, more primitive styles, and set the stage for modern art as we know it. References Duccio di Buoninsegna. (1300) Madonna and Child [Picture]. Retrieved from: http://www. metmuseum. org/toah/works-of-art/2004. 442 da Vinci, L. (c. 1490) Madonna Litta. [Picture]. Retrieved from: http://www. abcgallery. com/L/leonardo/leonardo13. html Lane, J. (1998). Renaissance (1400 – 1600). Retrieved from: http://www. humanitiesweb. org/spa/gil/ID/35

Math IP 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Math IP 5 - Essay Example Answer: 3 Show work in this space. 27 9 =3 9 3 = 3 3 1 = 3 b) Using the formula for the nth term of a geometric sequence, what is the 10th term Answer: 19683 Show work in this space. a10 = a1 rn-1 a10 = (1) (3) 10-1 = (1) (19683) = 19683 c) Using the formula for the sum of a geometric series, what is the sum of the first 10 terms Answer: 29524 Show work in this space. Sn = a1 (1- rn) / 1-r = 1 (1-310) / 1-3 = 1 (1-59049) / -2 = -59048 / -2 = 29524 3) Use the geometric sequence of numbers 1, 1/3, 1/9 , 1/27 to find the following: a) What is r, the ratio between 2 consecutive terms Answer: 1/3 Show work in this space. 1/27 1/9 = 1/3 1/9 1/3 = 1/3 1/3 1 = 1/3 b) Using the formula for the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, what is the sum of the first 10 terms Carry all calculations to 6 decimals on all assignments. Answer: 1.499976 Show work in this space. Sn = a1 (1- rn) / 1-r = 1 (1-(1/3)10) / 1-1/3 = 1 (1- 1.693508-5) / 2/3 = 1. 49976 c) Using the formula for the sum of the first n terms of a geometric series, what is the sum of the first 12 terms Carry all calculations to 6 decimals on all assignments. Answer: 1.499998 Show work in this space. Sn = a1 (1- rn) / 1-r = 1 (1-1/312) 1-1/3 = 1 (1-1.881676-6) 1-2/3 = 1.499998 d) What observation can make about the successive partial sums of this series In particular, what number does it appear that the sum will always be smaller than Answer: When plotted in a graph, it is expected that the partial sum of the series is a graph which grows flatter over time. This is because the partial sums grow slower over each value. The sum will always be smaller than 3....He rushed over and pulled a young lady out of the flaming truck. Farmer Crane came out and gratefully thanked the traveling salesman for saving his daughter's life. Mr. Crane insisted on giving the man an award for his heroism. So, the salesman said, "If you insist, I do not want much. Get your checkerboard and place one grain of wheat on the first square. Then place two grains of wheat on the next square. Then place four grains on the third square. Continue this until all 64 squares are covered with grains of wheat." As he had just harvested his wheat, Mr. Crane did not consider this much of an award, but he soon realized he made a miscalculation on the amount of wheat involved. c) Calculate the amount of wheat necessary to fill the whole checkerboard (64 squares). How much wheat would the farmer need to give the salesman Please provide the answer in either scientific notation, or calculate and show all 20 digits.

China Kitchen Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

China Kitchen - Case Study Example ethical and legal issue brought up in the Kitchen Best case invites ethical questions when doing cross-boundary business in Southern China and the risks associated to such business practices and how could such behavior/s be avoided in the future. The ethical and to certain extent legal issues that beset Kitchen Best became apparent at the end of 2009 when Malaysia-based distributor Shago commission a European designer to come up with a range of appliances for its 40th anniversary collection. Shago then placed orders with Kitchen Best with some of appliances ordered came with a special gift set of microwable tableware. Shago however complained that the bowls and plates in the gift sets were not microwable and this is breach of contract where Shago demanded both a refund and compensation. Upon investigation, it was found that Sze, Kitchen Best’s purchasing and production manager who had been responsible for sourcing the gift sets had awarded the contract to a factory in Dongguan that was owned by his brother-in-law. In return for the order, Sze and his wife were offered a free package tour to Europe. Wei, who knew about the personal relationship between Sze and the factor owner, had not reported it in view of their rela tionships with Li. When in-house testing later showed that the product was faulty, she informed Sze, who told her he would handle it. However, no remedial action was taken and Wei decided not to pursue the matter any further. This incident was followed by the incident with Haus de Metro where bribery happened in the testing and certification of samples. This occurred when a shipment that was sent to German retail chain Haus de Metro did not meet the company’s safety requirements contrary to the satisfactory testing report received by Kitchen Best. Kitchen Best had subcontracted HdM’s orderfor electric water dispenser to Qinghua Electrical Appliance Ltd as its own production lines were fully occupied. Kitchen Best arranged for Keemark

Crisis Prevention & intervention in healthcare (management of Essay - 4

Crisis Prevention & intervention in healthcare (management of assaultive behavior)6 - Essay Example Patients in crisis can be a threat to others and to self. Restraining entails restricting the arms, legs and tying the waist to reduce or contain mobility. Patients can be confined in hospital willingly or unwillingly. Restrain prevents a patient from moving their head, body, arms or legs freely. Items used to facilitate medical examination such as bandage are not considered restrain. Measures to restrain patients with assaultive behavior are carefully selected because restriction or seclusion could lead to negative outcomes if excessively implemented. Therefore, recommended measures should be least restrictive and steered towards specific result. Restraining techniques are recommended only when necessary. Restraining can be granted if the patient or family request. Advice for restrain by the healthcare professional should be accompanied by the length of time the assaultive person should be restrained. Observations should be made when the patient is restrained and recorded at regular intervals. Reviews can be made to assist the patient overcome their condition. Restraining is not used as a convenient way of containing the patient when healthcare professionals want to discipline the assaultive patient. Additionally, healthcare professionals should be aware of the body alignment when implementing least restriction to avoid body injuries. The patient should be able to change movement and exercise. Body circulation is important to enable the body to continue functioning as Ballard and Rockett (2009, p. 34) mention. Psychological restrain may precede chemical restrain and physical measures to restrain. Psychological restrain is given in the form of a program or a therapy. Activities are designed to meet the diverse situation of the assaultive behavior by withholding certain privileges. The privileges withdrawn do not include the basic needs. The patient given retrain will have access to shelter, clothing and food. Patients

Logistical issues in the Brazilian coffee supply chain Thesis

Logistical issues in the Brazilian coffee supply chain - Thesis Example is has been facilitated through an in-depth analysis of facts and figures related to production, exports, quality, logistics processes and problems associated with the coffee industry in Brazil. 1. Coffee Production in Brazil 1.1 Production Quantity & Trends Coffee is classified into two types of beans: arabica and robusta. Arabica is cultivated in majority of the coffee producing nations with its share accounting for about 80% of the production. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brazilian coffee production is expected to reach about 3.78 million metric tons in 2012 (sfgate.com). Based on estimates for the year 2012 and actual figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the coffee production quantities (in million Metric Tons) are shown in the form of a graph below: Figure 1: Coffee Production: Brazil – 10 year trend (Source: Food & Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2012) As it can be seen, the coffee production in Braz il has not changed significantly over the years. While the growth rate has been in the region of 2 to 4% annually, the only surprising spike observed (estimates for 2012) is for the year 2012, where almost 30% gain is expected to be reported over the previous year. It also helps to have an overview of the state wise coffee production in Brazil. Refer Table 1 for the state-wise production. (The values are in million 60-kg bags). Table 1: Brazil’s state-wise Coffee production trend (in million 60-kg bags) Â   MY 2001/02 2002-03 2003-04 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 Minas Gerais 16.20 26.70 14.40 21.40 16.30 23.70 18.10 25.75 21.00 Espirito Santo 9.70 11.50 7.90 8.10 8.40 10.00 10.40 11.80 10.40 Sao Paulo 3.20 5.90 3.10 4.90 3.30 4.90 3.10 4.85 4.20 Parana 0.50 2.60 2.20 2.60... This research will begin with the presentation of coffee production in Brazil. Coffee is classified into two types of beans: arabica and robusta. Arabica is cultivated in majority of the coffee producing nations with its share accounting for about 80% of the production. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Brazilian coffee production is expected to reach about 3.78 million metric tons in 2012. Based on estimates for the year 2012 and actual figures from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, the coffee production quantities (in million Metric Tons) are shown in the paper. According to the research findings the coffee production in Brazil has not changed significantly over the years. While the growth rate has been in the region of 2 to 4% annually, the only surprising spike observed (estimates for 2012) is for the year 2012, where almost 30% gain is expected to be reported over the previous year. It also helps to have an overview of the state wise coff ee production in Brazil. Refer Table 1 for the state-wise production. (The values are in million 60-kg bags). It can be observed that the ratio of Arabica to Robusta is in the region of 70% to 77%. While Arabica is higher quality coffee beans grown at high altitudes, robusta is lower grade coffee beans which can flourish on medium and lower altitudes also. The state of Minas Gerais has accounted for maximum production of coffee, largely on account of its geography. Moreover, it was one of the earliest states to start production of coffee.

Coaching Plan for Addressing a Key Employee Behavior Term Paper

Coaching Plan for Addressing a Key Employee Behavior - Term Paper Example In addition, it is never obvious that the new employee will turn out to be more productive and thus the manager might have to go through the same expensive process severally before obtaining a productive workforce. On the other hand, coaching enables a company to utilize the resources for its betterment since the productivity of the employee is increased without having to undergo costs of hiring and training new employees. In most instances, the employees only require minimal coaching to realize their faults or weaknesses. Adopting the option of coaching employees other than firing also increases the job satisfaction and loyalty of employees towards the employer. There are several coaching strategies, but they all aim at improving the performance of employee both qualitatively and quantitatively hence overall organization success (Emerson and Loehr 5-10). This paper is a case study of Joan, an employee in research institute, who has a problem with her productivity but is adamant abou t her performance. She does not appear to be well organized and constantly misses meeting deadlines. The paper seeks to establish a five step coaching process that can be used to assist Joan improve her performance. Joan is a research assistant in a medical research institute and has been working with the institute for the last one year. Joan was employed immediately after graduating and received minimal training since she was academically qualified. She also had some experience in medical research as she had attended a three months attachment in a different medical research institute during her college training. Her roles include visiting hospitals to collect samples for laboratory tests, recording the results, and writing the reports on the research experiments. Some reports are required for publishing thus strict deadlines are occasionally set. From the start, Joan has never been prompt enough in forwarding the reports, which has resulted in delaying the publishing process hence lowering the overall performance of the institute. Another problem is that her reports are disorganized at times such that the chief technician has to correct several errors before publishing. The chief technician realized Joan’s problem and wanted her sacked by the management. However, the manager felt that the poor performance was because Joan was new in the company and thus suggested they give her some time to get oriented after which they would asses her productivity. Seven month later, Joan’s performance improved slightly but she was still disorganized and failed to meet deadlines quite often, which worried the manager. At one time, the manager had moved her to a different position but he noticed she disliked the position, seemed unsatisfied and her performance had not changed. The manager realized that sacking Joan would not be the appropriate solution since he has used this strategy severally while attempting to replace underperforming employees, but he keeps en countering the same problem or a different problem with new employees. The Manager thus decided to try a different approach of coaching which had been suggested to him some time back but he had ignored it thinking it was time consuming and expensive. When he first requested Joan to see him, she gladly accepted. However, when the manager told her of his