Lo1 workbook(2)
- 1. Understanding the Functions of Marketing and PR Use this work book to help you explain the functions of marketing and public relations. You should ensure you use additional examples to support your explanations. Marketing Market research is much like a strategy to gather information about target markets, customers and demographics. It can be important in gaining competition over competitors in business, with good market research companies can identify all the areas including their market size, which can be a good factor in creating the actual product and controlling the target market. Market research can be carried out in all kinds of ways including socially in media and surveys to homes this is done primarily and is classed when research is carried out to the demographics and looking at the market size etc. When dealing with customers rather than a specific target market, getting a good survey with good responses is customer satisfaction, these surveys are more likely to be seen and heard over the phone or face to face, depending on what product is being sold and or what the competition is like. Getting more in depth with the way market research is carried out; a second way of market research is focus groups as usually they involve physical presence this is normally where meetings occur in companies with specific research in order not to disturb to the participants of the meeting. If a product is going in to a shop, one of the many ways could be observational research i.e. seeing how many people going into the store daily or a weekly basis and what attracts them first, there are sometimes surveyors outside supermarkets which have different methods of the type of research. I think that surveys are the most commonly used because of how easily accessible they are and also they are useful for looking at the demographics and the attitudes of the audience/target market, if you want specific answers to a yes or no questionnaire this is also the one. Explain market analysis. Why is it done and who could carry it out for you? Market analysis is like further investigation exploring the dynamics of a specific market or industry. Through this analysis strengths and weaknesses are also researched alongside the threats of competing businesses. Market analysis can also look at the purchasing side of things including promotional activities and work force. The analysis is done to determine the market size and trends to accompany the demographics previously researched, it is to further widen the sources and information to then try and get the promotional ball rolling. There are different segments to market analysis with most of them being involved with profit and the costs beforehand. It is also consumer analysis, considering on behaviour. A market research report is one of the first steps into market analysis although they do need careful interpretation especially if it is focused on specific demographics including behaviour. There are teams designed specifically for looking at analysis and researching that could work together to create a promotional or profitable outcome. Explain marketing strategy using examples. The marketing strategy is solidly a plan of what methods to use when advertising and so forth, it looks at long -term objectives and some of the basic methods to get an advantage early on. Some of these strategies can be fundamental to reach needs and the objectives discussed earlier. Taking the marketing trends into context with the demographics some of the strategies are partially planned however mostly unplanned because of the customer value and how much it changes over time. Most of the analysis takes place externally looking at competitors, customers and target markets. A mix in the market is also what’s looked in to in case an irrational product is released by an opposing business. The long term objectives are the main examples, if a
- 2. company has a goal to bring out the product in so many weeks, how many they want to profit and how successful the target market reacts to it. The strategy is an explanation of what you want whereas the plan is how you’re going to achieve those things and it’s the application of your strategy. Most big companies have a strategy in place, clothing stores will implement this about their long term objectives to keep the chain running which will be the main one and to invest in the market to see what products are still popular – although this leans more towards the plan. Why is advertising so important to an organisation? Use examples to help you explain. Advertising in the modern world is the primary front for an organisation. Social media at the minute has the biggest influence on advertising and this could be with or without celebrity endorsement, companies can pay to have things promoted on Facebook and Twitter. Without advertising consumers and the target market wouldn’t see or hear about potential product, advertising can be found everywhere, in social media, magazines, newspapers and billboards, as the digital era takes over companies are turning to the internet to grasp their audience, if it appears in their news feed they are more likely to read it. To fit an example into this and social media, companies will be aware of interests in the people that you follow and vice versa, this can be anything, ranging from food to clothing and novelty, it is mainly promotion although it can get ignored when people are scrolling on mobile phones etc. Advertising also gives companies the chance to explore their target market more and what approach they want to take in getting their message across. The way advertising speaks to specific or your audience can change their opinion in a matter of seconds this can depend on the wording and or the graphics so understanding your target market before advertising is pivotal. Depending on what your audience is also helps in what way you should advertise, whether they watch television at specific times, what products they buy regular and all the other details. Some of the techniques that organisations use is repetition, these are likely to be TV adverts, the other is claims, where the organisation claims that there is something extra in the product to make it more appealing. An association can also connect with the target market on an emotional level, like models in beauty adverts and sports stars appearing in sports equipment advertising. More and more celebrities seem to be the fundamental value of advertisements globally because they sit on a level with the target market and when companies see this, this is where they also see profitable demands. What is brand promotion and what methods could you use to promote a brand? Brand promotion is kind of like endorsement where the company links up with another company or celebrity to promote the brand. Some of the most common include alcohol products in films. Overall this sort of promotion ties with the marketing strategy, as it is intended to boost customer loyalty, sales, company value and the biggest factor – competitiveness. One of the methods to brand promotion is building a loyal client base, the company needs to make sure the customers/target market are well aware of their key selling points and the company portrays their merchandise or services to a higher standard, once a foundation is set with the customer it then starts a chain of buying the product more frequently and raising sales. Much like brand promotion is endorsement and advertising it seems that endorsement is becoming more widespread in promotion taking in to consideration how the target market starts to differ, sports stars are at the centre of sports equipment promotion and are selected to offer the attention of the intended customer and can end in surprising results especially if the demographics are quite young like Addidas or Nike for football boots. The way that the promotion is dealt with can underlay the companies values and like advertising again – can build an ‘emotional relationship’ with the customers and lets them know why it is your product they should be buying. The key selling points that companies tend to get across are cultural functions, the fun factor and the importance
- 3. of the customer – for certain brand promotions like fast food chains they are situated around showing family scenarios/bringing the family together which entices the importance of the customer and the fun factor of eating with the family – KFC and McDonald’s are prime examples of this. Event marketing can also tie in with brand promoting with sponsors at live music events and so on, this could be one of the most effective ways if the brand is a drink bottle, lets take Lucozade with their events in festivals and sport people are going to want to buy it because of the value. Sometimes the brand promotion doesn’t always have a direct form as endorsements in advertisements it can come in a form of the celebrity wearing the branding without intending to or briefing with the company first. PR What are some of the key principles involved in managing the message? The main idea of messaging in PR is to instil a consistent story around a product, person or company. It is also about getting the message delivered properly, this could include making sure that the product or person is always seen in a positive or influential light across all sources and in media. Most celebrities enlist the help of a PR to help foresee their antics in the press or in the industry if needs be, although most PR’s for the modern world aren’t really dependent on as celebrities seem to be suing newspapers etc on their own. Public relations can’t control the media, especially with the influence socially on Twitter with gossip constantly circulating, twitter rumours can sometimes make the news depending on what type of views people have. One of the key principles in PR is making sure that you talk about what stays the same and what may change, this shows a balance and that the PR can have the upper hand or plan what to say if the situation changes or stays the same. Discussing and reinforcing what will stay the same – this can be for a product or a person, it is important because people will make the rest up themselves if they don’t know any information this could be damaging to the company as false information gets passed round and consumers turn their noses up. Public relations relies heavily on communicating with the asked audience and therefore being honest and open about the message can ultimately lead to getting the message managed and delivered properly. Having a vibe about a certain person or product can eventually seek influences and key beliefs on the public and then gaining the right credibility, which is often classed more effective than advertising. If the company is selling directly to the consumer, you have to be part of their direct environment, this doesn’t entirely mean advertising it just sums up about making sure the product or the person is in the right place at the right time and the undeserved credit goes to you as a PR. Most PR’s now are shoved into social situations channelled by internet marketing venues, although this isn’t the most acceptable as there isn’t a real back and forth conversation – you can’t tell whether someone is lying or not through a message, this comes under early communication and creating openly as well as honestly. There can be damaging times for a PR as they need to come in if a product becomes brand damaging as mentioned earlier the PR has to be direct about the changes and the things that are staying the same to not hinder any more product sales then there already is.
- 4. What is positive publicity? Find an example of it to help explain. Much like the PR has to be open and honest about the product/person, the positive publicity side is trying to find the positives in everything. One of the examples to use was when Cheryl Cole split up with her footballer husband Ashley Cole, the positive publicity of that was that she could focus on her singing career and how her past singing career in band ‘Girls Aloud’ would not affect her love life previously and after Ashley Cole. Sometimes positive publicity can be clashed with spin, as there is a need to find the good in everything and something, with a celebrity, this includes social media something as insignificant as an item of clothing the celebrity is wearing can penetrate a positive publicity outburst. Positive publicity can have a knock on effect for the product or person thus increasing sales or fans. Social media is increasing in positive publicity with fans already spreading positive words and thus inviting new fans. Mostly now there isn’t much positivity in newspapers however going back to social media a tweet with so many positive replies etc. could boost the ego for the product/celebrity and it becomes a cycle. Writing a report about someone in a positive light brings out all the pros and highlights more other than the story they are trying to put across. A publicity stunt could be used in this context if one was decreasing in sales or going bankrupt – a scenario could be that a celebrity has done a charity event and has made it onto the news and therefore that is positive publicity because he/she is the centre of attention. In celebrity terms, they will do anything now to get on the television screen etc. to be recognised for something good to create the positive publicity for themselves, referring back to the PR example, they try to put the product or person in the positive light but always work in the back ground. Positive publicity doesn’t always come from the fans/company/celebrity themselves the press often inject a positive story into the papers whether it be small or a big event. Most of the big celebrities tend to get more of the publicity simply because of who they are, this could boil down to the money aspect or just their status, in mainstream magazines it is usually music stars. In newspapers and magazines some of us may not notice the motive behind why a particular company appears there, again it all comes together with market research with the added claim, which insiders will look into to boost the whole product for up selling. In public relations terms, what is spin? Find an example to help you with your response. Spin is turning a negative story into a positive one or vice versa. An example of this is that most medical news stories are subject to s spin on testing new drugs. Discovered on the NHS website, most of the spin stories gathered on the website are: Reporting positive effects that were not statistically important – so that the effect could have been the result of chance. Focusing on an outcome that the trail was not designed to study – to use acupuncture to treat hot flushes found incidentally that the treatment produced a slight improvement in sex drive so the headlines were full of spin. These type of stories have been at the focus of spin on turning something into a positive particularly with the new trial story, as it is positive for the news headline as it attracts people but negative for the NHS because the trial was unsuccessful. With the NHS treating thousands of sick patients each day, new trials that are being brought out are sure to hit the headlines by making it positive for readers before it has actually been tested.
- 5. Why might a person or a company engage in damage limitation? Using an example will improve your grade. A person or company using damaging limitation is the process of limiting the effects on an action or mistake, for example ‘the government is involved in a damage-limitation exercise to minimize the effects of the scandal.’ An example found of this has been through money lenders Wonga, the company has been heavily criticised for charging interest that was more than 5000% APR and last Autumn wrote off £220M in debt, in avoidance to be beaten by the newspapers due to being ‘irresponsible’ the company then removed the use of the puppets which were seen as elderly, this move was described as ‘reducing the risk of inadvertently attracting the very young or vulnerable.’ The company has also gone to other measures by ending its sponsorship deal with Blackpool FC and has also agreed with Newcastle F.C to remove its logo from all the replica shirts sold for children from next season onwards. The reason why the company has engaged with damage limitation is because it is deemed irresponsible for attracting the wrong sort of customers by other competitors, by changing something like this it will then take some of the pressure off the company for a little while as they have made a positive change. What benefit could there be to an organisation to create an event? Use an example of a marketing or PR event to support your responses. Some organizations may use events to raise awareness for something, one of the ways possible for this is by advertising – this can be through social media or through flyers. A charity organization for example may use leaflets to advertise their event, in some cases these come through people’s letterboxes or able to take home in bunches from church halls. Organizations such as clubs and pubs may also use this method to raise awareness of their event, some of the popular ways clubs and pubs do this is by brand promotion, these are in the forms of wristbands, people who work there give these wristbands out to the general public (over 18), I have been given a wristband to enter Fibbers, this way is good to get people into events because the wristband entitled them to enter for free however they are still paying for drinks once inside. Positive publicity could also work for local events as local newspapers would positively advertise the event particularly if it is in the event of a charitable affair, the use of stating only positive news is that the public can’t pick any flaws at the event or the company and if it has good publicity from the press more of the public will be attracted to turning up. What is lobbying and who is most likely to be influenced by it? The definition of lobbying is to seek to influence a legislator an issue. Most politicians are most likely to be influenced by this as they have the most power to change laws and to have an influential effect on the public. An example I have found of lobbying is from Greenpeace (http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/about/lobbying) from their website they state, “in our lobbying work, we target and engage in those positions of power and pressure them to take the bold steps needed to protect the planet. We make sure that our campaign demands are clearly heard by decision-makers, and we ask them to translate these demands into real action that protects the environment.” The company also organize events for MPs in Westminster and at party conferences to lobby their way into higher demands.