Principles of Marketing

[sakraan]

A beverage company wants to introduce a new soft drink in the market.
You are a marketing manger in that company. A task has been assigned to
you to promote that soft drink. So what are the different ways through
which the soft drink will be promoted to the customer?

[sakraan]

Marketing is a societal process which discerns consumers' wants, focusing on a product or service to fulfill those wants, attempting to move the consumers toward the products or services offered.
A beverage company wants to introduce a new soft drink in the market. Suppose I am a marketing manger in that company. A task has been assigned to me to promote that soft drink. I will use the following different ways through which the soft drink will be promoted to the customer;
1). I will search for buyers, identify their needs, design good product(soft drink) and services, set prices for them, promote them, and store and deliver them.
2). A modern marketing system includes all of the elements necessary to bring buyers and sellers together. I will include such activities as product development, research, communication, distribution, pricing, and service.
3). There is often critical interdependency among network members. There are certain factors that can influence the marketing process directly or indirectly termed as, “actors and forces in marketing system”. I will consider it in special view.
After it, the following terms are also necessary for me;
Product
I shall identify a consumer need and then provide the product to fill that need.
Here my job is to pinpoint and understand existing needs, expand upon them, and identify new ones. For example, because there are more singles and small families these days than in years past, it is better for our soft drink to be sold in smaller quantities and offered in smaller packages. I know that market is already flooded with cheap imitations. Since one marketing strategy is to keep products price competitive.
Price
In order to make fix price of my soft drink, I will research the market and competition and plots possible price points, looking for gaps that indicate opportunities. When introducing a new soft drink, I needs to be sure that the price is competitive with that of similar products or, if the price is higher, that the consumers perceive they’re getting more value for their money.
Place or distribution
For successful marketing optimum distribution channels is necessary to carry on our soft drink to the target consumers. In my view of point, our company should sell the product to distributors who then wholesale it to retailers. I will have also to look at where the product is placed geographically. So our company sells soft drink nationally.
. Promotion
Promotion encompasses the various ways marketers get the word out about a product—most notably through sales promotions, advertising, and public relations. Sales promotions are special offers designed to entice people to purchase a product. These can include coupons, rebate offers, two-for-one deals, free samples, and contests. People will feel more comfortable purchasing my soft drink if I give them a little information about myself or business. The information could be my profile, employee profiles, overall business history, education credentials, awards I've won, etc. Below are 10 ways I can use to promote you.
1. Teach a free chat room class on a subject related to your business. You could install a chat room on your web site or use a free one from another web site. Before the class starts tell them a little about you.
2. Publish a free e-zine. Use some of the extra space in your e-zine to write about yourself or business. This could be called "A Note from the Editor".
3. Publish a section on your web site called "About Us". With your information you could also include pictures. This shows people you’re not hiding behind your business.
4. Write an article on your area of expertise. Include a resource box at the end of the article. You can add information about yourself in the resource box. E-mail the article to web sites or e-zines that accept article submissions.
5. Create and giveaway a free eBook. In the eBook include a section called "About the Author". Also, include an advertisement for your business.
6. Participate in online communities like newsgroups, discussion boards, e-mail discussion lists and chat rooms. You will meet many people and in return they will get to know you.
7. Donate your time, products, or services to charities. You can list the charities you've contributed to on your web site. This will show visitors that you and your business care about others.
8. Promote yourself offline; teach a free class offline, speak at business seminars, join a business club or association. Assemble fundraisers for charity. These are just few ideas to promote you offline.
9. Offer free consulting to your visitors. You could do it via e-mail or phone. They will get to know you and feel more comfortable buying your products.
10. Publish information about yourself and business history in your ad copy. While people are reading it they begin to trust you and your business. Don't over do it though, you want to keep them interested in your product.
Advertising encompasses paid messages that are intended to get people to notice a product.
This can include magazine ads, billboards, TV and radio commercials, Web site ads, and so forth. Perhaps the most important factor in advertising success is repetition. We’re all bombarded with an enormous number of media messages every day, so the first few times a prospective customer sees an ad, it usually barely makes a dent. Seeing the ad over and over is what burns the message into people’s minds. That’s why it’s good to run ads as frequently as possible. Promotion is the business of communicating with customers. It will provide information that will assist them in making a decision to purchase a product or service. The razzmatazz, pace and creativity of some promotional activities are almost alien to normal business activities.
The cost associated with promotion or advertising goods and services often represents a sizeable proportion of the overall cost of producing an item. However, successful promotion increases sales so that advertising and other costs are spread over a larger output. Though increased promotional activity is often a sign of a response to a problem such as competitive activity, it enables an organization to develop and build up a succession of messages and can be extremely cost-effective.
As a manager of my company I will the following tips to create an effective advertisement for my soft drink;
1. Use Pictures. This is a key. Images make people take notice and set the mood of your ad. I will never underestimate the power of a perfectly selected picture and how I position it in my ad. For example Imran Khan is drinking my soft drink.
2. Features and Benefits are crucial. Why would someone want to buy soft drink? It is very important to talk to my audience in their language to highlight what is great and gives value to soft drink.
3. Mention any good solid testimonials that you may have. The testimonials should include specific and believable benefits my customers have received. It is always a good idea to collect testimonials whenever the opportunity presents itself as they always come in handy.
4. Publish any endorsements that my soft drink may have acquired. My soft drink has been subjected to third party durability tests, safety tests or quality tests. Mentioning this will boost my product's credibility.
5. Direct the readers of your ad to any positive surveys that you may have done with your customers.
6. List any publications that may have done an editorial on your business. This could be a top 10 list, a local community article, product review, food critic or even an online article which you should provide a link to.
7. Profile Yourself. Listing any book or article that I have written, position me as an expert.
8. Always Include Your Website Address: This is important because I can drive qualified traffic to any promotional materials that you may have online. Or it just gives people an opportunity to learn more about my company and its soft drink.
9. If Possible I will offer a money back guarantee. This will remove any perceived risk with my product for potential customers. I will keep a list of rules available regarding my money back guarantee so as to protect myself from unreasonable prospects though.
10. Headlines. My headline should make a statement to grab attention in as few words as possible. It should be very similar to a newspaper headline. Following are the ingredients of any good classified ad -
- Attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action