SALES PROMOTION

This section gives an insight on the view of several authors in marketing expatriates who sees promotion in their own perspectives. Among them is Kotler (2012) in his book “Marketing Management”, he sees sales promotion as a key ingredient in marketing campaign by which companies used its tools such as coupon, contest, premium and the lie to draw a stronger and quicker buyer response including short-run effect like highlighting product offers and boosting sagging sales. Effective sales promotional effort is required to make consumers to be aware of a particular product. No executive can single handedly work to achieve growth in an organisatio0n without the use of sales promotion to maintain good customer’s relationship so as to make an economic progress in an organization. Without promotion, no meaningful activity will be executed and in fact there will be no influence on the behaviour of customers as well as workers in the working environment. In support of this, Ranchman in his book “Principles of Marketing” support this claim by stating that sales promotion is a “catch them all” for those short-term marketing activities such as advertising, personal selling, or publicity, which act as incentives to stimulate quick buyers action, consumers shows, exposition, demonstrations and various non-recurrent selling effort.

In another definition by Nonyelu G.N. (2012), in his book “Principles of Marketing”, he defines sales promotion as the activity that is used to stimulate sales of a product which occurs once over a limited time period. He also stated that sales promotion may be directed at customer inform of trade promotion as well as to ultimate consumers inform of consumer’s promotion. Unlike some other form of marketing communication, sales promotion is usually intended to motivate consumers at the point of purchase, increase sales of a product especially at those times when normal sales are sluggish, to spurs sales to intermediaries and to industrial buyer.

The American Marketing Association (AMA) also defines sales promotion as those marketing activities tools other than personal selling, advertising and other tools designed to stimulate quicker and greater purchase of a particular product or services by consumers, they also states that sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost sales. Although, it is not really designed to build long-term customer loyalty, instead, it is aimed at consumers. Others are targeted at intermediaries such as agents and wholesalers or at the firm’s sales force.

Furthermore, Arowomole A.K (2004) also defines sales promotion as a promo tools, because it involves several communication activities that attempt to provide added value or incentives to consumer, wholesaler, retailer and sales person to buy and sell the product or to stimulate immediate sales. This effort can attempt to stimulate product interest, trials or purchase.

 

In addition, Ayuba (2009) in his book titled “Marketing Principles and Management”,defines sales promotion as non-recurring promotional activity between the producers, the marketing intermediaries and end users. This group of intermediaries uses this means to persuade potential customers to buy the product, therefore without sales promotion, no organization or firm can be able to make meaningful sales, because sales promotion help organization promote an increase in sales, usage or trial of the product or services. Apart from manufacturers, distributors and retailers that initiate their own sales promotion, operators of department, stores and supermarket also use sales promotion periodically to clear their inventories and inform the public about their new product.

Solomon J.T and Ogunbiyi  V. (2013) in their book “Marketing Management” also sees sales promotion as those sales activities that supplement both personal selling and advertising and coordinating them and help to make them effective such as display, shows and expositions, demonstration and offer.

 

               REASONS FOR THE RAPID GROWTH OF SALES PROMOTION

Sales promotional tools are used by most organizations including firms, manufacturers, distributors, retailers and non- profit institutions to boost up sales. They are targeted towards final buyers, retailers and wholesalers, business customers and members of sales force, several reasons have contributed to the rapid growth of sales promotion particularly in consumer market. They include the following:

 i.                   Increased promotional sensitivity:

Marketers are making greater use of sales promotion into marketing programmes because consumers respond favorably to the incentive, an obvious reason for consumers increase sensitivity to sales promotion offers is that it saves money and many purchase decision are made at Point of Purchase (POP) by consumers who are increasingly becoming price sensitivity and facing too many choices.

 

ii.                 Brand proliferation:

A major aspect of many firms marketing strategies over the past decade has been the development of new product, such strategies such as sales promotion can permit price discrimination by allowing the brand to compete in to or more different market-segments. It also allows a premium brand to compete with a lower tie brand among price sensitive consumers. For example, premium brand of toilet soap may be on promotion in some price sensitive market, while in the remaining market it is sold at its normal price. Therefore, through the use of sales promotion, it will enable firm to develop new product and already existing ones and also motivate consumers to receive sales call for such product and increase sales of the product especially at those time when normal sales are sluggish.

 iii.              Fragmentation of the consumer market:

As the consumer becomes more fragmented and traditional mass media based advertising becoming less effective, marketers are turning to more segmented and highly targeted approaches. That is why many companies are tailoring their promotional efforts to specific regional markets.

iv.              Short-term focus:

Brand managers make use of sales promotion routinely not only to introduce new products or defend against competition, but also to meet quarterly or yearly sales and market share goals. This has made brand managers and product managers to find themselves under pressure to achieve short-term sales result for the sake of their careers.

 

v.                 Increased accountability:

Results from sales promotion programmes are generally easier to measure than those from advertising that is why most companies are demanding measurable and accountable way to relate promotional expenditures to sales and profitability.

 

vi.              Clutter:

The increasing problem of advertising clutter has lead to the need to use consumer promotion as a way of attracting attention and interest to advertising, sales promotion offer such as coupons, contests, and sweepstakes used to attract attention to diverts and increase consumers involvement with a marketer’s IMC programmes.

 

             MAJOR SALES PROMOTION TYPES AND METHODS FOR EACH

Sales promotion is an important component of a small business over all marketing strategy along with advertising, public relations and personal selling. Therefore, sales promotion is classified into three (3) categories, these types of sales promotion are some of the means Cadbury Nigeria Plc can use to stimulate consumers to purchase their products and make effective sales or boost up their sales.

They include the following:

i.                   Consumer promotion

ii.                 Trade promotion

iii.              Sales force promotion or business promotion

 

NB:

I.                  CONSUMER PROMOTION:

The purpose of consumer sales promotion is to encourage consumer who are faced with wide choice of product to try a particular manufacturer’s products, it is aimed at reaching the consumer at their home to inform, educate and stimulate them to patronize organizations products or services. Consumer sales promotion can also be used to promote products by one business to another such as computer system, cleaning supplies and machinery. It increases the use of production by the consumers and creates awareness for products which can lead to additional sales. Consumer’s sales promotion has some key techniques or methods that are directed tol the general public. They are below:

 a.           COUPONS

It is a written price reduction used to encourage consumers to buy a specify products. Firms use this method to increase their sales volume quickly, attract repeat purchase and to introduce new package sizes. It may be the most effective way to switch consumer from one brand to another.

b.          THE PRICE PACKS:

They are also tools used by marketing firm. They allow buyers to buy a lesser amount than the regular price shown on the labels. Firms use the price pack to stimulate product sales, introduce a new produce and promotion during off seasoning.

 

c.            MONEY REFUND

Money refund is a sales promotion techniques or methods that offers consumers the specify amount of money when they mil to prove purchase. Usually the manufacturer seeks multi-product purchases before consumers quality for the refund. As well, this technique or method is used for production and trail of the use of product.

 

d.          FREE SAMPLE:

This technique explains what a firm does or what a firm gives out freely to the customers. In other words, a sample usually is given to the numerous customers simple to encourage trail and purchase. Sampling is mostly use to increase the sales volume of the specific production in the early stage of each life-cycle.

 

e.            PREMIUM:

It is an item offered free or at a minimal cost as a bounce for purchasing a product. Premium is usually used to attract the rival customer and introduce different size of established product. Premium is placed on or into packages and can be distributed by variation even through the mail. Premium adds variation to a firm’s promotional effort and also helps the form in stimulating customer’s loyalty.

 f.            POINT OF PURCHASE (POP):

They are sign and window displays used to attract customers. These items attract attention, inform customers and encourage the retailers to carry their brands.

g.           CONSUMER CONTESTS:

This is a sales promotion method where individual competes for prices base on their skills or creative skills.

 h.          SWEEPSTAKES:

It is a sales promotion technique in which the entrance simply summit inclusion in a drawing for prices. The sweepstakes are often employed by firm. Sweepstakes are not skilled base but rather based on luck. Winners are determined by random selection.

II.               TRADE PROMOTION:

They are incentives given by the manufacturers to the resellers to encourage them in carrying their brand, gives such product enough slave space, promote or advertise and push them to the customers. It also refers to offers extended to the middlemen and the distributors to stock manufactures or product and also to promote the product to their customers. The most common sums of trade promotion are shown below:

A.      TRADE ALLOWANCE:

They are incentives manufacturer’s gives to resellers to encourage them in carrying their brands, gives such product enough slave space, promote or advertise and push them to their customers. They are divided into three (3) methods:

          i.        The buying allowance.

          ii.       The buyback allowance.

          iii.      The merchandize allowance.

 

I.       THE BUYING ALLOWANCE:

          It is a temporary price reduction to the reseller for the purchase of specified quality of a particular product. Such offers are as follows:

          a.       Incentive for resellers to handle product.

          b.       It allows temporary price of production.

 

II.      THE BUYBACK ALLOWANCE:

          It refers to the sum of money given to the resellers for each unit purchased after the initial promotion deal is over.

 

III.    THE MERCHANDIZE ALLOWANCE:

          Is a manufacturer’s agreement to buy the reseller certain amount of money for providing special promotional efforts.

 

B.      FREE MERCHANDIZE:

          It refers to manufacturer’s reward given to retailers when a specified quantity of product is purchased.

 C.      CO-OPERATIVE ADVERSTISING:

          It is a method in which the manufacturer agrees to pay a certain amount of the retailer media cost. In this situation, the brand marketer pay for all or some of the advertising cost of the resellers