Week Five - Promotion

1. List each of the ten types of promotion and give a real example that you have found for each.
Ten types of promotion and examples of each are:

• Advertising: Poker ads that pop-up when I'm trying to access particular webpages.
• Selling: I receive a link each month from Victoria's Secret to view their online catalogue.
• Sales promotion: StrawberryNet.com offers buyers a discount on every purchase they make. For every purchase is an increase in the discount percentage.
• PR: I receive an e-newsletter from Blackmores listing their most recent products and latest news on health.
• Sponsorship: Whereis.com is sponsored by TomTom.
• Direct email: I receive direct emails from Start To Finish Event Management informing me of upcoming running events.
• Exhibitions: On the University of Exeter website there is a digital exhibition space of the Bill Douglas Centre and includes a comprehensive catalogue of the collections.
• Merchandising: Selling products on eBay.
• Packaging: Adidas places images of its actual collections and products that can be viewed on their website.
• Word-of-mouth: When I find good products online I email friends to tell them about it.

2. Spend some time looking at the National Marketing Awards (UK). Select two of the winners and discuss them in terms of the promotional mix. What communication tools were used in each award?

The two winners that I have selected from the National Marketing Awards are Cadbury's Natural Confectionery Company and Future Talent.

Sales for the Natural Confectionery Company increased by 627% as they used the following communication tools:

• Radio
• Virtual ads
• Facebook page
• YouTube video
• TV channel

Future Talent is a music charity dedicated to finding, funding and nurturing exceptionally talented young musicians in the UK. The communication tools used are:

• Podcasting
• News feed subscriptions
• Press releases
• Press cuttings links
• Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, Favourite and email compatible
• Public relations. E.g. website launched by Katharine Kent and Nicholas Robinson at the Cambridge University Concert Hall, with a performance by the Aronowitz Ensemble and the King's College Choir.

3. At first glance, what do you think of Facebook, Twitter, MSN, Hotmail or eBay? Why do they work?

Although these website are not visually appealing, they are successful as they engage and interact with users. They captivate users by interacting, selling or notifying them of new products or updates. They are addictive technologies as they keep users constantly informed. For example, sending emails to the user, Twitter or Status updates, new friend notifications or new product updates. If users are engaged they are more likely to continue to use the technology.

4. Who is Craig? Who cares about his list? Is this a serious business? As a marketer what would your advice to Craig have been ten years ago?

Craig Newmark i a customer service representative and founder of Craigslist. He is a senior web-oriented software engineer, with around thirty years of experience, and has been taught a lot about online community and customer service as customer service founder and rep for Craigslist for eleven years.

Craigslist is a serious business. It is a non-commercial community service with classifieds and discussion forums. It focuses on helping people with basic needs, starting with housing and jobs, with a pervasive culture of trust (http://www.inasinglestroke.com/).

As a marketer, I probably wouldn't have advised Craig to go ahead with his business as he was oblivious to innovation and was stuck in a 1997 mindset. He was not interested in branding, graphic design or money. However, his business seemed to work as he serves more than 45 million people each month, and produces 100 million dollars in revenue annually. His local listings site has helped take down an entire sector of the publishing industry (http://www.wired.com/). His business proves to be successful and I believe he has altered the way marketers think.

5. Include a summary of place that has led to new distribution ideas online.

Place means the place of purchase, distribution and consumption. According to Chaffey et al, the new ideas that have occurred in the online world of distribution are:

• Disintermediation: Removing the middleman.
• Reintermediation: The emergence of new types of middlemen.
• Informediation: Middlemen hold data or information to benefit customers and suppliers.
• Channel confluence: Distribution channels start to offer the same deal to the end customer.
• Peer-to-peer services: Removing both supplier and middleman. E.g. Music service 'Napster'.
• Affiliation: Turn customers into sales people.