232 ENTREPRENEURSHIP
resents a one-of-a-kind opportunity for the firm, and can be followed by anniversary
sales. For retail and service businesses, media coverage like remote broadcasts are popu-
lar. Introductory price discounts can attract customers, and repeat business can be gen-
erated by offering coupons or discounts for future dates.
Other sales promotions are event-based. Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, and Christmas
are ideal occasions for promotional campaigns. Some promotions are contests, like the
cloying magazine sweepstakes that offer $10,000,000 for returning the direct-mail
response cards. These have become so ubiquitous that entrepreneurial opportunities
exist for individuals who are particularly creative or experienced in these activities and
can come up with fresh angles. Telemarketing firms, contest promoters and organizers,
mailing list sellers, and event consultant firms have sprung up to serve these needs.
The frequent and persistent use of sales promotions, however, can have negative
effects on a business. For instance, promotional discounts are expected by consumers,
who will not purchase unless a discount is offered. Auto manufacturers repeated facto-
ry-rebate sales promotions so many times that car shoppers, expecting the promotion,
would not buy until the rebate was offered. Faced with slowing sales, manufacturers
then offered the rebates, thus reinforcing this wait-and-see behavior. Another risk inher-
ent in sales promotion is the demeaning of the product or service’s image. The promo-
tions may be seen to imply that without them, people would not be interested in buy-
ing the product. With buyers concerned about brand image and status, frequent and
carelessly used promotions raise doubts.
The configuration of the major promotional tools—advertising, personal selling,
publicity, and sales promotion—is called the promotional mix. The appropriate mix
depends on the marketing environment and other marketing dimensions. The entrepre-
neur should remember that no element of the promotional mix should be neglected.MARKETING ON THE INTERNET
An Internet strategy is integral to almost every venture’s marketing. What form will it
take? In Chapter 4 we provided a framework for Internet strategy using the Information
Rules. This section presents the Internet as a desirable marketing tool:- It lowers the cost of communication between people and companies and within net-
works. - It lowers the cost of transactions between people and companies and within net-
works. - It lowers the cost of searching for information.
- It lowers the cost of monitoring transactions and search processes.
The Internet has expanded traditional word-of-mouthpromotion into viral market-
ing. Word-of-mouth promotion encouraged people to tell their friends about a product
or service. Viral marketing encourages people to link their friends to a Web site or search
for a product using one of the ubiquitous search engines. For example, Adi Sideman
accidentally stumbled on viral marketing’s power when he forwarded a link to some
friends and found that people he had never met emailed him back. His business,
Oddcast Inc., uses this technique to promote its interactive technology products. In fact,