Sales promotion 475
take one example, there are now more than 200
promotional magazines published and dis-
tributed by companies in the UK; around 20
have a circulation of over a million readers.
Many would classify this as public relations
activity rather than a sales promotion, and the
issue is complicated further by the likes of the
Sainsbury’s magazine, which is unusual in
being sold rather than distributed free.
The entangling of promotions with the rest
of the mix account for the problems that occur
when people attempt to define or measure sales
promotion activity. Quelch (1989) also suggests
that, in practice, it is a failure to integrate
promotions effectively into the mix that leads to
problems and to much of the criticism of
promotions. On the positive side, this lack of
clear boundaries can be viewed as providing an
unrivalled opportunity for marketing man-
agers to find innovative and creative ways of
reaching customers. Robinson and Shultz
(1982) suggest that the internal boundary span-
ning nature of promotions make them an ideal
‘bridge’, providing opportunities to integrate
the communications efforts of advertising, sell-
ing and PR, which may each be the responsibil-
ity of different managers.
Sales promotions – the most manageable P?
Sales promotions appeal to marketing man-
agers because they are flexible and fast acting.
They are also more directly controllable than
other elements of the marketing mix, because
generally speaking:
Developing new products is a slow process,
which often relies on technical specialists.
Permanent price changes depend on financial
management’s co-operation internally and
customer acceptance or rivals’ reactions
externally.
Channel changes involve lengthy negotiations
with third parties.
Advertising campaigns are planned slowly and
carefully to nurture the image of the brand.For the marketer looking to make a mark in a
new job, under pressure to respond to com-
petitors or struggling to meet tough sales
targets, promotions can offer a speedy solution.
Promotions’ origins as tactical weapons make
them very responsive and manoeuvrable, and
well suited to just-in-time approaches to the
management of inventories and businesses.
This has been taken to extremes by companies
such as Mrs Fields’ Cookies, with outlets being
linked directly to the central information sys-
tem, so that sales patterns can be analysed and
any necessary point-of-sale promotional offers
suggested in ‘real time’.
There is a wealth of common sense advice
available to marketers on how to successfully
and strategically manage promotions, mostly
covering points such as: Look to add value rather than cut prices
wherever possible.
Link the promotion closely to the brand
values.
Theme promotions to reinforce advertising
campaigns.
Develop synergies with sales and PR
campaigns.
Search out cross-promotional opportunities.
Reward loyal users and encourage repeat
purchases.
Ensure that the promotion is carefully targeted
with quantified objectives and overseen by a
sufficiently senior executive.
Constantly monitor and re-evaluate progress.Sales promotions mismanagement
Sales promotions can achieve many marketing
objectives, but they have definite limitations
(Shimp, 2000). They will not compensate for
fundamental weaknesses in the rest of the