Marketing Communications

CONSUMER PROMOTIONS 387

Finally, self-liquidators or self-liquidating premiums are presents that can be obtained in

exchange for a number of proofs of purchase, and an extra amount of money. Sometimes

self-liquidators can be obtained in the store, but more frequently they have to be ordered by

mail. Similar to free in-mail promotions, self-liquidators are mainly used to stimulate repeat

purchase and brand loyalty, rather than to generate trial. Th e advantage for consumers is that

they can obtain products of relatively high quality at a minimum cost. On the other hand,

they have to go to some trouble to obtain a product, the quality of which is unknown. For the

manufacturer, following up the campaign may be cumbersome, but valuable information

about the consumer is obtained. If well communicated in-store, the campaign generates

attention, to the benefi t of both the manufacturer and the retailer.

Diff erent manufacturers may also co-operate to generate synergies between their promo-

tional eff orts (joint promotions). Similarly, a single manufacturer can off er a joint promotion

for two diff erent own brands. One item may be off ered as a premium for the other, purchase

proofs of diff erent products may be requested to obtain a self-liquidator or a free in-mail pre-

sent, and discounts may be made contingent on the purchase of diff erent items at the same time.

To increase the benefi ts for both the manufacturer and the retailer, they can co-operate in the

organisation of promotion campaigns. Retailers can pay part of the manufacturer’s promo-

tion budget, perhaps in return for exclusiveness of the campaign in their stores, or they can

provide the necessary in-store communications to draw attention to a promotion campaign.

In Table 12.2 , an overview is given of the diff erent consumer promotions techniques,

together with their main objectives, advantages and disadvantages.^21

When a new magazine comes onto the market, its sales usually climb to their potential in a short period of time.

Next, a slow but steady decline follows. A traditional strategy to counter this sales decline is to develop advertising

campaigns to strengthen brand awareness and reinforce brand loyalty, or to offer non-price promotions. A new type

of sales promotion in the magazine industry is a value pack containing the magazine plus another product. The

magazine is sold at the same time with and without the promotion at different prices. For example, a value pack can

consist of the magazine and a dictionary. Promotions are serialised by fractioning the different CDs of the dictionary

across different magazines. The objectives of this new type of promotion are (1) acquiring new customers and

(2) increasing the loyalty of current customers. A recent study investigated whether such promotions are effective in

slowing down the long-term decrease of sales. This indeed proved to be the case. Although temporarily offering

the magazine with and without promotion cannibalises sales of the magazine without promotion, this loss

seems to be offset by a long-term increase in non-promoted sales induced by product awareness and loyalty

enhancement.^20

RESEARCH INSIGHT

Magazine sales promotions

M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 387M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 387 5/6/13 2:58 PM5/6/13 2:58 PM