ventories in preparation for release at a specific date; and, finally, the distribution to
the retailer.^61
Sell-in timebegins with the promotional launch and ends when approximately 95
percent of the deal merchandise is in the hands of consumers.
Evaluating Results
Manufacturers can use three methods to measure sales-promotion effectiveness: sales
data, consumer surveys, and experiments.
The first method involves using scanner sales data, which are available from com-
panies such as Information Resources Inc. and Nielsen Media Research. Marketers can
analyze the types of people who took advantage of the promotion, what they bought
before the promotion, and how consumers behaved later toward the brand and other
brands. Suppose a company has a 6 percent market share in the prepromotion pe-
riod. The share jumps to 10 percent during the promotion, falls to 5 percent imme-
diately after the promotion, and rises to 7 percent in the postpromotion period. The
promotion evidently attracted new triers and also stimulated more purchasing by
existing customers. After the promotion, sales fell as consumers worked down their
inventories. The long-run rise to 7 percent indicates that the company gained some
new users.
In general, sales promotions work best when they attract competitors’ customers
to try a superior product and these customers switch as a result. If the company’s
product is not superior, the brand’s share is likely to return to its prepromotion level.
The promotion may have covered its costs, but more likely did not. One study of
more than 1,000 promotions concluded that only 16 percent paid off.^62
If more information is needed, consumer surveyscan be conducted to learn how
many recall the promotion, what they thought of it, how many took advantage of it,
and how the promotion affected subsequent brand-choice behavior.^63 Sales promo-
tions can also be evaluated through experimentsthat vary such attributes as incentive
value, duration, and distribution media. For example, coupons can be sent to half of
the households in a consumer panel. Scanner data can be used to track whether the
coupons led more people to buy the product immediately and in the future. This in-
formation can then be used to calculate the increase in revenues that stemmed from
the promotion.
Beyond the cost of specific promotions, management must recognize additional
costs. First, promotions might decrease long-run brand loyalty by making more con-
sumers deal prone rather than advertising prone. Second, promotions can be more
expensive than they appear. Some are inevitably distributed to the wrong consumers.
Third, there are the costs of special production runs, extra sales force effort, and han-
dling requirements. Finally, certain promotions irritate retailers, who may demand ex-
tra trade allowances or refuse to cooperate.^64
UBLIC RELATIONS
Not only must the company relate constructively to customers, suppliers, and deal-
ers, but it must also relate to a large number of interested publics. We define a pub-
lic as follows:
■ Apublicis any group that has an actual or potential interest in or impact
on a company’s ability to achieve its objectives. Public relations(PR) involves
a variety of programs designed to promote or protect a company’s image or
its individual products.
A public can facilitate or impede a company’s ability to achieve its objectives. PR
has often been treated as a marketing stepchild, an afterthought to more serious pro-
motion planning. But the wise company takes concrete steps to manage successful re-
lations with its key publics. Most companies operate a public-relations department.
The PR department monitors the attitudes of the organization’s publics and distributes^605
P