190 CHAPTER 8 COMMUNICATINGTOMASSMARKETS
thatjustifymanagerialspecializationandrequiredirectedefforts.Yeta company,evena
verylargeone,typicallydoes nothavea specialistineacharea,butonlyinthosecases
wheretheimportanceandusagefrequencyofthetooljustifyspecializedcompetence.His-
torically,companiesfirstmadea separatefunctionoutofthepersonalsellingfunction,later
outofadvertising,andstilllateroutofpublicrelations.Theremainingtools(e.g.coupons,
specials)wereemployedbythedirectorsofthesefunctionalareasasneeded.Althoughthe
definitionsvary,thefourcomponentsthatmakeupmarketingcommunicationareasfollows:
- Advertising:Anypaidformofnonpersonalpresentationofideas,goods,orserv-
icesbyanidentifiedsponsor.Althoughsomeadvertisingisdirectedtospecific
individuals(as,forexample,intheuseofdirectmail),mostadvertisingmessages
aretailoredtoa group,andemploymassmediasuchasradio,television,news-
paper,andmagazines.
- Personalselling:Anoralpresentationina conversationwithoneormoreprospec-
tivepurchasersforthepurposeofmakingsales.Itincludesseveraldifferentforms,
suchassalescallsbya fieldrepresentative(fieldselling),assistancebya sales
clerk(retailselling), havinganAvonrepresentativecallatyourhome(door-to-
doorselling),andsoforth.
- Publicrelations:Anonpersonalstimulationofdemandfora product,service,or
businessunitbyplantingcommerciallysignificantnewsaboutit ina published
medium(i.e.,publicity)orobtainingfavorablepresentationofit throughvehicles
notpaidforbythesponsor.Althoughcommissionsarenotpaidtothevariousmedia,
therearesalariesandotherexpensesthatmeanthatpublicrelationsis nota cost-
lessformofpromotion.
- Salespromotion:Thosemarketingactivitiesthataddtothebasicvalueoftheprod-
uctfora limitedtimeperiodandthusdirectlystimulateconsumerpurchasingand
dealereffectiveness.Theseactivitiesincludedisplays,showsandexhIbitions,
demonstrations,andvariousnonrecurringsellingeffortsnotintheordinaryrou-
tine.Astheprovisionforanadditionalincentivetobuy,thesetoolscanbedirected
atconsumers,thetrade,orthemanufacturer'sownsalesforce.
TheObjectivesofMarketingCommunication
Thebasicobjectivesofmarketingcommunicationhavebeenreducedtothreemoremean-
ingfuldirectives:(1)tocommunicate,(2)tocompete,and(3)toconvince.Theprimarypur-
poseofMCis tocommunicateideastotargetaudiences.Thisisdonethroughadvertising,
personalselling,salespromotion,and/orpublicrelations.Principlesofeffectivecommu-
nicationareintendedtoachievethistask.Clearly,mostofmarketingiscommunications,
anditisinthiscontextthatcommunicationisincludedasa purposeofMe.Moreover,what-
everiscommunicatedshouldbeaccurate,truthful,andusefultothepartiesinvolved.Because
ofthepervasivenessofmarketingcommunication,it hasa uniqueresponsibilitytocom-
municatewithintegrity.
Helpingthecompanytocompeteconsistentlyandeffectivelyinthemarketplaceis
thesecondobjective.Formanycompanies,MCmayofferthecompanyitsmostpromis-
ingmarketingopportunities.Competitorsmaysellessentiallythesameproduct,at thesame
price,inthesameoutlets.ItisonlythroughMCthatthecompanymaybeabletoappeal
tocertainsegments,properlydifferentiateitsproduct,andcreatea levelofbrandloyalty
thatcanlastformanyyears.Inaddition,theprominenceofextensivecommunicationefforts
