Question

Go online and research a firm similar to Kraft, General Mills, Ford, or Burger King to find out what kinds of consumer-oriented promotions the company is conducting for its various brands or individual products. Which promotions seem the most appealing to you as a consumer? Why?

Answer 1

The main methods of consumer-oriented promotions are by preparing a multi-faceted promotion strategy, which includes advertising online and offline using multimedia and digital advertisements to target different audiences. These methods are supported by sales promotion, offers and use of social media like facebook, blogs etc. The company also uses Public relations to educate the online customer sharing comparative data analysis, technical details, and product offering. The various other methods of promotions are through personal selling, direct mails, sponsorships etc.

Most companies will use a combination of some or all these to arrive at a good consumer oriented promotions strategy. The key factors to decide the marketing mix are:

1. Target audience-Age, demography, sex, culture etc
2. The objective
3. Building brand and increasing awareness
4. Analyze depth of your market and brand recognition
5. Monitor and evaluate old plans and they're effectively

We will take the example of Adidas a sports company, uses the following multifaceted promotions strategy:

• They sponsor sports events like FIFA, UEFA, Olympics, and crickets
• They have key sponsor sportsman like Lionel Messi etc
• Many teams Sponsored are Real Madrid, France, Great Britain
• They have an attractive tagline “Impossible is nothing”
• They promote 4 brands namely Adidas, Reebok, Rock pot and Taylor (Basically manufacture sportswear, casual and sports shoes and a range of sports apparels)
• The company is promoting their product line through energetic Television promotion and great product placements
• They do sales promotions through their distributors who are encouraged to promote their brands

The purpose is to reach their target segment, which is young, upmarket sport loving audience. They enjoy good fitness levels or the idea of fitness. They want to live a highly energetic life. They will have to be visible where their target audience is present.

I am impacted by sportsman and sports events being prompted by the brand. It tempts me the consumer to follow my favorite sportsman, sports events and would rely on their using the product to feel a closeness to them. Further, the use of Adidas products by many teams makes me feel an affinity for the company and tempts me to buy the product. This increases the inspirational value and creates a demand.