Marketing Promotion As The Major Decision Area In Marketing

Engel et a (1983:1) defined promotion as a controller integrated porgramme of communication methods and materials designed to present a company and its products to prospective designed to present a company and its products to prospective customers, to communicate need satisfying attributes of the product to facilitate sales and thus contribute to long run profitable performance.  This definition supports and strengthens the general concepts of promotion as an efforts to move forwards, to push ahead, to uplift, etc, it however restricts the scope of marketing promotion, when it talks of a company and its products, instead of simply an organization and its products, since marketing has many non-business aspects.

A marketing communication, which most often is referred to as marketing promotion, is one of the marketing mix variables used by marketers in formulating marketing strategy.  (Ebue 2000:01) it embraces a verity of marketing activities whose primary role is that of persuasive communication.

Explaining the relevance of promotion Ebue (2000:01) noted that a marketer who builds a product or creates a service and then sits back and wait for things to happen, usually discovers that not much does happen.  The firm needs to tell it’s story, further described that after producing the best product, packaged it brilliantly, priced it rightly, distributed it magnificently and positioned to best meet the needs of the customer, all these will amount to a mere exercise if the target market is unaware of the existence of the product.

Adirika (1996:4) sees promotion as the marketing communication as a part of company’s promotional activities and at times defined as “coordinated seller initiated efforts to establish channels of information and persuasion to foster the sale of a good or service or the acceptance of ideas or point of view.

Udeagha noted that the term promotion has its origin in Latin word meaning to move forward.  Accounting to him, the purpose of marketing promotion is to persuade, remind, entertain and inform buyers about the existence of a new product or service to remind them of the continued availability of old ones and persuade them to buy these product or service on a long-term basis.

Onyeke J.K. (1999:P.15) maintained that the promotion function in marketing is one of the four cardinal marketing function or elements.  He explained that marketing stands on four strong pillars commonly referred to 4ps which are the functional areas of marketing for achieving consumer’s satisfaction on a continuing basis.

In his cardinal opinion Onyeke (1999:P.16) stressed that marketing promotion has the capacity of bringing to the knowledge of ignorant perspective consumers the existence of certain products that could serve as solution to their unsatisfied needs.

Udeagha (1999:P.218) noted that traditionally, the component of an organizations marketing promotions mix are limited to such marketing promotion, publicity and evidence about the existence of its goods and services and to persuade them to patronized it or to develop favourable attitude and opinion towards it.

Marketing promotion involves a process of creating awareness of the firms product or services in the buyer to know to prefer them to other companies products, to convince them to buy the product or services and finally to induce them to purchase the items promoted (Udeagha 1999:P.232).

He further noted that the hierarchy of effect model which assumes that exposure to marketing communications make the buyer to pass through six decision stages of awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and finally purchase.

Successful promotion campaigns depend largely on how other objectives are stated.  So a firm’s promotional objectives are derived from broader marketing objectives.

According to Ebue (1996) promotional objectives can be achieved more effectively when promotional goods may be established for the different promotional tools, the combined efforts such as sampling, demonstration and point of purchase effort may change negative attitudes about the product.  The promotion objective should be realistic and specific and include the criteria by which success or future will be budgeted, including the time frame for accomplishing them.

Promotional objectives depends on the state of the market and the stage of the product in the market, promotion for a new product for instance, is aimed at increasing awareness, penetrate new market, generate new customers and provide better values and increase buying incentives for the firms present customers and trial of the product brand.  But for a product at the maturity stage of it’s life cycle, it requires promotion that will convert no trial through various sales promotion device in order words, for many firms the promotional efforts into a multi communication system designed to more the customers through a series of steps of increasing commitment and to action that may increase purchase. 

Objectives of promotion according to Ball 1972:101 are as follows:

Ebue (2000:33) stated that promotion objectives depend on the state of the market and the stage of the product in the market.  He went further to state that promotion objectives is best achieved by combing promotional effort into a multi-communication system to more consumer through a series of steps or increasing commitment and to actions that may come in purchase.

According to Nnolim (1996:144) she noted that the object of promotion is to attract new buyers, penetrate new market, generate new customers and provide better values and increased buying incentives for the firm present customers.

Udeagha (1995:212) believes that the objectives of promotion is to inform buyers about the existence of new product r service to remind them of the continued available of the old ones and to persuade them to their product on a long term basis.