Free premiums are usually small gifts or merchandise included in the product package or sent to consumers who mail in a request along with a proof of purchase. In/on-package free premiums include toys, balls, trading cards, or other items included in cereal packages, as well as samples of one product included with another. Surveys have shown that in/on-package premiums are ... Read More »
Measuring the Effectiveness of the Sales Force
Probably for as long as there have been sales forces, managers have sought ways to determine whether they are effective or not. In the past, salespeople were evaluated on the basis of their sales—that is, did they reach their sales quotas? As the role of the sales force changed from being purely concerned with selling to becoming more involved in ... Read More »
Relationship Marketing
Relationship marketing is defined as “an organization’s effort to develop a longterm, cost-effective link with individual customers for mutual benefit.” Rather than focusing on a short-term sale, the sales rep tries to establish a long-term bond. And rather than just selling, the sales department works with marketing to use techniques like database marketing, message differentiation to different target markets, and ... Read More »
Combining Personal Selling with the Internet
The Internet has been used to provide product information, generate leads, screen prospects, and build and market from databases. While many marketing managers see the Internet taking business away from channel members and direct sales, few are ready to relinquish their sales forces. Even though at least one study predicts that 98 percent of all large companies would be on ... Read More »
Motivating the Sales Force
Regardless of how good one’s advertising, public relations, and other IMC programs are, for many companies, it is the sales force that is called on to close the deal—particularly those in the businessto- business market. As you might imagine, there is always a need for good salespeople, and companies do whatever they can to attract and retain them and to ... Read More »
Data Mining as a Marketting Strategy
Internet-based marketing strategies generate extremely large data sets from customer interactions. Purchase histories, financial records, customer service records, and Web site usage are just some of the data that reside in customer databases. In order to transform this mountain of diverse data into operationally useful information, marketers are increasingly using data mining procedures. Data mining is the computerbased exploration and ... Read More »
Magazine Ads
For years magazine publishers focused most of their attention on selling ads in their magazines and devoted less attention to proving the ads were effective. At many magazines, efforts at measuring effectiveness were often limited to tracking consumer response to 800 numbers that appeared in print ads. However, the carefree days are over as many new advertising media have emerged, ... Read More »
Readership and Total Audience
Advertisers are often interested in the number of people a publication reaches as a result of secondary, or pass-along, readership. Pass-along readership can occur when the primary subscriber or purchaser gives a magazine to another person or when the publication is read in doctors’ waiting rooms or beauty salons, on airplanes, and so forth. Advertisers generally attach greater value to ... Read More »
Circulation
Circulation figures represent the number of individuals who receive a publication through either subscription or store purchase. The number of copies distributed to these original subscribers or purchasers is known as primary circulation and is the basis for the magazine’s rate structure. Circulation fluctuates from issue to issue, particularly for magazines that rely heavily on retail or newsstand sales. Many ... Read More »
How Effective Is Advertising?
There is a widespread belief by the general public that advertising has powerful effects. This belief sometimes results in demands for the governmental regulation of advertising, especially regulations designed to protect certain groups (in particular, children) and to outlaw deceptive practices. Despite this belief in the power of advertising, economic time-series studies have found small or no effects of the ... Read More »