Advertising and promotions - Essay Example

Two companies, Burger King and Victoria's Secrets use advertising and promotion as the main tools of marketing mix. Following Armstrong and Kotler (2000) advertising is more effective in attracting new customers than in retaining present customers. Thus, the companies have to find ways and methods to influence and persuade present customers buy and use their services and products.Christmas campaign launched by Victoria's Secrets was aimed to inform potential buyers about price reductions and invectives, new products and services proposed by the company.

Advertising campaign was aimed to result in high response. To get the message, different types of media were used to attract target audience. Sunday newspapers and color supplements were invariably passed around the family for reading (McDonald and Christopher 2003). Advertising in a national business journals and entertainment magazines was an effective technique. Web banners and press advertisements were the main medium used during Christmas time. This marketing communications were selected to appeal to certain segments of the market.

Since markets were also becoming more complex with an increasing number of groups and segments, specialized rather than national communication was required. This splintering of markets made it increasingly difficult to communicate with "total markets." For Victoria's Secrets, the effectiveness of marketing communications increased as the appeals approach an individual's predisposition, and the better the correspondence between them, the more likely it was that the exposure to advertising produced the desired action.

From the consumer's standpoint, advertising informed and persuaded. It furnished information, called attention to some clues and not others, changed attitudes and opinions, related products to consumer need, gave consumers support for their decisions, affected the intensity of desires, and thereby generated action (Wells et al 2005). The promotion campaigns launched by Burger King in 2007 were reminder campaigns. The uniqueness of all advertising campaigns is that Burger King used the Simpsons Movie as the main tool pf promotion.

The company produced a commercial with Simpsons popularizing Burger King's trade mark. The main mediums selected for promotion were TV and the Internet. For Burger King, promotion spurs the development of new target market, and leads to improved quality and service. Advertising gives the consumer greater choice and imposes downward pressure on prices (Lance and Woll 2006). "On-line type of promotion" has become the most popular one because it's major advantage in that it is featured at the location where many of the final decisions and actual purchases are made.

Burger King used images of the Simpsons promoted through the website. Techniques used here include: temporary price reductions; extra value offers, including offers relating to future purchase; premium offers (incentives). This campaign also helped to create and maintain marketing systems. It fostered interfirm coordination and linkages of manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. For the marketing task was not complete with the sale of the product; satisfied customers has to be retained. Reaffirmation of consumer choice, a postsale activity, was important.

Continued advertising after a purchase gave the customer public acknowledgment of his wise choice, and tends to eliminate or reduce cognitive dissonance. The Simpsons campaign showed that the customer was reassured and resold. Repeat business was the avenue to continued success, and postsale advertising often the course to repeat business (Labarbera et al 1998). In general, advertising should lead consumers to believe ads, to know companies and brands, to progress from product attention to a sale, or to change images, habits, and preferences, but the companies cannot easily determine how well the job is being done.

To assess advertising impact, companies like Burger King and Victoria's Secrets require better specification of objectives and