Effective Promotion Strategies - Essay Example

Promotion Strategies Select TWO product/target market combinations from the table of product categories and associated target markets above and using the teaching materials and any additional research: Explain what you think would be an appropriate promotions strategy for both of them. In doing so compare and contrast the two promotions strategies explaining why you think they would be similar or different. Promotion strategies refer to well planned, formulated and strategized phenomenon that enables the brand offered to become a household name. The success of any promotion strategy depends on the implementation of such strategies. Based on the fact that, promotion is an essential in the development of a marketing plan, this consists of a marketing mix. Market mix is a phenomenon developed by Jerome where he outlined the four classifications which are positively correlated. In this mix, the success of any products depends on the four classifications that are; promotion, product, place and price. Every element in this mix is equally important as the other; thus there is a need to implement a promotion strategy so to increase the sales of the product (Ferrell and Hartline 52). In this scenario, we select pepper spray and a holiday in beach resort as the product and black women aged between 18 and 30 years and gay women as the target market. In this paper, we will discuss the appropriate strategy the concerned firms can implement so as to increase sales at the outlined target market. In addition, this paper will compare and contrast the promotional discussed outlining similarity and differences. About seventy percent of black women reside in areas which are considered to have high levels of insecurity; therefore, they usually demand personal security products thus offering pepper spray will be of great benefits. In the case of pepper spray, the most appropriate promotion mix would be to showcase the exclusiveness of pepper spray as the personal security product. Therefore in this case messaging or rather a slogan will be effective in reinforcing the benefit that pepper spray offers to the customers. The slogan should be designed such that it also helps the company in the process of developing an effective positioning strategy. Another possible strategy is through personal selling; in this case, the promotion is conducted where the product is sold one to one. Through personal selling, the seller or the manufacture has a chance to offer additional information to the customer or even to potential consumers of the product, thus promoting the product to prospective customers (Gelder and Woodcock 122). Trade and exhibition is another avenue in which pepper spray can be promoted. Although trade and exhibitions occur occasionally, they offer opportunities of promoting products. This based on the reasoning that, the producer has a chance to meet prospective consumers who never knew the existence of the product and the benefits that will accrue to them if the consume the product. Lastly for this product there is a need to place adverts on the media, the choice of the media channel will depend on the programmes that the target market is interested in, for example, the TV shows that the watch most. In addition, the newspapers that the target market reads and the position of the advert in the paper in consideration will be a factor to consider. In this case, analysis of the general behavior of black women will be essential in order to arrive at the most appropriate, for example, black women are mostly interested in romantic magazines (Ferrell and Hartline 258). An effective media camping could result in widening of the product market also save financial resources for the company. Lastly this for this product sales promotion which should in terms discounts and special offer is an appropriate promotion strategy. A vacation in beach resort is an appealing recreational product to any gay couple. Even though in recent past gays have sought publicity not many people without straight sexual orientation like their status be publicized. Therefore, the most appropriate promotion mix will be to use the internet marketing where identities are withheld. Internet marketing allows a seller to promote and sell product online without necessarily having one to one sale. Technological advancement has facilitated the use of internet marketing, and this will promote vacations in a beach resort worldwide, thus widening the market for the product. Another promotional strategy in this case would be the use of sales promotion. This can be in the form of special offers and discounts to any gay couple that will visit the beach resort. In return, this promotional strategy increases sales in the short term (Gelder and Woodcock 63). From the above discussion, it can be observed that although there similarities in the promotional strategies outlined for the two products like in the case of use of discounts and special offers in order to encourage purchases, there exists a wide difference between the promotion mixes of each product. First, personal selling is applicable in the case of the gay market since people do not go shouting their sexual orientation as compared to the case where black women can distinguish from the rest of the population. Second, media strategy will not be appropriate in the case of the gay market since it would publicize the beach resort as an exclusive gay product only. This will have adverse effects since any who is not gay will stop consuming services from the beach resort. Pricing Methods Select TWO OTHER product/target market combinations from the table of product categories and associated target markets above and using the teaching materials and any additional research: Explain what you think would be the most appropriate pricing method and why. In doing so compare and contrast the two pricing methods explaining why you think they would be similar or different. This is another element of the marketing mix, whereby the quantity of the product demanded depends on the price of the product. Any product needs to be priced fairly since pricing too high or too low will lead to a loss in sales. Therefore, firms need to have a marketing mix that enables the product to be charged a price that maximizes the firm’s profit. The price selected by the firm must be a reflection of the relationship existing between demand and supply. In addition, the price must showcase a positive correlation with other components of the marketing mix so to enhance the achievement of the firm objectives. Another important consideration in placing tag on any commodity is the return that the firm expects from the commodity and the cost associated with production as well as the willingness and the ability of the targeted market to pay (Ferrell and Hartline 77). Product selected in this case will be hand oil and grease and exercise bikes, while target market will be hand guns owners and black women aged between 18 years and 30 years. Hand gun owners will always demand oil so as they properly maintain their guns, thus owing a gun triggers the demand of hand gun oil despite the fact that the gun is being used or not. For black women, to stay physically fit the will demand exercise bikes, but this will be a function of prices since there exist perfect substitutes of exercise bikes. For gun hand oil, the most appropriate pricing strategy is premium pricing so as to show the exclusiveness of oil from the rest of the brand. In this case, the price will be higher as compared to other products since the product does not have close substitutes and the reasoning that one cannot afford to buy a gun and then lack funds to purchase oil for proper maintenance of the gun (Smith and Smith 123). Hand gun oil faces inelastic demand since it is a complementary good since it has to be consumed by somebody who owns a gun. For exercise bikes, the most appropriate pricing strategy is competition pricing. Exercise bikes should be priced in consideration of the price that the competitors are charging for their products. Also, exercise bikes should be priced while considering the price of close substitutes. In this case, there are two options to sell the product at a price lower than the competitors to increase the turnover. Another option is to charge a high price so as to showcase the quality superiority as compared to the competitor’s product. In addition, the price should consider the elasticity of the product (Smith and Smith 135]). In conclusion, both pricing methods have similarities, since they take into consideration the price elasticity of demand of each product, objectives of the firm as well as the cost associated with production of the respective products. A customer will purchase a product based on the value that he or she derives from the product, therefore, the willingness and ability of paying will be equal to the marginal benefit derive from consuming the product. Works Cited Ferrell, O and Michael Hartline. Marketing Strategy. Mason, OH: Cengage Learning, 2010. Gelder, Darren and Paul Woodcock. Marketing and promotional strategy. Gloucestershire: Nelson Thornes, 2003. Smith, Tim and Tim Smith. Pricing Strategy: Setting Price Levels, Managing Price Discounts ... 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