Advertising and Promotions: J Sainsbury PLC - Assignment Example

Advertising & Promotions Introduction: J Sainsbury PLC is one of the most well known retail stores in London. It is one of the oldest retail storesin UK. Sainsbury was founded in 1869 with one store in a Drury Lane, one of the poorest areas in London. With the sustainable quality products and services, the Sainsbury has become one of the retail giants in London with more than 800 stores. Today the Sainsbury is having more than 500 supermarkets and more than 300 convenience stores (Company overview. Nd). The following answers of the questions are very much vital for the branding of Sainsbury’s. 1. Explain the structure, role and relationships between parties in the communications industry. Communication is the main function for any marketing and advertising department in any company. The role of the advertising agencies plays a very vital role in this context. Sainsbury’s launched its first supermarket in Croydon in 1950, and now the main dominating companies in retail sectors are Tesco, Sainsbury’s, ASDA and Safeway. (Brierley, 2002, p. 233). The main component of the marketing and advertising department is to choose proper agency. In late 1970s these companies started branding themselves (Brierley, 2002, p. 233). Advertising agencies are predominantly structured around two main sections and they are the creative development in art direction and copywriting and media planning and buying. The brand which serves to the mass, for an example Sainsbury’s, there are basically there kinds of agencies which can be beneficial, and they are full service agencies, limited service agencies and A la carte agency. Most of the big companies go for the full service agencies but some time the company prefers different ranges of services from different agencies for an example Lloyds TSB selected Saatchi and Saatchi for their internet banking but they also depended on another company called Inter focus for working on the strategy for the launch of the direct marketing and the customer relation management. (Hughes & Fill. 2007. p. 78). 2. Identify current trends in advertising and promotion and evaluate their impact. It is a very vital question that whether the companies should follow the traditional advertising process or not. It is true that TV and Radios are the ultimate platform for putting advertisements, but in the recent time while people are very busy in work and they spend large portion of their daily time in the internet, so the question is how important are the TV and Radios in case of giving advertisements. The advertising industry went through the ultimate consolidation during the time period of 1999 to 2002. (OGuinn, Allen & Semenik. 2008. P. 45). The recent trend of advertising relies on web based ads and definitely the advertisements in newspapers and other print media. The report on September 2005 estimated that over 957 million people go online globally and the top 10 countries to be online include the United Kingdom. The internet user in UK is more than 35 million in 2005 and the penetration rate was almost 60% which was high enough. (Schumann & Thorson. 2007. P, 289) 3. Use models to assess the impact of advertising and promotion on customer behavior. There are several models to be followed for the positive impact of the advertising strategy. The Nash equilibrium is always preferred to make positive advertising strategy. Mainly there are two general categories of Nash equilibrium strategies. The open-loop equilibrium and the closed loop equilibrium. The open loop equilibrium in a category where the advertising is a function mainly of time, and the closed loop equilibrium which signifies the advertising is a function of not only time but also the resent state of the environmental and socio-cultural statuses. (Erickson. 1991, P. 11). Another important approach is the DAGMAR (Defining Goals for Measured Advertising Results) approach. The most important thesis on DAGMAR is the effects of communication are the logical basis on which the goals and objectives of the advertisement can be measured. According to this model the communication objective should be précised according to the goal of the advertisement. For an example, foster’s beer experienced a decline in the sales after a very good introduction. So they got to know the loop holes of the advertising process and they started a new campaign with some new objectives. And they were strengthening brand image, maximize the brand presence, increase the sales with broadening the market base. (Belch, 2003, p. 207). 4. Explain and demonstrate how advertising can be designed to differentiate, remind, remind, inform and persuade. Designing of the advertisements depends on the goal of the brand. Advertising is a process where the effect is some time long lasting. There are many managers who think the affect of the advertisement is directly related to sales. But the effect on sales is not immediate for most of the advertisements. Advertisements can be created with the touch of many innovative ideas. For any good quality advertisement, the display of the brand name and the products are very important at the same time. The advertising strategies have been focusing on two unique aspects of the product of the company, one is the product name and another is the shape of the final product. For the long term effect, most of the brands use Hoardings as the medium of ads. The hoarding campaigns are the one of the most successful campaign. The hoarding campaigns have made the brands famous. 5. Evaluate appropriate uses and applications for advertising in two given situations. Use the examples from the above given company as to how they identify and apply different advertising strategy to find appropriate solutions. Different products have different kinds of advertising strategies. For an example the advertisement for a cola drink won’t be same as the advertisement of the soap which basically for washing clothes. The appropriate application of the unique thought is very important for the appropriate advertisements. The brand name itself sometimes very important to be selective. For an example American Automobile called NOVA had a big trouble to market its product in Mexico as “no va” means doesn’t go in Spanish. One of the most successful brand ever in advertising is the Coca-Cola. It is been mentioned by the marketing director of Coca-Cola in Venezuela, that Coca-Cola is doing its advertising campaign as the brand name of Coca-Cola worldwide. It is basically the same commercial used all over the world and the jingle go with all the languages in which it is been sung. (Johnston, 1998, p. 90). 6. Evaluate the role, organization and agencies in the advertising process The term agency in marketing and advertising refer to an external supplier who delivers the effective way of communicating with the market for the specific brand of the mother company. The role of agencies in advertising campaign is very much important. There are basically three kinds of advertising agencies. Full service agency: These agencies provide the full range of services for the effective communication, and they are creative idea generation, Strategic planning, Production, Media Planning and Market research. Example of full service agencies are Saatchi and Saatchi, BBH. Working with the full service agency will provide a great scope of advancement as the pool of talent would be available under one roof. Limited service agency: The limited service agencies are particularly specialized in particular segments and elements in the marketing and advertisement industry. Most of the big brand use them for small towns where the TG is not that high in volume. Most of the time these agencies are specialized on creative designs and artwork. A la carte agency: There are many organizations who want flexibilities in creating ads and marketing their products with the help of the agency. To have this facility they hire many agencies, they take services from more than one agency. But it takes lots of time and effort to maintain the relationship with multi partners. (Hughes & Fill, 2007. p, 77-78) 7. Differentiate between the characteristics and objectives of the various below-the-line promotion techniques. Every retailer should understand why people buy bottled water while they can get it free of cost from the tap. Well, there lies the importance of advertising. Each advertise has different focus group the advertisements for Guess, Levi’s, Louis Vuitton, or D&G would focus on people who love brands. (Sutherland & Sylvester, 2009. P. 11). Now it is very important to understand that retail brands are very much different than other brands as the retail stores are basically a multi-branded store. So for any advertisement it is very important to display the brands with the proper focus on the main brand itself. The manufacturer often uses trade promotion in the store to build a proper relation with the retailer. Some brands refuse to understand the difference between the bellow the line and above the line advertising methods. Nike is never recognized the or rather refused to recognize the traditional differences between these two.(MacRury, 2009, p, 77) But for a brand like Sainsbury’s who are selling products which are basically for each and every segment of people in London should concentrate on the bellow the line activities. Non media promotional activities are very much important for any retail stores direct mail, newsletter about the new products and leaflets are very much important. 8. Recommend the use of individual techniques in two commercial situations. As part of Sainsbury’s how you would design and apply these techniques to fit in the above real life situations. The most important technique is the recall effect of the brand in any commercial advertisement. For an example Coca-Cola added sprite in its lineup, in 1940 coke used little man with a white cap, with a big smile later one it became the sprite boy and many stories started floating about him and gradually the brand got known to everyone. (Bell, 2004. p, 21). Same way the effect of ads towards the future should have recall effect. In the other side Tesco ad on TV focused on the TESCO Club card, which is basically a loyalty card. This was also having the recall effect for many years and which had given the Tesco the opportunity to remain the number one in UK retail sector. 9. Explain the principles and process of campaign management: For making the perfect marketing and advertising campaign for a brand like Sainsbury’s the 360 degree marketing campaigns are important where all the media acts together. However the bellow written activities are much important. Promotional allowances are normally given by the manufacturer to the retailer to promote their brands. The manufacturer often gives discounts on their products to clear old stocks in the shelves. These promotional allowances or the merchandising allowances can be used to promote the brand of the store as well as the brand of the products. (Belch, 2003, p. 547). Direct marketing communications: E-marketing and e-shopping are very much important to satisfy each and every customer, so the facility of e-shopping that is the shopping via internet from home is very essential. It is very important to understand what a customer wants from the shop. The newsletters are very much important to let the customers know about the new arrivals in the store. 10. Combine appropriate techniques into an integrated and cost-effective campaign The perfect combination of the effective campaign would include the TV ads, Print ads, hoardings for lingering effect and obviously the e- marketing methods. However the most effective campaign for the retail store would be the value added in-store promotions and services. The value added services: The loyalty card is another important factor to be focused on. Sainsbury should never forget that the Sainsbury lost its market share to Tesco for neglecting the introduction of loyalty cards. In 1994 the Tesco introduced loyalty card pregame. But at that time Sainsbury did not realize the effect of the loyalty card, and that’s the reason which signifies the reason of Tesco being the market leader in nineties. (Piercy. 2002. P. 711). It is very important to provide the information about each and every products and brands in the store to each and every customer. For example the Tesco, the largest retailer in UK has shifted its 30 million pound above the line marketing strategy to direct marketing methods. (Kimmel, 2005, p. 143). 11. Present promotion recommendations in the form of a promotion plan. As part of team present and communicate appropriately your findings or recommendations. Promotions are basically to pull up the sales. Advertising and Promotions are inter related but they are not same. Sales promotion such as Wednesday shopping was very successful in retail segment. Free home delivery is another method which can be used. Free parking and sitting facility should be provided. It is very important to understand why people should buy for a particular shop while other retail stores would be cheaper. So some value added services are important. 12. Suggest appropriate measures for assessing campaign effectiveness. Use your critical reflection to evaluate your own work and justify valid conclusions. The most important fact for any retail company is to put the focus on the customer. It is very important to know how to provide the best quality services along with best quality product with rock bottom price. Advertising is definitely important but the most important fact is how to serve the immediate effect of the best service and best products with cheap price to each and every customer. Brand awareness is important to put the reminder effects in the customers mind but, the most important part for the immediate effect on sales would the in-store loyalty programs and in-store activities related to the products. These are the guidelines followed by the UK’s largest retailer Tesco, as Sainsbury is having the 16 percent market share in UK so it should also understand why Tesco is not only the best retailer in UK an example of an international retailer ever. 13.Sainsbury’s is in an industry where price is playing an important role in defying the competitors. How can you manage and organize an advertising and promotions plan for the stores in London, to increase the selling. The pricing of the products are the most important factor. It is very important to increase the sale of the store for any retailer, now the advertisements are good for brand building but it doesn’t have the immediate effects on the sales. So the sales promotion in the store is very much important. The trade allowances which the company get from the manufacturer it should be used in a proper manner to promote each and every products in the store. This means giving proper discounts or free gifts with each purchase. 14. Demonstrate creative thinking while organizing and managing the above plan. The most promising and positive step is to have more number of stores so the profit would be high and the inventory cost and the other recurring cost would go down. Most of the retailers in London are selling products which are the fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) and may be few durable consumer goods. It means the products which are sold in these new age supermarkets are over the counter products and which are accessible for almost everyone, so the target group (TG) for these stores are almost every household. The magic formula for a successful retail business lies on quality product with fair pricing. References Belch, (2003). Advertising and promotion: an integrated marketing communications perspective, Noida:Tata McGraw-Hill. Bell, L. (2004). The story of Coca-Cola. Mankato:Black Rabbit Books. Brierley, S. (2002) The advertising handbook. London: Routledge Bruce, M. Moore, C and Birtwistle G. (2004). 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Market-led strategic change: a guide to transforming the process of going to market. Missouri: Butterworth-Heinemann Schumann, D, W & Thorson E. (2007). Internet advertising: theory and research. London: Routledge Sutherland & Sylvester, (2009). Advertising and the Mind of the Consumer: What Works, What Doesnt, and Why. Crows Nest: Allen & Unwin. Varley, R. (2006). Retail product management: buying and merchandising. London: Routledge. . Nd. Company overview .Corporate website, J Sainsbury. Available at: http://www.j-sainsbury.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=12 . accessed on August 5. 2010. Read More