Promotion in Kuwait vs USA - Assignment Example

Marketing and Promotion in Kuwait and the United s Promotion is a central part of marketing. Promotion, as the suggests, is fundamentally about promoting a product, or raising its profile. But it can be much more than that. This paper will discuss the essentials of what promotion is, how promotion can differ in different products, and the differences between promotion in the a market such as Kuwait and a market such as the United States of America. Promotion, as mentioned previously, is at its basic level about raising the profile of a product.

Promotion, when done correctly, should raise awareness of a product, generate sales, and increase brand loyalty (Fill 2002). But what actual activities constitute promotion? Firstly, promotion is the exercise of informing people about the details and information on a product. This includes not just potential and future clients, but also current clients, as proper information helps reinforce their buying decision and brand loyalty (Flew 2008). Secondly, promotion helps elevate demand for a product, driving sales (Flew 2008).

Finally, promotion helps differentiate a product from the competition (Fill 2002). So what is different about promoting one product versus another product? Essentially, different products will do a different mix of the three fundamental aspects of promotion above. For instance, someone who has developed a new product that can do something that has never been done before might need to focus on educating their clientele by providing information about the product, but might not have to worry as much about differentiating, as the product is fundamentally different.

Someone promoting mobile phones, however, would take a different track, focusing almost entirely on product differentiation, because every phone a person could buy will have the same suite of basic features, meaning setting one’s phone apart from the rest will be the central focus of promotion. Promotion does not happen in a vacuum, and one must also be aware of the context one is promoting within. For instance, promoting in Kuwait might be very different than promoting in the United States.

One aspect of this is product concentrations and competitive markets. Kuwait, for instance, has a three major mobile carriers, while the US has many more. This means that a Kuwaiti mobile promoter might want to focus more on establishing brand loyalty, whereas promotion of that market in the United States might focus more on standing out from competition. Another aspect of promotion that would be different in Kuwait and the United States is cultural expectations. In the United States, garishness and the “hard sell” are more acceptable, whereas in Kuwait, inviting a client to negotiate on price might be an important part of promoting a product (Alhemoud & Armstron 2007).

Promotion is a central part of any marketing strategy. To promote effectively one must understand not just the basics of promotion, but also the context of the product both within its broader consumer sector as well as within the exact market promotion should be occurring in. This means that a promotion strategy for shoes would be vastly different from a mobile phone, and a mobile phone in Kuwait would have to be promoted differently than one in the United States. Works Cited Alhemoud, A. M.

, & Armstrong, E. G. (1996). Image of tourism attractions in Kuwait. Journal of Travel Research, 34(4), 76-80. Fill, C. (2002). Marketing communications: contexts, strategies and applications. Prentice Hall. Flew, T. (2008). New Media: an introduction. Melbourne: Oxford University Press.