Promotion
Marketing managers at Ryder Systems faced a real challenge as they developed their plan for 2000. Ryder's bright yellow move-it-yourself rental trucks were a familiar sight on the streets and highways of the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. However, demand for rental trucks was down. Consumers usually don't rent a truck unless they're moving,and in the weak economy of 2000 fewer people could afford to move. Further, most rental firms were lowering their prices一hoping for gains in market share to offset the shrinking market. That made things even tougher for Ryder. Its strategy had focused on providing quality trucks and service rather than bargain-basement prices. In this market, however, more consumers were just looking for the lowest price.
Ryder’s marketers decided that this competitive market environment called for a new promotion blend. They wanted to communicate with target customers and persuade them that Ryder's services were better than those offered by competing firms. But they didn't just want to communicate. They wanted to increase rentals and sales of supplies.
To reach the target market一consumers who were considering a move-Ryder first turned to mass selling. Working with an ad agency, it developed attention-getting, 60-second TV ads. Ryder placed the ads on popular TV shows that appealed to audiences whose demographics best matched those of its target market. The ads didn't just focus on Ryder trucks but rather on what consumers should think about when planning a move. The ads also offered consumers a free home-moving guide and planning kit. All the consumers had to do to get the promotional brochure was call a toll-free telephone number.
The brochure provided a lot of useful information about moving-including persuasive details on how Ryder's comfortable trucks and helpful services could make the move easier. In addition, to promote action, the brochure included a discount coupon on all Ryder supplies-including furniture pads, dollies , hand trucks, boxes, tape, rope, and locks-that consumers could redeem at. any Ryder dealer.
The list of people who called for the brochure also provided a very target database of prospects for Ryder's telemarketing salespeople to call. When the salesperson identified a good prospect, the final personal selling job was turned over to one of Ryder's 4,800 dealers. Their personal attention helped to resolve consumer questions and get rental contracts.
Ryder’s blend of direct-response mass selling, sales promotion, and personal selling succeeded in increasing Ryders share of rentals even in a very sluggish market. And because
the promotion was successful in differentiating Ryder’s quality services, Ryder was able to charge a higher price than competitors who relied on discounts alone to pull in customers.
Several PromotionalMethods Are Available Promotion is communicating information between seller and potential buyer or others in the channel influence attitudes and behavior. The marketing manager's main promotion job is to tell target customers that ：the right Product is available at the right Place at the right Price.
What the marketing manager communicates is determined by target customers' needs and attitudes How the messages are delivered depends on what blend of the various promotion methods the marketing manager chooses.
As the Ryder example shows， a marketing manager can choose from several promotion methods-personal selling, and sales promotion.
Personal selling involves direct spoken communication between sellers and potential customers.
Face-to-face selling provides immediate feedback-which helps salespeople to adapt. Although salespeople are included in most marketing mixes, personal selling can be very expensive. So it's often to combine personal selling with mass selling and sales promotion.
Mass selling is communicating with large numbers of potential customers at the same time. It's less than personal selling, but when the target market is large and scattered,
mass selling can be expensive.
Advertising is the main form of mass selling. Advertising is any paid form of non-personal presentation of idea,good, or services by an identified sponsor. It includes the use of such
media as magazines, newspaper，radio and TV, signs, and direct mail. While advertising
must be paid for, another from of mass selling-publicity-is free.
Publicity is any unpaid form of non-personal presentation of ideas, goods, or services. Of course, publicity people are paid. But they try to attract attention to the firm and its offerings
without having to pay media costs. For example, book publishers try to get authors on TV talk shows because this generates a lot of interest-and book sales-without the publisher paying for TV time.
When Colevo introduced its Cabbage Patch dolls, it held press parties for reporters and their children. A number of reporters wrote human interesting stories about their kids "adopting"the cut dolls. Those stories prompted more media attention一and a very successful product introduction-without Coleco doing any introductory advertising.
If a firm has a really new message, publicity may be more effective than advertising. Trade magazines, for example, may carry articles featuring the news-worthy products of regular advertisers-in part because they are regular advertisers. The firm’s publicity people write the basic copy and then try to convince magazine editors to print it. Each year, magazines print photos and stories about new cars and often the source of the information is the auto producers.
A consumer might not pay any attention to an ad but carefully read a long magazine story with the same information.
Some companies prepare videotapes designed to get free publicity for their products on TV news shows. For example, one video -distributed to TV stations at Halloween-discussed a
government recommendation that parents use makeup rather than masks for young children. The story was effectively tied to a new makeup product for children made by PAAS Products.
Sales promotion refers to promotion activities-other than advertising, publicity, and personal selling-that stimulate interest, trial, or purchase by final customers or others in the channel. Sales promotion may be aimed at consumers, at middlemen, or even at a firm’s own employees.
Many people think that most promotion money is spent on advertising-because advertising is all around them. The many ads you see in magazines and newspapers and on TV are impressive-and costly. But all the special sales promotions-coupons, sweepstakes, trade shows, sporting events sponsored by firms, and the like-add up to even more money. Similarly, salesclerks complete most retail sales. And behind the scenes, much personal selling goes on in the channels and in other business markets. In total, firms spend less money on advertising than on personal selling or sales promotion.
However, the amount of emphasis on each promotion method usually varies with each specific marketing strategy-depending on the target market and other elements of the marketing mix. When planning the overall strategy, it's important to plan a combination of promotion methods that will work together to achieve specific promotion objectives.
Passage 4:Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A、Ryder failed to use the list of people who called for its free brochure as a targeted database of prospects.
B、Generally most promotion money is spent on advertising.
C、Sales promotion tries to spark immediate interest.
D、When planning the overall strategy, it is important to focu9 on one promotion method.
【正确答案】：C
【名师解析】:选项C是正确的。销售促销（Sales promotion）旨在通过各种促销活动刺激最终顾客或渠道中的其他成员的兴趣、试用或购买。这些活动可以迅速吸引顾客的注意力，并促使他们立即采取行动，例如使用优惠券、参加抽奖活动、参与贸易展览或赞助的体育赛事等。这些促销手段的目的是创造即时的购买冲动和增加销量。
选项A是错误的，因为文中明确提到Ryder利用那些索要免费宣传册的人们的名单，作为一个非常有针对性的潜在客户数据库，供其电话销售团队联系。
选项B也是错误的，尽管广告无处不在，给人的印象是大部分促销资金都花在了广告上，但实际上，公司在个人销售或销售促销上的花费比在广告上的要多。
选项D同样是错误的，文中强调在规划整体策略时，重要的是要计划一系列促销方法的组合，这些方法将协同工作以实现特定的促销目标，而不是只关注一种促销方法。