Page 145 - Marketing the Basics 2nd

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headlines, illustrations and use combinations of colours that are appealing to the target audience. In radio broadcasting, the voice of the announcer, the types of words used and sound modulations are all arranged to create images in the mind of the target audience. Television broadcasting overcomes the problem of creating pictures; it simply displays them. But a good picture alone doesn’t tell the whole story. Subtle cues such as facial expressions, gestures and posture contribute to the overall effectiveness of a message. On the Internet, user-generated content is regarded as more trustworthy than content published by the media and corporations. Marketers are known to create avatars, fake personas, to comment on blogs and forums with the aim to influence public opinion. Firms that get caught using such coordinated but underhanded tactics face an inevitable backlash, so it’s best to operate using a policy of full transparency.
Even the package itself communicates a message. The size, shape, colour, scent, texture and font communicate to the audience the value the product contains. Each medium has its own quirks and special things you need to know. For example, at movie theatres you typically have ads displayed before the movie begins. The nice thing is that you have a captive audience which is probably going to pay attention; on the other hand you don’t want to show them the same ads they would see at home. You should really take advantage of the big screen, plus you must remember they paid to be in those seats, unlike at home where, whether they realize it or not, they are watching free television because of the commercials, so you have to adjust your content to suit that reality.
Having discussed the theory of communication and various strategies to ensure the chances a message reaches the intended receiver, we now examine the various tools of the promotion mix.
SELECT THE COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
Now that a message has been constructed, and the source to transmit the message is identified, the manager must select between personal and non-personal communication channels to reach his target audiences. Personal communication channels involve two or more people communicating directly to each other. This includes using a