The marketing communications mix

The marketing communications mix

Promotion describes the communications activities of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and publicity/public relations.

Advertising is a non-personal form of mass communication, paid for by an identified sponsor. Personal selling involves a seller attempting to persuade a potential buyer to make a purchase. Sales promotion encompasses short-term activities such as giving coupons, free samples, etc. that encourage quick action by buyers. The company has control over these three variables, but has little control over the fourth variable, publicity/public relations. This is another non-personal communication method that reaches a large number of people, but it is not paid for by the company and is usually in the form of news or editorial comment regarding a company’s product or service. Companies can gain some control over the publicity it receives by the release of news items.

Put together, these promotional activities make up the promotional or communications mix with varying emphasis on each element according to the type of product or service, characteristics of consumers and company resources. Company size, competitive strengths and weaknesses and style of management all influence the promotional mix.

Other communications elements with which promotion must be coordinated are the product itself, price and distribution channels used. Product communication, including brand name, design of packaging and trade-marks are all product cues which convey a message about the total product offering. Price can communicate different things under varying circumstances, for instance conveying ‘prestige appeal’ for those buyers who perceive that a high price is equal to quality and prestige. The place in which the products are to be found also has notable communications value. Retail stores have ‘personalities’ that consumers associate with the products they sell. Products receive a ‘halo effect’ from the outlets in which they can be found and two stores selling similar products can project entirely different product images. For example, a perfume sold through an upmarket store will have a much higher quality image than one sold through supermarkets

TASK 3 - How Will I Promote Myself

Evaluate the most suitable marketing methodologies for your own practice and the most effective methods to reach your potential customers.
It is essential to make reference to some of the methodologies in the 'Marketing Communication Mix' and evaluate the 'Place' that will give you the greatest competitive advantage and be convenient for your clients / customers.
This is an exercise in applying that theory - it is not appropriate to wright about the theory itself.


MARKETING COMMUNICATIONS MIX

• Advertising - Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor.
• Personal selling - Personal presentation by the firm’s sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships.
• Sales promotion - Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
• Public relations - Building good relationships with the company’s various publics by obtaining favorable publicity, building up a good "corporate image", and handling or heading off unfavorable rumors, stories, and events.
• Direct marketing - Direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers to obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships.

I would like to work in a design studio where there are plenty of opportunities and interaction with customers, where I am able to build a face to face relationship. To get myself notices I would need to place myself at the centre of of all design and somewhere that is easily accessible; preferably in London. 


I aspire to live in London after I graduate as I feel that this is the centre of design in the UK, it is also very accessible and there are many business opportunities. I understand that the cost of living will be significantly higher by living in London other than cities in the Midlands and cities in the North. I aim to work in a reasonable sized studio or company where there are many design opportunities and a range of clients / customers. This will enable me to have a diverse range of skills and experience with various different briefs and clients. I also will be working on a free-lance basis which would mean that I would have to get my work into the eye of potential clients and ensure that my work gets noticed. For this I will need to maintain a public / online portfolio using free blogs and websites such as Behance, Flickr, Blogger, Facebook, Tumblr. In addition, by effectively Networking I can ensure people will hear and see my designs. Naturally, the more Industrial experience I have, the more skills I will develop and the more employable I will be. 
When contacting design studios, agencies and companies I will send my creative CV and send them links to my online portfolios. Before contacting them, I will research more into what each of the studios and companies are about and what they are looking for to make sure that I am what they are looking for. I will use a informal tone of voice when writing to them and let them know a bit of who I am, what my work is about, my previous Industrial experiences, my graphic design education, my aspirations and  how I will benefit them as a designer. 
For effective Networking - I will ensure that I attend any relevant exhibitions, galleries and events that are related to graphic design as well as asking around people I know for any design jobs or industrial experience.