by: Joanna A.

Infante
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Public relations and sales promotions are two promotional tools that
have risen to great importance in recent years. With fragmentation of
traditional media such as radio, television, and print, public relations and
sales promotions have gained prominence.

PUBLIC RELATIONS
Public Relations (PR) is the process of creating a positive
image and customer preference through third party endorsement. This
can be done using various activities all aimed to generate a positive
image through what others say about one’s establishment.
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Important Points to Remember
 Effective public relations begins with top management.
 The PR head manages how the product or service will be regarded by
the public but it is the top management who leads in creating good
public relations.
 The owner or the general manager should be at the forefront of
communicating positive information to various audiences.
 The employees take their cue from how the leader creates a positive
impression.
 That is at the core of Donald Trump’s success. In one of his books, he
mentions that agreeing to be part of the television show “The
apprentice” has helped him create a positive image of his many
businesses.
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Important Points to Remember

 No amount of PR can overcome a flawed product.

 Public relations can create a positive image of any product but no
amount of PR can overcome a bad product.
 There is still no substitute for coming up with a good product.
 There is no shortcut to success.
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Public Relations Opportunities
PR opportunities can be created based on a strategic plan of
action. Based on the company’s resources and objective, the PR
messages and activities may be built around any of the following:
1. The Owner/Operator
 If the owner or operator has potential “star” appeal, or has already built a
positive reputation, building PR messages around him may be the best
option.
 Celebrities who come up with their own businesses become instant
celebrity endorsers. At other times, owners tend to be more visible in
public and are the best spokespersons for their own product.
 The Belo Medical Group stays in the public eye because of the
popularity of its owner, Dr. Vicki Belo, and all the controversies that
surround her help create recall for her cosmetic clinics, especially to the
balikbayans market.
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2. The Location
 One’s location can also be used to position a product positively.
 A well-received business location can help bring awareness to ones’ product or
service.
 A unique location can become a pull factor to ensure that potential customers will
take notice of your brand.
 A good location can also increase positive feelings about your brand.
 A good product-location fit ensures good mileage for your product.

3. The Product/Service
 The product or service itself can be an opportunity to create good public relations.
 It can be used as the trademark of a business.
 A good product creates positive word of mouth and that in itself is the beginning
of good public relations.
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SALES PROMOTIONS

Sales promotions is a direct inducement that offers an extra value or

incentive for the product to the sales force, distributors or the ultimate
consumer, with the primary objective of creating an immediate sale
(Belch & Belch 2007).
It consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchaser sale of a
product or service (Kotler et al. 2010).
It involves a variety of techniques that serves to accelerate purchase of
products or services.
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The growth of sales promotions was mainly due to the changes in the
marketing environment. Belch and Belch (2007) identified the following
factors:

 Growing power of retailers

 Declining brand loyalty
 Increased promotional sensitivity
 Brand proliferation
 Fragmentation of the consumer market
 Short term focus of the consumer market
 Increased accountability
 Competition
 Clutter
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Sales promotions can be targeted to different levels of the sales
process: (1) consumer,
(2) trade intermediaries, and
(3) sales force.

Consumer-oriented promotional tools include samples, coupons,

packages, rebates price-offs, premiums, contests, refunds, bonus packs,
and demonstrations.

Trade promotions include allowance, free goods, cooperative

advertising, contests and dealer incentives, point of purchase displays,
training programs, and push money.

Sales promotions directed to sales force include bonuses, contests, and

incentives.
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Kotler et al. (2010) spell out some factors to consider in setting up a
sales promotional plan:

 Objective of the campaign

 Type of market to be tapped
 Competition
 Cost and effectiveness of each tool
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SALES PROMOTIONAL TOOLS
Samples
 are offers of a trial amount of a product.
 Some sample are free, others charge a small amount to offset its cost
while inducing product trial.
 Sampling can also be made to influential decision makers such as
company executives and sales people in the belief that trial will improve
product knowledge which will eventually lead to a sale.
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SALES PROMOTIONAL TOOLS
Coupons
 are certificates that offer buyers saving when they purchase specific
products.
 It is used to stimulate sales of a mature product as well as promote trial
of a new product.
 This tool should be used carefully to avoid a price or coupon war which
detracts consumers from the intrinsic value of the product or service.
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Packages
involve putting together a set of complementing products to come up
with one bundle at a special price. If the products are sold separately, the
total cost will be more expensive. This helps in increasing per capita
revenue and selling products that may otherwise be unsold.
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Premiums
are goods offered either for free or at a low cost to provide incentive for
consumers to buy a product.

Patronage rewards
are bonuses in the form of cash or items of value that can be redeemed
for regular purchases made. These kinds of programs create more
frequency of purchase, positive word of mouth, and possibly larger
purchase.
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Point of purchase promotion
incudes displays and promotions that take place at the point of sale.
Some hotels display brochures of their other branches at the lobby or
front desk. Some souvenir items are positioned near the cashier for easy,
random, and impulse purchases.
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Contests and games
gives consumers a chance to win something such as trip or cash upon
purchase of products and services. Raffle entries are given to consumers
based on total amount of consumption which are then raffled off for a
prize such as an overnight stay in a hotel, a resort, etc.
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SALES PROMOTIONS PROCESS

The following is the sales promotion process:

1. Deciding whether a sales promotion is necessary.

2. Setting of objective for the sales promotions.
3. Selecting which promotional tools to use.
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4.Developing the sales promotion program, consider the following:
 Size of the program based on the type of incentive. The size of the
program is determined by the type of incentive to be offered and the
magnitude by which the program will be implemented
 Target market of the program. Determining the target market of the
sales promotion covers the decision to offer the program to anyone or to
a select market that has remained untapped for the business.
 Distribution method to be used. The marketer then decides on what
distribution method to use. Will the coupons or flyers be mailed, handled
out to passersby or should an advertisement be used?
 Duration of the program. Deciding on how long the program will run
is a crucial element of sales promotion. Its primary objective is to induce
immediate sales; hence, if the period is too short, prospects may not have
enough time to decide to purchase. If the period is too long, the deal may
lose some of its “immediate” effect
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5. Implementing the program
A careful implementation and monitoring of the plan will determine the
success or failure of the plan. Make sure that every one in the team is ready
to implement and maximize the added promotional push.

6. Evaluating the program

Since the sales promotion runs for a specific period of time, evaluating its
impact based on added volume of sales would be easy. The use of coupons,
cards, and other notices of the sales promotion can help determine response
rate.