Chapter 16 Coupons and Sales Promotion

I personally very rarely use coupons, however, I like to receive them and do feel like I am receiving a fun money saving offer when I redeem them. I believe most people like to receive coupons and a fair number do redeem them honestly. Coupon sites such as coupon.mom and redplum. com provide weekly printable coupons for their members.

Arguments for the use of coupons;

·         Coupons make it possible to offer a price reduction only to those consumers who are price- sensitive.

·         Coupons make it possible to reduce the retail price without relying on retailer cooperation

·         Coupons are highly regarded as a promotional technique for generating trial.

·         Coupons can encourage repeat usage among current users or, encourage non users to try the brand.

·         Coupons can be a useful promotional tool for established products and, can get users to try a new, improved version of a brand.

Arguments against the use of coupons

·         Difficult to estimate how many consumers will use a coupon and when.

·         No immediate response to coupon, it may take between two to six months to redeem.

·         Low redemption rates and high cost

·         Coupon Fraud

·         Coupons used by product user’s instead of attracting new users. 

Effective Billboard Advertising

Billboards can be very effective outdoor advertising. Espiecally if they are used in higher traffic areas. In some cases hundreds of thousands of motorists view a billboard everyday. Billboards such as the "Ihop"one listed above are very effective when showing food to a hungry motorist. Charitable and public information campaigns use billboard advertising quite frequently. In the first example "pregnant and scared", this very effective ad gives a phone number and web site. The last example, while quite inventive, does not use the full space of the billboard effectively to communicate the message. The contact information is to small for the average viewer to see in 3 seconds.

Direct Mail discussion

My direct mail piece is from Shopko. It is a more selective piece of direct mail as, our name has obviously been pulled from a mailing list. I believe our address came from "The Shopko Card" which you present for discounts at the time of purchase. I'm not sure but this mailing list may also be available to other sellers of these similar products.

    The mailer catalog offers 20% off your next purchase of payless shoes at Shopko. It opens to show several pairs of shoes. On the last page is a coupon to take an additional 20% off of a payless purchase when you bring in the coupon. The reason this is on the last page? If your still reading thru until the last page, you most have some interest in their Payless promotion.

Print Media Woman's World

Woman’s World magazine

1.     The target audience for the magazines is women 25-70. Younger health conscience mothers to older health conscience women. The magazine features articles on healthy food, recipes, health tips, coupons, and crafts.

2.     The percentage of pages devoted to advertising is perhaps 15%. I don’t feel there is a clutter problem in the magazine although it is a magazine featured primarily near the check out racks at department stores. The magazine is also circulated more frequently than a standard magazine which may be a monthly.

3.     Some of the products and services advertised within the magazine were; McCormick brown ginger, Zostrix foot cream, Hydroxycut weight loss pills, Eureka vacuams, Arm and Hammer, Timex watches and dream water. Advertisers are attracted to womans World because it is easily available on supermarket shelves and They can hit their target market very easily.

4.     The climate of the magazine is very upbeat and friendly with an inspirational article every week. The magazine is very altruistic and helpful. I feel the readers will be in a good mood when viewing  the advertisements within.

5.     As mentioned above the magazine is display at checkout point of purchase shelves near the cash registers in store. Easy to grab and priced fairly.

   

ESPN

ESPN Network charges $3,120,000 for a 40 spot block of commercials. The network is geared to both sexes but advertising is primarily geared toward younger and middle aged male sports enthusiasts. Programming includes sports specials, updates and events. Advertising products with sports celebrities is frequent. The ad's I viewed were for 5 hour energy, Volvo, Bud Light, Dove Men+Care, and a movie trailor for "Unknown" an action flick. As you can see, the advertising is targeted perfectly for this demographic group.

Lifetime Network

The Lifetime program viewership is primarily female 22-51yrs old. Therefore advertisers focus on the needs and desires of this segment. The commercials I viewed were of healthy choice dinners, Jewelry from Jarod, Women's sanitary products, Snickers, and online education opportunities. All the commercials appeared to be marketed to this demographic group except Snickers, which has a wider appeal. Even in this limited ad mix, you can see that they anticipate women to want to feel educated, healthy, comfortable, looking special with jewelry, and rewarding themselves with a chocolate bar.

Situational Determinants

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In this example, the purchase situation directly involves the environment which is either anticipated shortly or, is operating at the time of purchase. Showing the consequences of being caught in dangerous winter driving conditions with bad tires is an effective message.