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UNIVERSITY OF FINANCE AND ADMINISTRATION Faculty of Economic Studies Field of Study: Marketing Communication Follow-up master´s study programme in the full-time form Shawky Gamal Shawky Hassan Rezk Sales Promotion as a tool of the Integrated Marketing Communication in the selected company (FMCG) DIPLOMA THESIS Prague 2020 Final Thesis Supervisor: PhDr. Karel Eliáš, CSc Acknowledgment I would like to thank my parents and my girlfriend Krista for the absolute support they gave me in my life generally and during this year specifically. Also, I would like to thank my supervisor PhDr. Karel Eliáš, CSc. for guiding me to the right way with this diploma thesis and helping me to attain the best outcomes out of this research. Declaration I hereby declare that I have compiled this final thesis on my own and all the quoted literature as well as other sources used in the thesis are listed in the bibliography. The electronic copy of the thesis is identical with the hard-bound copy. I approve that this diploma thesis is published pursuant to Section 47b Act No.111/1998 Coll., on Higher Education and on the amendment and modification of other acts (the Higher Education Act), as amended. Click here and write the Date _________________________ Abstracts This diploma thesis is devoted to the topic sales promotion as a tool of integrated marketing communications and the main goal of this research was to investigate the sales promotion tools and campaigns of selected FMCG and perhaps to recommend methods to enhance the sales promotion in the company. The diploma thesis is divided into two crucial parts: theoretical and practical parts. In the theoretical part, its main aim was to collect the required information and data through cited books, journals, magazines, websites, and online resources. On the other hand, the practical section’s mission was to apply the outlines set in the theoretical part and to state and evaluate the sales promotion campaigns and activities used by PepsiCo. Integrated marketing communication is a method that numerous businesses and companies are using in their marketing strategies and one of the most crucial tools is sales promotion. In addition to that, the IMC practice will be defined, there will be a description of how the methods are employed and how sales promotion has been deployed throughout the marketing strategy. The defined FMCG company-PepsiCo will be examined through the effectiveness of their marketing strategies. Also, the effectiveness of the sales promotion strategies will be examined by explaining the tools they used to promote their products. And eventually, concluding how well these strategies are and whether they will be recommended or not. Keywords Integrated Marketing Communication, Sales Promotion, Fast moving consumer goods, FMCG, PepsiCo, 4P’s, SWAT analysis, Coupons, Discounts, Samples, Advertising Table of Contents 1 Introduction ................................................................................................................................. 1 1.1 Objective ............................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) ...................................................................... 2 1.3 Overview ............................................................................................................................. 5 2 Theoretical Section ...................................................................................................................... 7 2.1 Sales Promotion Types ........................................................................................................ 7 2.2 Goals & Benefits ................................................................................................................ 14 2.3 Choosing the right tool ...................................................................................................... 23 2.4 Criticism & Response ......................................................................................................... 24 3 Practical Section ......................................................................................................................... 27 3.1 The company’s background .............................................................................................. 27 3.2 PepsiCo Marketing Mix Analysis (4P’s) ............................................................................. 31 3.3 PepsiCo SWOT Analysis ..................................................................................................... 37 3.4 Sales Promotion strategies of PepsiCo .............................................................................. 43 3.5 Sales Promotion Strategies Towards the Consumer .......................................................... 56 4 The effects of PepsiCo Inc. sales promotion campaigns ........................................................... 78 5 Findings and Recommendations ............................................................................................... 86 6 Conclusion .................................................................................................................................. 89 7 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................... 92 1 Introduction 1.1 Objective The first objective of this diploma thesis is to define what is the sales promotion, list and define the tools used, find out the ideal tools of sales promotion that could be used by FMCG brand, and to find out which one of the tools do consumer prefer and interact the most. In addition to that there are major questions that will be answered during the thesis, what were the problems that other companies faced in using sales promotion as a marketing communication tool in the past? How the use of Sales Promotion helped companies to enhance their communication with their customers? How the use of Sales Promotion helped companies to enhance their profitability? The most important and critical part is to determine what are the new obstacles and the challenges that a company/brand could face throughout the time of the application of sales promotion plans because there are challenges appearing due to the social media and online shopping. In addition to that, I am significantly interested in this topic because, I believe, sales promotion is one of the crucial tools used to promote your product and make it easier not only by reaching as many customers as you can but also by selling the old and new products that you have. Additionally, sales promotion is executed to entice new consumers, to hold present clients, to batter competition, and to take advantage of chances that are exposed by market research. It is made up of actions, both outside and inside actions, to improve company sales. There would be a testing for the hypotheses for this research that will be either confirmed or disproved, the hypotheses are: 1 Hypothesis 1: Sales promotion does influence the decision-making of the consumers to buy the product of the company. Hypothesis 2: Sales promotion does generate a higher impact on the consumers’ decision-making to conduct repeated purchases of the company’s product. 1.2 Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) Integrated marketing communication is the process of managing all activities across different communication methods. Successful marketing communication is goal- directed, and it is associated with a company’s marketing plan. It aims to provide a clear message to a certain audience with a targeted purpose of shifting perceptions and behaviour. Integrated marketing communication (IMC) makes this marketing action more well-organized and successful because it relies on numerous communication approaches and purchaser touch points to bring a reliable message in more ways and in more persuasive ways. The basic goals of these marketing communication methods are, firstly, to communicate, secondly, to compete, and thirdly, to convince. In order to be operative, organizations should confirm that whatever information they communicate is accurate, clear, convenient, and truthful to the stakeholders involved. In fact, being truthful and accurate in marketing communications is more than a matter of integrity; it’s also a matter of validity, since deceitful marketing communications can end in lawsuits and even the criminal justice system. Preferably, marketing communication is convincing: it should extend product, ideas, or services in such a persuasive way that target segments are directed to take a 2 looked-for action. The ability to persuade and influence is essential to winning new business, but it may also be crucial to reconvince various consumers and customers. Just because a customer buys a particular brand once or multiple times, or even for numerous years, there is no promise that the customer will stick with the original product. For that reason, marketers want to make sure that the customer is continuously reminded of the product’s matchless features and benefits. Marketing communication is a key to competing successfully, especially in markets where competitors sell basically the same product at the similar price in the same stores. Only within marketing communications can an organization discover ways to appeal to certain divisions and segments, distinguish its product, and form continuing brand loyalty. Enduring more tempting or substantial than competitors’