ADVERTISING AND SALES PROMOTION

SUBJECT CODE 53C

Goal: To enable the students to acquire knowledge of sales promotional measures

Objective: On successful completion of this course, the students should have understood Advertising, Ad media, Ad agencies, Sales force management, and promotional strategies.

UNIT - I

Advertising: Meaning-importance-objectives-media-forms of media-press Newspaper trade journal-Magazines-outdoor advertising-poster-banners - neon signs, publicity literature booklets, folders, house organs-direct mail advertising-cinema and theatre programme-radio and television advertising-exhibition-trade fair-transportation advertising.

UNIT -II

Advertising agencies-advertising budget-advertising appeals - advertising organisation- social effects of advertising-advertising copy - objectives-essentials - types-elements of copy writing: Headlines, body copy - illustration-catch phrases and slogans-identification marks.

UNIT -III

Advertising layout- functions-design of layout-typography printing process-lithography- printing plates and reproduction paper, and cloth- size of advertising-repeat advertising- advertising campaign- steps in campaign planning.

UNIT - IV

Sales force Management-Importance-sales force decision-sales force size-recruitment & selection-training-methods-motivating salesman Controlling - compensation & incentives-fixing sales territories-quota - Evaluation.

UNIT -V

Sales promotion: Meaning-methods-promotional strategy-marketing communication and persuasion-promotional instruments: advertising -techniques of sale promotion-consumer and dealers promotion. After sales service-packing – guarantee - Personal selling- Objectives - Salesmanship-Process of personal selling-types of salesman.

REFERENCE BOOKS:

1. Bolen J.H. Advertising

2. Sontakk C.N. Advertising and Sales Management UNIT - I

Advertising: Meaning-importance-objectives-media-forms of media-press Newspaper trade journal-Magazines-outdoor advertising-poster-banners - neon signs, publicity literature booklets, folders, house organs-direct mail advertising-cinema and theatre programme-radio and television advertising-exhibition-trade fair-transportation advertising.

Definition Any paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods or services by an identified sponsor.

What is meant by outdoor advertising? Outdoor advertising, also known as out-of-home advertising, is advertising that reaches consumers when they are outside their homes. Why is outdoor advertising important?

Outdoor advertising can deliver a relevant message to the mass/targeted audience with ease and efficiency. This advertising medium offers consistency as well as stability when it comes to delivering brand awareness. It is able to provide more clarity regarding the focus of the brand.

Outdoor Advertising: Advantages

I. It helps in building your brand. ... II. Outdoor advertising can deliver messages to a specific audience. ... III. People actually respond to outdoor ads. ... IV. Outdoor advertising can boost sales. ... V. It saves a big chunk of your advertising budget. ... VI. Outdoor advertising provides maximum exposure.

Types of Outdoor Advertising i. Billboards and Banners. Billboard advertising is still very popular with business owners. ii. Transit Advertising. Transit advertising placements are most common on the sides of buses. iii. Street Furniture. iv. POS Displays. v. Mobile Billboards vi. Guerilla Advertising Outdoors. Advantages of Billboard Advertising

i. Huge and eye-catching ii. Targets a large and diverse market iii. Easily registered information. iv. Increased frequency of consumer exposure. v. Effective medium of awareness advertising. vi. Targets middle and upper classes. vii. Photographic information (strong visual effect) viii. Builds company reputation and product image. ix. Quick rise in sales. x. Guaranteed audience. xi. Customers find you.

Disadvantages of Billboard Advertising

I. High costs for brief exposure. II. Risk from vandalism, weather conditions. III. Visibility issue. IV. Stationary mode of advertising V. Time insensitive VI. No feedback VII. No advantage of space VIII. Does not target a specific market IX. Short term advertising tool X. Limited information

What is difference between poster and banner? Posters and banners are not functionally different. Posters are printed on paper and are therefore incredibly cost effective; however, posters don't last long outdoors (unless in a case). Banners, on the other hand, are printed on vinyl and are much more durable outside but are more expensive to produce than posters.

What is poster and slogan?

A slogan is a short and striking or memorable phrase used in advertising, according to Oxford. Thus, slogan making is the creation of memorable phrases, sometimes with a little art in or outside the texts. A poster, on the other hand, is a picture usually placed in public space.

Neon Signs Meaning

In the signage industry, neon signs are electric signs lighted by long luminous gas-discharge tubes that contain rarefied neon or other gases. They are the most common use for neon lighting.

PUBLICITY LITERATURE BOOKLETS,

publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service or organization (company, charity, etc.). It may also refer to the movement of information from its source to the general public, often (but not always) via the media. The subjects of publicity include people of public interest, goods and services, organizations, and works of art or entertainment.

What is meant by publicity? In marketing, publicity is the public visibility or awareness for any product, service or organization (company, charity, etc.) From a marketing perspective, publicity is one component of promotion and marketing.

Characteristics of Publicity: I. Meaning: ... II. Non-paid Form: ... III. Various Media: ... IV. Objectives: ... V. Control of Producer: ... VI. Credibility/Social Significance: ... VII. Part of Public Relations: ... VIII. Costs:

What is the difference between a booklet and a brochure?

As nouns the difference between booklet and brochure is that booklet is a small, or thin book, such as the one found with audio cds while brochure is a booklet of printed informational matter, like a pamphlet, often for promotional purposes.

House organ A house organ is a magazine or periodical published by a company for its customers or its employees. This name derives from the use of "organ" as referring to a periodical for a special interest group.

ADVERTISING FOLDERS

Advertising folder is the best promotional medium if you want to present your company and its products or services in more detail by adding written information and graphics, as well as pictures, specifications or pricelist.

TYPES OF HOUSE JOURNALS

Depending on the target audience it can be differentiated into three types: In-house journal for employees, External house journal for other stakeholders and mixed house journal which cater to both groups of readers. In-house journals keep the downward flow of communication to the employees

A. Advantages of Advertising – 1. Promotion of Sales 2. Expansion of Production 3. Enhances Goodwill 4. Large Turnover and Huge Profits 5. Information about Different Options and Comparative Prices 6. Creates Employment 7. Higher Standard of Living B. Disadvantages of Advertising – 1. Adds to the Cost of Production and Product 2. Leads to Price War 3. Deceptive Advertising 4. Leads to Unequal Competition 5. Creates a Monopolistic Market 6. Promotes Unnecessary Consumption 7. Decline in Moral Values.

UNIT II

Advertising agencies-advertising budget-advertising appeals - advertising organization- social effects of advertising-advertising copy - objectives-essentials - types-elements of copy writing: Headlines, body copy - illustration-catch phrases and slogans-identification marks.. ADVERTISING AGENCY What do you mean by advertising agency? An advertising agency, often referred to as a creative agency or an ad agency, is a business dedicated to creating, planning, and handling advertising and sometimes other forms of promotion and marketing for its clients. What's the role of today's advertising agency? I. Strategy planning and development. II. Research. III. Brand and campaign development. IV. Promotions.  Advertising production across multiple media.  Testing and measurement.  Media planning and buying. Characteristics of a Great Marketing Agency i. Digital expertise. ... ii. Data-driven. ... iii. An emphasis on content and storytelling. ... iv. Design-focused. ... v. Knowledge of your customer. ... vi. A focus on business growth and revenue. ... vii. A belief in ongoing learning and education. ... viii. Passionate and enthusiastic people. FUNCTIONS OF ADVERTISING AGENCY 1. Attracting Clients  Advertising agency needs clients (advertisers). Without them, it cannot survive. 2- Account Management  Within an advertising agency the account manager or account executive is tasked with handling all major decisions related to a specific client.  The account manager works closely with the client to develop an advertising strategy. 3- Creative Team  The principle role of account managers is to manage the overall advertising campaign for a client, which often includes delegating selective tasks to specialists. 4- Researchers  Full-service advertising agencies employ market researchers who assess a client’s market situation, including understanding customers and competitors, and also are used to test creative ideas. 5- Media Planners  Advertising agency helps an advertiser to select a proper media (ad platform) to promote his advertisement effectively.  Media selection is a highly specialized function of an ad agency. It must select the most suitable media for its client's ad. 6- Advertising budget  Advertising agency helps an advertiser to prepare his ad budget. It helps him to use his budget economically and make the best use of it. 7- Coordination  Advertising agency brings a good coordination between the advertiser, itself, media and distributors. 8- Sales promotion  Advertising agency performs sales promotion. It helps an advertiser to introduce sales promotion measures for the dealers and consumers. This helps to increase the sales of the product. 9- Public relations  Advertising agency does the public relations (PR) work for its clients. It increases the goodwill between its clients and other parties like consumers, employees, middlemen, shareholders, etc. It also maintains good relations between the client and media owner. 10- Non-advertising functions  It fixes the prices of the product, It determines the discounts, It designs the product, It also designs its package, trademarks, labels, etc. AGENCIES MAY HAVE THE FOLLOWING TYPES OF SPECIALTIES:- i. Branding. These firms widen the marketing scope beyond your products or services. ii. Direct marketing. iii. Digital marketing/new media. iv. Social media. v. Shopper activation/shopper marketing. vi. Public relations. What is advertising Budget? A budget is an expression in monetary terms of the forward plan and the proposed activity. Advertising plan includes sales targets, product facts, marketing information, competitive situation, creative platform, copy treatment etc. The advertising budget is the translation of an advertising plan into monetary form. It states the amount of proposed advertising expenses and informs the management of the organisation the expected cost of executing the advertising plan. Advertising budget should concentrate on the following two aspects: i. It should be constructed considering the financial strength of the organisation. ii. Specific operational activities should be identified and detailed allocation of funds should be specified. Nature of Advertising Budget The advertising budget is a plan of expenditure to be incurred on the advertising campaign. The expenditure may be to meet the present expenses as well as future expenditure. Budget decisions explain the budget strategies and programmes. The appropriation is the total amount of the expenditure to be incurred on budgeting. It is a limiting factor in determining the size of the advertising campaign. The selection of media and messages also depends on the amount of the budgeted expenditure. A moderate budget indicates that neither too little nor too much money will be spent on advertising. The budget may be curtailed by framing a precise message and determining the colour, space and time to be used without hampering the total advertising plan. FACTORS INFLUENCING ADVERTISING BUDGED. a. ADVERTISING PLANS: The advertising objectives, strategies and programmes determine the total amount of expenditure to be incurred by the company for advertising purposes. The internal as well as external opportunities are evaluated for the appropriation. The objectives refer to advertising opportunities which can be exploited by the company. b. MARKETING OPPORTUNITIES: Marketing opportunities determine the amount of appropriation. Advertising should exploit the potential of the market. The characteristic of consumers and their respective requirements would suggest the total amount of funds to be utilised by the company. Marketing opportunities are different in different markets, so the quantum of advertising appropriation has to be differently determined to arrive at the total amount to be budgeted. c. COMPETITION, The nature and pressure of competition influence the size of the appropriation. A greater intensity of competition may call for larger funds for advertising. Competitive advertising helps expand demand. Domination of media or markets by the competition may call for larger funds. d. PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE, The product life cycle is also an important determinant of the size of the total budget Consumer awareness and increased usage are taken into account to determine the level of advertising and costs. A knowledge of the life cycle of several products of the company is helpful in determining the size of the appropriation and the budget. e. COSTS OF ADVERTISING, The total costs of advertising are decided for appropriation. The advertising costs include the expenses incurred on developing and preparing advertisements, designing the message and selecting the media. The fees for action, direction, the costs of building sets and travelling to locations, tape recording and visual cassette recording, expenses on print media and broadcast media, etc., are included in the costs of advertising. f. TYPE OF PRODUCT, The type of product to be marketed determines the size of the appropriation. Consumer products require a larger advertising budget than industrial products. If the opportunities for product differentiation are substantial, the returns on advertising will be higher than those on undifferentiated products. g. RETAILING, Advertising will be less in demand if retailing is co-operative and effective. If retailers do not communicate product attributes to consumers, advertising becomes essential. Advertising and retailing create a demand for the product in the market. WHAT ARE FEATURES OF ADVERTISING BUDGET? i. Acts as a planning & controlling device. ii. Regulates advertising expenditure. iii. Set limits to advertising expenditure. iv. Fixes maximum amount of advertising. v. Advertising Plans. WHAT ARE ADVANTAGES OF ADVERTISING BUDGET? I. Facilitates evaluation of advertising expenditure. II. Introduces rational approach. III. Keeps advertising expenditure with limits. IV. Provides proper direction to advertising Expenditure. V. Facilitates advertising planning & execution. VI. Act as a controlling device. VII. Facilitates selection of suitable media. ADVERTISING APPEAL Definition Advertising appeal is defined as strategies for grabbing the attention of people to persuade them to purchase your product or service. The approach can be a marketing or advertising strategy. TYPES OF ADVERTISING APPEAL i. Brand appeal Brand appeal is for the customers or people who are brand conscious and have an individual inclination towards a particular brand. The primary objective of the brand appeal is to motivate people to buy a product because the product has an excellent brand. It gives the feeling of differentiation to the customers. Apple is an example whose products have brand appeal to its customers. This appeal involves making people feel that since everyone is buying the product, so they should too. The objective of bandwagon appeal is to ensure that the customer joins the bandwagon and starts using the product because everybody else is using it. It is known as persuasion by masses technique. ii. Fear Appeal The fear appeal shows that adverse outcomes can happen because a particular action is not taken. Advertisements often use fear as a motivator to promote change. The fear tactic also involves isolation. With this technique, many kinds of toothpaste, deodorants, and anti-dandruff shampoos are advertised. It is shown that if people do not brush with their toothpaste, it will result in bad hygiene and foul mouth odor, which would lead to social isolation for the person. iii. Adventure Appeal Some advertisements appeal to the sense of adventure and excitement of a person. The primary objective of these advertisements is to appeal to people that enthusiasm will be enhanced after they buy or use the product or service. iv. Humorous Appeal Some advertisements appeal to a person’s sense of humor. Human beings like to laugh and what can be a better type of attention-grabbing tool than humor, because humor helps people to remember a particular product or an idea. The marketing or advertising strategies often try to build a positive association with their product or service. v. Rational Appeal When the marketing or advertisement strategy wants people to use their practicality and functionality for a product, then logical appeals are used. These advertisements are focused on the features of the product and the cost of the product. The benefits associated with the product are also briefed in the ad, and there is usually proof associated with back up the claim of the advertisers. vi. Less than perfect appeal It is a natural human tendency to think that they are less than perfect. The ads which use this appeal show that the consumer must reach the level of perfection, and the way to do that is to use their product. vii. Gender Appeal Gender appeals are used to create an ideal man or woman. It is expected that the target audience will buy the product; it may be clothing, beauty products, or any other product. Buying that product will increase the masculine or feminine appeal of the user, and it will make them more attractive or stronger, which is commonly associated with genders. viii. Music Appeal Music appeal is used to appeal to the taste of music and the sound of a person. The primary objective of music Appeal is to encourage people to feel and emotion and associate their product after hearing a particular tune, song, or sound. ix. Emotional Appeal The primary objective of emotional appeal is to make the customers feel emotions towards a particular product. It may be a positive emotion or a negative emotion, but the emotion should be strong. What is the importance of advertising appeals? Advertising appeals are different techniques and strategies that are used to attract customers. Usually, advertising appeals provide evidence or provoke an emotional response that helps to convince the target audience to buy a certain product or service.

ADVERTISING ORGANISATION

SOCIAL EFFECTS OF ADVERTISING

Informed Society. Through advertisements, the society is informed of various products, their uses, best bargains, safe handling of dangerous goods, effective use of scarce resources like petroleum and electricity, technological advances, etc. But for advertising, the society would have remained a less informed one.

SOCIAL IMPACT OF ADVERTISEMENT

Advertising is the promotion of product or services. This gives companies a way to expose their products to people and hence maximize their sale. Advertising is the most debated topic now as like every other thing it has also some positive as well some negative points. If it has some positive aspect of social and economical impact on society then it does have some negative impact also. Advertising a public welfare program has positive social impact whereas inappropriate exposure of a woman in an advertisement has negative impact on society. Advertising is a mass marketing technique. Assorted techniques are used for advertising which persuades the consumers that why they need the product which is being advertised. They focus more on the benefits, which consumer will get from that product, rather than the product itself. Through advertising, products can be known to public easily thus increasing the consumption and as a result also increasing the demand of the product. Advertising can also be used to generate awareness among public and also be used to educate people about certain diseases or danger (example: - AIDS, TB, viral diseases, etc.). Even the people in remote areas are now aware of many diseases and their problems. And all these credits go to information through advertising. Diseases like Polio could never been controlled if the timings for polio drops aren‟t advertised regularly. Advertising can also be used to inform public about social events like concerts and performances. Charities can use media to advertise about the illnesses and encourage people for donations. Social organizations and NGOs can use the mean of advertisement for promoting their campaigns. Seeking help through advertisement during epidemics or natural calamities can help a lot.

MEANING AND CHARACTERISTICS OF ADVERTISING COPY: An ‘advertising copy’ is the means by which an advertiser expresses his ideas in the form of a message to the readers. If refers to all the reading matters of an advertisement, whether short or long, and includes the headline, sub-headlines, text or body, and the name or the initial of an advertiser. An advertising copy is sometimes referred to as ‘advertising message’ The format of advertising copy must be so designed that it possesses the characteristics, or features like: (1) Arresting pictures, (2) Arresting headlines, (3) Novelty and contrast of the product, (4) Distinctiveness, (5) Message size and position (how long, how short, how it is put, etc.), (6) Colour, (7) Shape, ESSENTIALS OF A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT COPY

An ad copy is made of various principles, all of which are integrated into a few lines of the copy that the advertisers are allowed to engage. It combines search engine optimisation with marketing strategies and is used in all kinds of advertisements, not only pay per click and contextual ads. The essentials of a good ad copy are as follows:

Credibility- An ad copy must focus on the credibility or the reliability of the ad. The copywriters should essentially flaunt an element of reliability in the ad so that the consumers are convinced to go ahead with the product. The credibility of an advertisement is the extent of honesty in the ad message. Misleading and misinterpreted ads harm the reputation of the selling house.

Attention- The keywords, punch lines or phrases that seize the attention of the potential consumers or some component in the ad that attracts the target audience is essential in a good advertising copy.

Assurance of benefit– An advertisement copy must contain some promise of the benefits that the product offers if the consumer purchases and uses the product.

Brief and clear- An ad copy must be brief and clear, i.e. it must be to the point. It doesn’t mean that the copy must omit the important elements of the ad. A clear copy is easy and quick to be read by the readers. It is self-explanatory, definite, and precise. Clarity makes way for interpretation.

Apt and conforming- The copy must be apt and must match the needs of the prospects. A copywriter has to use the most suitable USP. Every ad copy must meet the conforming standards and rules acceptable to the advertising media and the laws of the land. A copy that offends the morality challenges religious beliefs of the people is not welcomed by any media.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING COPY: Depending on various objectives for which advertising copy are prepared, advertising copy can be of following types: i. Scientific Copy: Scientific copy is of technical nature and it provides details regarding the producer and the product. This type of copy is generally used by engineering and drug & pharmaceutical firms to inform the ordinary people in general and professional persons in particular about the merits and value of the product so that they may be stimulated to buy it. ii. Descriptive Copy: This copy is non-technical in nature and is prepared in such a manner that a layman can understand it. It gives detailed information about the product in very simple language. This type of advertisement copy is generally used for the products which are purchased as a matter of routine. iii. Topical Copy: Topical copy is that advertisement copy which is intended to appeal the target prospects by establishing a connection between the product and a particular recent happening. This type of copy commands good deal of interest because of that sensational event which are fresh in the minds of the prospects. For example – advertising copy of Adidas during sports. iv. Narrative Copy: Under this type of copy, appeals are made to the prospects with the help of fictitious stories which narrates the benefits of purchasing the product. Generally the story covered under this copy is humorous and carries the message in appealing manner which can be remembered by the public easily. v. Personality Copy: This type of advertisement copy attempts to encash the opinion of an important personality about the product. Personality advertisement copies are quite popular now a day on television. For instance – Salman Khan in Revital. vi. Questioning Copy: Questioning copy includes a number of questions expected to be answered by the prospects. The answer of these questions lies in the use of the product so advertised. For example, advertisement of Godrej Locks. vii. Suggestive Copy: Suggestive copies are those advertisement copies which try to suggest the audience directly or indirectly for pursuing them to purchase a particular product. It is particularly useful in those products where the prospects are confused about the quality of different brands. For example, Advertisement done through Medifact about Complan. viii. Reason Why Copy: In this type of advertising copy advertised message explains why it is necessary to have the product. It gives definite positive points in favour of a particular product. For example, advertisement copy used in insurance sector like LIC. ix. Fear Copy: Those advertising copy which appeal to the sense of fear of prospects come under this category. These copies arouse deep interest in prospect for protecting their valuables. For example, Advertisement of locks, medical and insurance sector etc. STRUCTURE OF ADVERTISING COPY: Attainment of advertising objectives largely depends on the way the advertisement copy is designed. The advertising copy should be designed in such a way that it is in position to attract the attention of the prospective buyers. The following are the basic elements of the advertising copy: i. Headline: The most important element of the advertising copy is its headline. If headline fails to attract the prospects, remaining part of the advertisement are wasted. Thus, the main purpose of the headline of every advertising copy is to attract attention and create curiosity in the prospects. For e.g. – Desh Ki Dhadkan (Hero Honda). ii. Sub-Heading: After the headline the next is sub-headline. If the headline has rightly suggested the value of product, the job of sub-headline becomes quite easier. Sub-headline helps the reader to have more knowledge about the product. For e.g. – sub-headline used in Horlicks ad – Dudh Mein Horlicks Milao, Dudh Ki Shakti Badhao. iii. Slogans: A slogan is the group of words regularly used by the advertiser to impress prospects about the product and producer. It is one of the most popular methods to attaining and holding attention of the customers. For e.g. – McDonald – I’m loving it. iv. Text or Body: After headline, sub-headline and slogan comes the text of advertising copy. In the text, both the rational and emotional reasons are put forward to persuade customers to buy the particular brand. Facts and figures about the product, guarantee of satisfactory performance, testimonials, etc. are given in the text of the advertisement copy depending upon the nature, competition, market, etc. v. Closing Idea: Last but not the least, advertising copy should close the idea with enough information, direction and motivation for the customer to act. Various types of closing idea are “buy now”, “visit the nearest store today”, etc. Factors Affecting Advertising Copy: An advertising copy must be based on the following factors: .(i) Is advertising believable? (ii) Is advertising reliable? (iii) Does it appeal to the consumers’ needs and wants? (iv) Does it explain the benefits of a product realistically? (v) Is it based on creativity? etc. An advertising copy or message has to be designed by identifying the target audience. What are the audience needs? attitudes? preferences? It is very difficult to pinpoint various factors in detail, because much depend on the perception, attitude and social status of the audience ELEMENTS OF EFFECTIVE ADVERTISING COPY 1. A Clear Objective Ad copy should have a clear objective right from the start. The copywriter needs to know what his or her copy is supposed to accomplish, otherwise he/she will have no direction. Without a defined objective and clear direction, no piece of ad copy will succeed in its intended purpose. 2. A Compelling Message The second element of effective advertising copy is a compelling message. Depending on the form taken, this could mean a compelling title followed by more detailed text that explains the information contained in the title. In cases where no title is used, the first few lines of copy should contain the compelling message. 3. A Compelling Offer If the point of ad copy is to sell, effective copy will present the reader with a compelling offer. It will present a product or service along with some sort of motivation to cause the reader to make a positive decision. Without a compelling offer, there is no point to creating ad copy. 4. Evidence of Tangible Benefits No compelling offer is complete unless the consumer understands the tangible benefits of taking advantage of said offer. Effective ad copy always includes some evidence of tangible benefits. For example, “buying our product means saving money without sacrificing quality.” 5. A Clearly Understood Tone Effective ad copy is presented with a clearly understood tone. That tone is determined by the offer being presented and the audience being targeted. Copy aimed at business professionals would obviously be presented with a business-like tone. Another piece of copy targeting millennials and how they use their leisure time would be more light-hearted, perhaps even a bit humorous. 6. A Means of Responding In order for customers to act on the compelling offer being made, a means of response must be offered. Consumers must be directed to a website, a telephone number, or an in-store location they can visit to follow through on their decision. Without a means of response, any positive decision immediately becomes irrelevant. 7. A Call to Action Moving the customer from the compelling offer through the means of responding should culminate in a direct action facilitated by what we refer to as a ‘call to action’. The call to action is simply some sort of instruction telling the consumer what you expect him or her to do. Use phrases like ‘call us today’, ‘visit our store’, or ‘click here to purchase’. 8. At Least One Image Finally, effective ad copy includes at least one image. If there is anything that sets digital marketing apart from the print marketing of 100 years ago, it is the fact that we now live in a highly visual culture. Ad copy that includes at least one graphic outperforms similar copy without graphics. In fact, it is not even close. Graphics seal the deal. What is Copywriting?

Copywriting is the skill of choosing the right words and technique of arranging them smartly to promote business, product, service, idea, or a person. The selection of words and its presentation largely depends upon the media through which it is planned to convey. For example, depending on whether it is a newspaper, magazine, hoarding, radio, television, or internet, the script will vary accordingly. However, whatever is the type of media, the purpose of copywriting is the same i.e. promotion. Therefore, it should be persuasive enough to be instantly attention grabbing.

Elements of Copywriting

Copywriting has some essential elements required to develop a convincing ad. Following are the significant elements −

Heading − Headline gives the first impression and lasts on readers’ mind, therefore, it should be eye-catching. Heading should tell – what it is all about your ad in a very few words, ranging from 3 to 30 words.

Body copy − Write body copy in such a way that it seems as the continuity of the heading. Provide details of all the features and benefits that you are claiming for. The language should be promising and trustworthy.

Slogans − Think of "The ultimate driving machine" (BMW); “Just do it” (Nike); "Because I'm worth it" (L'Oréal), what comes to your mind? The moment, you hear the slogans, you link it with the respective brand not only because you have heard it many times, but rather it works. A well-written and effective slogan is a trustworthy brand representative. However, your slogan should be small and crispy giving meaning to your brand.

Taglines − Taglines are usually used for literary products to reinforce and strengthen the audience's memory of a literary product. For example, “she went in search of answers, and discovered a love she never expected,’ Book Name “Faithful” and Writer - Janet Fox. Thus, tagline tells the gist of the products for marketing purpose. Like, a slogan, it should be small and eye-catching.

Jingle Lyrics − More often accompanied with background music, jingle lyric is a short slogan, tune, or verse written to be easily remembered (especially used in advertising). For example, Fanta: "Wanna Fanta, Don’t You Wanna?" It should be small, crisp, and rhythmic (like a song) so that it registers with people at once and they remember it.

Scripts (for audio and video ad) −Scripts are the descriptions of an ad that narrates the dialogues, actions, expression, and movements of characters. Since, script is a complete guidelines of an ad; therefore, it should be written meaningfully, orderly, and nicely.

Others − (White Paper, Press Release, & other written material such as emails, articles, and blog (for the internet)): These are all promotional write-ups written purposefully to promote a particular product/service. So, while writing white paper, press release, articles, blog, or even an email you need to focus or emphasize ONLY on one product that you want to promote. You need to describe all features and offers of the respective product in simple and plain language.

COMPONENTS OF ADVERTISING COPY. 1. Headline. headlines may be a label, may be informative, provocative, selective, direct command or question. 2. Sub headline. smaller to headline but effective several times. 3. Slogans. 4. Illustrations. 5. Text or body of the copy. 6. Closing of the copy. 7. Logo or identification mark.

COPYWRITING TECHNIQUES Following are the techniques of persuasive copywriting −

 Use Action Words − Such as watch, look, ask, get, etc.  Use of Buzzwords − Normally, buzzwords are eye-catching such as now, today, etc.  Use Exciting or Emotive words − Such as amazing, wonderful, beautiful, etc.  Use Alliteration − Use meaningful words of similar sound. For example, Don’t be vague, ask for Haig.  Use Colloquial words − Colloquialisms in copywriting is pretty popular and effective. For example, ‘Pick ‘n Choose.’  Use Punctuation − Proper use of punctuations and grammar is an important aspect so that you can pass the right message. What is a body copy in advertising?

Headlines are usually followed by body copy, which refers to the main paragraph or line of text in an ad. ... It is separate from the slogan, logo, caption and any other text outside this section of writing.

What is a headline in advertising?

Dictionary of Marketing Terms for: headline. headline. sentence, phrase, word, or group of words set in large, bold type on a newspaper front page or above a body of text on any page of a newspaper or magazine, or in a printed advertisement (or featured as part of a broadcast commercial).

How to Write Effective Print Ads 1. Start With the Headline. 2. You May Need a Subhead. 3. Don't Be Afraid of White Space. 4. Consider Images Carefully. 5. Don't Ignore Body Copy. 6. What Is Your Call to Action? 7. Include Contact Information.

SALIENT FEATURES OF A GOOD ADVERTISEMENT COPY it should be simple (2) it should be capable of holding the reader’s attention (3) it must be suggestive (4) it should have conviction value (5) it should educate the people (6) it should have memorizing value and (7) it should be true! DIFFERENT TYPES OF BODY COPY IN ADVERTISING 1. FACTUAL Factual body copy gives the reader just enough information about a product or service to persuade them into buying it. Because it solely focuses on the facts, it can be quite short, but there is no hard and fast rule about the length of advertising text. 2. Narrative Narrative body copy draws people in by telling a story before offering a product or service that can help solve their problem. Only a handful of us react well to being told to buy a product, so the power of narrative advertising is that it’s a soft sell, enabling the reader to relate to the story and generate positive feelings towards the brand. 3. Human interest The purpose of human interest copy is to appeal to the reader’s emotions, so rather than talking directly about the features and benefits of a product, it capitalises on an individual’s senses to sell to them indirectly. As such, body copy that takes on a human interest angle will often be humorous, promoting affection, love and fear. Essentially, it acts on any emotions that ignite our sense of sight, hearing, smell, taste or touch. 4. Testimonial Usually, testimonial copy comes from customers, experts, celebrities or the spokesperson of a brand or product. Although it’s there to persuade, it must be truthful. The benefit of a testimonial is that the copy is usually already written for you — all you need to do is figure out what it is they like best about your product and build an advert around this that better suits your target audience. 5. Humour Getting this right requires a copywriter to really understand their target audience. It’s a tried and tested strategy and can ensure a campaign remains memorable and impactful for a really long time. Take a look at Krispy Kreme’s ‘Doughnuts are bad for you’ advert for an example of humorous advertising done well. 6. Institutional The aim of institutional copy isn’t to sell products or services, but to promote a brand’s trustworthiness or reputation instead. Essentially, it should showcase the philosophies, objectives or policies of a company in the hope that this will resonate with readers and encourage them to get in touch. TYPES OF BODY COPY IN ADVERTISING. Factual. Factual body copy gives the reader just enough information about a product or service to persuade them into buying it. ... Narrative. Human interest. Testimonial. Humour. Institutional.

What is the importance of headlines? Headlines are really the most important part of your article writing. It is the first thing that can grab the attention of your reader or web visitor. Your headlines, in effect, are your first real point of connection with your prospective customer, so you need to get them right. How to write catchy headlines Use numbers to give concrete takeaways. Use emotional objectives to describe your reader's problem. Use unique rationale to demonstrate what the reader will get out of the article. Use what, why, how, or when. Make an audacious promise.

Best Catchy Slogan Examples We Can All Learn From Las Vegas - “Whatever happens here, stays here” ... Nike - “Just do it” ... De Beers - “A Diamond Is Forever” ... Maybelline - “Maybe she's born with it, maybe it's Maybelline” ... Skittles - “Taste the rainbow” ... Mastercard - “For everything else, there's Mastercard” ... California Milk Processor Board - “Got Milk?

Some well-known slogan examples are: Just Do It. (Nike) I'm Lovin' It (McDonald's) Finger Lickin' Good (KFC) Melts In Your Mouth, Not In Your Hand (M&Ms)

WRITING THE BODY COPY Advertising body copy can be written to go along with various types of creative appeals and executions comparisons, price appeals, demonstrations humour, dramatizations, and the like. Copywriters choose a copy style that is appropriate for the type of appeal being used and effective for executing the creative strategy and communicating the advertiser's message to the target audience. a. Emotive: Within this kind of copy the emotions can be appeal to. The principal emotional needs are self-assertion, sex and love, companionship, self-preservation, acquisitiveness, curiosity, comfort and security. b. Factual-hard-selling: This copy uses the five-point AIDCA formula. It is the attention, interest, desire, conviction, and action. It is very competitive, persuasive and action promoting.

What does AIDCA stand for?

AIDCA is a sales and marketing acronym. It stands for the following:

 Attention: First, grabbing the attention of your prospect  Interest: Then, peaking their interest in your product or service  Desire: Then, generating desire for your product or service  Conviction: Next, developing conviction within your prospect  Action: Finally, inspiring your prospect to take action

c. Factual-educational: This is still a hard-selling ad, but it will be more informative, like the ads for the largest model car. d. Narrative: It is a more literary and leisurely written text. The copy is more like a story. e. Prestige: Again copy may be in the narrative style, but being used mainly for public relations purposes. f. Picture and Caption: This body copy is usually a series of pictures or cartoons with captions explaining how to use the product. g. Monologue or dialogue: Real or fictitious characters may be used to present the sales massage. This could be a testimonial advertisement with well-known personalities expounding the merits of the product or service. h. Gimmick. Difficult to put over effectively because there is usually need for concentrated reading, this style is sometimes used whena very presentation is required. It is more likely to be used in magazines. i. Reader: It is headed by a statement that it is an advertiser’s announcement

UNIT -III

Advertising layout- functions-design of layout-typography printing process-lithography- printing plates and reproduction paper, and cloth- size of advertising-repeat advertising- advertising campaign- steps in campaign planning.

What is Advertisement Layout Process?

Advertisement layout is a process concerned with the physical arrangement of all the elements of advertising message for faster and better sales presentation and communication.

In other words, layout is the visual plan for arranging the elements of an advertising message in printed form. Advertising layout deals with proper and attractive physical arrangement for the presentation of the advertising message or the sales communication.

QUALITIES OF A GOOD LAYOUT:

The value of advertisement is enhanced when message is presented in a way to create lasting impression. To do so, certain principles are to be respected in layout work. These principles can also be called as the qualities of a good layout.

These are: Balance: Balance in advertisement is related with the weight distribution. It involves location of sizes, shapes, and tones in relation to the optic centre. Balance is the relationship that exists between right and the left hand sides of an ad. Rhythm: Rhythm governs the movement of the eye from one part of the design to another. Movement provides dynamism. Some people call this principle of rhythm as that of ‘movement’ or ‘gaze motion’

Here, the movement is the principle of design that carries the reader’s eyes from element to element in the sequence desired for the effective communication of the ad message. Eye direction is achieved by mechanical devices like pointing figures, dangling leg lines, arrows dotted line, special shading and so on. Emphasis: Emphasis or contrast emphasizes the important elements of an advertisement to make it outstanding and enchanting. Emphasis is achieved through contrast and contrast is the difference. Contrast is possible by variation in size, shape, tone, type-style, colour and the density of the elements including the close-up shots.

Proportion: Proportion implies the ratio of length to width. It has bearing on size and shape of the masses given in an ad. It speaks of the relationship of the elements of an ad to each other and to the back-ground in which they appear.

There is close relation between the principles of proportion and that of balance. Anything in proportion is certainly pleasing to the eyes and appealing to the brain. Proper proportion avoids sameness and monotony.

Unity: Unity means union of all the elements in the layout to produce the effects of homogenous whole and each part supports and reinforces another. Unity is oneness providing cohesiveness to the advertisement.

Simplicity: Clarity and comprehension are the products of simplicity. Lack of simplicity in design would complicate and confuse the reader as it hinders the flow of message. Complicated layout may be misunderstood or not at all understood by the reader. Simplicity and layout sequence promote clarity and comprehension in layout.

Simplicity in layout is achieved through candid combination of logo-type trade-mark, slogan and the company name into a single compact block. Clear illustration and standard type-faces bring in simplicity.

Basics of the printing process

Direct vs indirect printing

The five major printing processes are distinguished by the method of image transfer and by the general type of image carrier employed. Depending upon the process, the printed image is transferred to the substrate either directly or indirectly.

In direct printing the image is transferred directly from the image carrier to the substrate, examples of direct printing are gravure, flexography, screen printing and letterpress printing processes.

In indirect, or offset, printing, the image is first transferred from the image carrier to the blanket cylinder and then to the substrate. Lithography, currently the dominant printing technology, is an indirect (offset) process.

Image carriers

Image carriers (or plates) are generally be classified as relief, planographic, intaglio, or screen.

In relief printing, the image or printing area is raised above the non-image areas. Letterpress and flexography are relief printing processes.

In planographic printing, the image and nonimage areas are on the same plane. The image and nonimage areas are defined by differing physiochemical properties. Lithography is a planographic process.

In the intaglio process, the nonprinting area is at a common surface level with the substrate while the printing area, consisting of minute etched or engraved wells of differing depth and/or size, is recessed. Gravure is an intaglio process.

In the screen process (also known as porous printing), the image is transferred to the substrate by pushing ink through a porous mesh which carries the pictorial or typographic image.

Steps of the printing process

Each printing process is divided into prepress, press, and post press steps. Prepress operations encompass steps during which the idea for a printed image is converted into an image carrier such as a plate, cylinder, or screen. Prepress operations include composition and typesetting, graphic arts photography, image assembly, and image carrier preparation.

Press refers to actual printing operations.

Postpress primarily involves the assembly of printed materials and consists of binding and finishing operations.

Chemical use

Each process uses a variety of chemicals, depending on the operation involved.

Prepress operations typically involve photoprocessing chemicals and solutions.

Inks and cleaning solvents are the major types of chemicals used during press operations.

Depending on the finishing work required, postpress operations can use large amounts of adhesives. This is especially true where the production of books and directories is involved.

Of all the chemicals used in a typical printing plant, inks and organic cleaning solvents are the categories used in the largest quantities. Many of the chemicals used in the printing industry are potential hazards to human health and the environment.

TYPOGRAPHY

Typography is the art and technique of arranging type to make written language legible, readable, and appealing when displayed. The arrangement of type involves selecting typefaces, point sizes, line lengths, line-spacing (leading), and letter-spacing (tracking), and adjusting the space between pairs of letters (kerning[1]). The term typography is also applied to the style, arrangement, and appearance of the letters, numbers, and symbols created by the process. Type design is a closely related craft, sometimes considered part of typography; most typographers do not design typefaces, and some type designers do not consider themselves typographers

How does typography affect advertising?

Great typography creates text that's attractive, informative and easy to read, thereby encouraging consumers to continue their perusal. Things like font, colour, emphasis and spacing can affect the way people read, comprehend and view information. ... Remember, there's often much more to text than meets the eye.

Why is typography so important? Why is typography important? Typography is so much more than just choosing beautiful fonts: it's a vital component of user interface design. Good typography will establish a strong visual hierarchy, provide a graphic balance to the website, and set the product's overall tone.

What is the role of typography?

The main purpose of typography is to create a message of your brand or services without using any image. Typography not only enhances the beauty of your web design or your graphic design but it can also easily grab the reader attention and guide them naturally, all with the use of only text

What are the elements of typography?

Apply these eight elements of typography to make sure your viewer can navigate through your content the way you've intended.

Color Contrast. Font Size. Leading. Kerning. Hierarchy. Whitespace. Serif vs. Using Webfonts.

LITHOGRAPHY

What is meant by lithography?

The art or process of producing a picture, writing, or the like, on a flat, specially prepared stone, with some greasy or oily substance, and of taking ink impressions from this as in ordinary printing. a similar process in which a substance other than stone, as aluminum or zinc, is used. Compare offset

Types of lithography : Electron beam lithography Ion beam lithography Ion track lithography x-ray lithography Nanoimprint lithography Extreme ultraviolet lithography Advantages of lithography Fast process High resolution Not affected by organic defects in mask Reduction in diffraction, reflection and scattering effects Solves depth of focus problem High aspect ratio.

Disadvantages of lithography Shadow printing Lateral magnification error Brighter x-ray sources needed More sensitive resists needed Difficult fabrication of x-ray mask What is printing?

Printing means reproducing words or images on paper, card, plastic, fabric, or another material. It can involve anything from making a single reproduction of a priceless painting to running off millions of copies of the latest Harry Potter. Why is it called printing? The word "printing" ultimately comes a Latin word, primer, which means to press; just about every type of printing involves pressing one thing against another.

Types of printing

The three most common methods of printing are called relief (or letterpress), gravure (or intaglio), and offset. All three involve transferring ink from a printing plate to whatever is being printed, but each one works in a slightly different way. First, we'll compare the three methods with a quick overview and then we'll look at each one in much more detail.

Relief is the most familiar kind of printing. If you've ever made a potato print or used an old- fashioned typewriter, you've used relief printing. The basic idea is that you make a reversed, sticking-up (relief) version of whatever you want to print on the surface of the printing plate and simply cover it with ink. Because the printing surface is above the rest of the plate, only this part (and not the background) picks up any ink. Push the inked plate against the paper (or whatever you're printing) and a right-way-round printed copy instantly appears.

Gravure is the exact opposite of relief printing. Instead of making a raised printing area on the plate, you dig or scrape an image into it (a bit like digging a grave, hence the name gravure). When you want to print from the plate, you coat it with ink so the ink fills up the places you've dug out. Then you wipe the plate clean so the ink is removed from the surface but left in the depressions you've carved out. Finally, you press the plate hard against the paper (or other material you're printing) so the paper is pushed into the inky depressions, picking up a pattern only from those places. Offset printing also transfers ink from a printing plate onto paper (or another material), but instead of the plate pressing directly against the paper, there is an extra step involved. The inked plate presses onto a soft roller, transferring the printed image onto it, and then the roller presses against the printing surface—so instead of the press directly printing the surface, the printed image is first offset to the roller and only then transferred across. Offset printing stops the printing plate from wearing out through repeated impressions on the paper, and produces consistently higher quality prints.

Printing processes There is a wide variety of technologies that are used to print magazines, books, newspapers, stationery, posters, packaging, and other print products. The main industrial printing processes are:

 Offset lithography  Flexography  Digital printing: inkjet & xerography  Gravure  Screen printing

Additional printing techniques were developed for very specific applications. These include flock printing, letterpress, intaglio, pad printing, and thermography. Why a certain job is better printed using one of these processes mentioned can be read on this page about choosing a printing process. Printing Methods

Welcome to the Printing Methods section of the Zoo Print School. This section serves to inform you of the multitude of different printing processes that may be employed to print your printed product.

The types of printing:

Digital Printing

Flexography

Letterpress Printing

Offset Printing

Rotogravure

Screen Printing

Digital Printing Digital printing is the reproduction of digital images on physical surface, such as common or photographic paper, film, cloth, plastic, etc. It can be differentiated from litho printing in many ways, some of which are;

Every impression made onto the paper can be different, as opposed to making several hundred or thousand impressions of the same thing from one set of plates, as in traditional methods.

The Ink or Toner does not absorb into the paper, as does conventional Ink, but forms a layer on the surface.

It generally requires less waste in terms of chemicals used and paper wasted in set up.

Printing at home or in an office or engineering environment is subdivided into:

Small format (up to ledger size paper sheets), as used in business offices and libraries

Wide format (up to 3' or 914mm wide rolls of paper), as used in drafting and design establishments.

Some of the more common printing technologies are line printing — where pre-formed characters are applied to the paper by lines daisy wheel — where pre-formed characters are applied individually dot-matrix — which produces arbitrary patterns of dots with an array of printing studs

Heat transfer — like early fax machines or modern receipt printers that apply heat to special paper, which turns black to form the printed image blueprint — and related chemical technologies inkjet — including bubble-jet — where ink is sprayed onto the paper to create the desired image laser — where toner consisting primarily of polymer with pigment of the desired colours is melted and applied directly to the paper to create the desired image.

Vendors typically stress the total cost to operate the equipment, involving complex calculations that include all cost factors involved in the operation as well as the capital equipment costs, amortization, etc. For the most part, toner systems beat inkjet in the long run, whereas inkjets are less expensive in the initial purchase price.

Flexography

Flexography, often abbreviated to flexo, is a method of printing most commonly used for packaging. A flexo print is achieved by creating a mirrored master of the required image as a 3D relief in a rubber or polymer material. A measured amount of ink is deposited upon the surface of the printing plate (or printing cylinder) using an anilox roll. The print surface then rotates, contacting the print material which transfers the ink.

Flexo is so named because it was originally used as a method of printing onto corrugated cardboard, which has a very uneven surface. It is required that the printing plate surface maintain contact with the cardboard, which it does by being flexible. Also, unprinted high points on the cardboard must not get printed by ink remnants not on the plate surface, which is achieved by ensuring a sufficient depth for the non-print areas of the plate.

Originally flexo printing was very low quality. In the last 3 decades great advances have been made, including improvements to the plate material and the method of plate creation—usually photographic exposure followed by chemical etch, though also by direct laser engraving. Laser- etched anilox rolls also play a part in the improvement of print quality. Full colour picture printing now occurs, and some of the finer presses available today in combination with a skilled operator allow quality that rivals the lithographic process. One ongoing improvement has been the increasing ability to reproduce highlight tonal values, thereby providing a workaround for the very high dot gain associated with flexo print.

Flexo has an advantage over lithography in that it can use a wider range of inks and is good at printing on a variety of different materials. Flexo inks, like those used in gravure and unlike those used in lithography generally have low viscosity. This enables faster drying and, as a result, faster production; that means low cost. Printing press speeds of 450 meters per minute are regular with modern technology high end printers, like Windmoeller und Hollscher or Schiavi type. The main printing process worldwide for flexible packaging are rotogravure, for very large runs, and flexo for large and medium runs.

Also Known As:

Flexographic printing

Flexo

Surface printing

Examples: Some typical applications for flexography are paper and plastic bags, milk cartons, disposable cups, and candy bar wrappers. Flexography printing may also be used for envelopes, labels, and newspapers.

Letterpress Printing

Letterpress printing is a term for printing text with movable type, in which the raised surface of the type is inked and then pressed against a smooth substance to obtain an image in reverse. In addition to the direct impression of inked movable type onto paper or another receptive surface, the term letterpress can also refer to the direct impression of inked media such as zinc "cuts" (plates) or linoleum blocks onto a receptive surface.

As computerised typesetting and imaging replaced cast metal types, letterpress began to die out, as high-speed photographic imaging onto smooth flexible plates (lithography) became more economical. However, photopolymer plates and the invention of Ultra-Violet curing inks has helped keep rotary letterpress alive in areas like self-adhesive labels. There is also still a large amount of flexographic printing, a similar process, which uses rubber plates to print on curved or awkward surfaces, and a lesser amount of relief printing from huge wooden letters for lower- quality poster work.

Also Known As:

Offset Letterpress

Relief Printing

Examples:

Mostly replaced by offset printing and other processes, letterpress printing is still used for some newspapers, books, and limited edition prints. Letterpress printing may also be used for printing business cards, letterhead, posters, and some forms.

Offset Printing Offset printing is a widely used printing technique where the inked image is transferred (or "offset") from a plate to a rubber blanket, then to the printing surface. When used in combination with the lithographic process, which is based on the repulsion of oil and water, the offset technique employs a flat (planographic) image carrier on which the image to be printed obtains ink from ink rollers, while the non-printing area attracts a film of water, keeping the non-printing areas ink-free.

Advantages of offset printing include:

Consistent high image quality. Offset printing produces sharper and cleaner images and type than letterpress printing because the rubber blanket conforms to the texture of the printing surface.

Quick and easy production of printing plates.

Longer printing plate life than on direct litho presses because there is no direct contact between the plate and the printing surface.

Also Known As:

Lithographic

Offset

Planographic

Examples:

Offset lithography is the most commonly used commercial printing process for the bulk of desktop publishing on paper. Offset lithography is used on both sheet-fed and web offset presses.

Rotogravure Printing

Rotogravure is a type of intaglio printing process, in that it involves engraving the image onto an image carrier. In gravure printing, the image is engraved onto a copper cylinder because, like offset and flexography, it uses a rotary printing press. The vast majority of gravure presses print on reels of paper, rather than sheets of paper. (Sheetfed gravure is a small, specialty market.) Rotary gravure presses are the fastest and widest presses in operation, printing everything from narrow labels to 12-feet-wide rolls of vinyl flooring. Additional operations may be in-line with a gravure press, such as saddle stitching facilities for magazine/brochure work.

In 1932 a George Gallup "Survey of Reader Interest in Various Sections of Sunday Newspapers to Determine the Relative Value of Rotogravure as an Advertising Medium" found that rotogravures were the most widely read sections of the paper and that advertisements there were three times more likely to be seen by readers than in any other section. The rotogravure process is still used for commercial printing of magazines, postcards, and corrugated (cardboard) product packaging.

In the latter quarter of the 19th centure, the method of image photo transfer onto carbon tissue covered with light-sensitive gelatin was discovered and was the beginning of rotogravure.

Gravure cylinders nowadays are typically engraved digitally by a diamond tipped or laser etching machine. On the gravure cylinder, the engraved image is composed of small recessed cells (or 'dots') that act as tiny wells. Their depth and size control the amount of ink that gets transferred to the substrate (paper or other material, such as plastic or foil) via a process of pressure, osmosis, and electrostatic pull. (A patented process called "Electrostatic Assist" is sometimes used to enhance ink transfer.)

A rotogravure printing press has one printing unit for each color, typically CMYK or cyan, magenta, yellow and key (printing terminology for black). The number of units vary depending on what colors are required to produce the final image. There are five basic components in each color unit: an engraved cylinder (whose circumference can change according to the layout of the job), an ink fountain, a doctor blade, an impression roller, and a dryer. While the press is in operation, the engraved cylinder is partially immersed in the ink fountain, filling the recessed cells. As the cylinder rotates, it draws ink out of the fountain with it. Acting as a squeegee, the doctor blade scrapes the cylinder before it makes contact with the paper, removing ink from the non-printing (non-recessed) areas. Next, the paper gets sandwiched between the impression roller and the gravure cylinder. This is where the ink gets transferred from the recessed cells to the paper. The purpose of the impression roller is to apply force, pressing the paper onto the gravure cylinder, ensuring even and maximum coverage of the ink. Then the paper goes through a dryer because it must be completely dry before going through the next color unit and absorbing another coat of ink.

Because gravure is capable of transferring more ink to the paper than other printing processes, gravure is noted for its remarkable density range (light to shadow) and hence is a process of choice for fine art and photography reproduction, though not typically as clean an image as that of sheet fed litho or web offset litho. Gravure is widely used for long-run magazine printing in excess of 1 million copies. Gravure's major quality shortcoming is that all images, including type and "solids," are actually printed as dots, and the screen pattern of these dots is readily visible to the naked eye. Examples of gravure work in the United States are typically long-run magazines, mail order catalogs, consumer packaging, and Sunday newspaper ad inserts.

Other application area of gravure printing is in the flexible packaging sector. A wide range of substrates such as Polyethylene, Polypropylene, Polyester, BOPP etc can be printed in the gravure press.

Also Known As:

Gravure

Examples:

Gravure printing is often used for high-volume printing of packaging, wallpaper, and giftwrap using fast-drying inks. Although less common, gravure printing may also be used for printing magazines, greeting cards, and high-volume advertising pieces.

Screen Printing

Screen printing is a printmaking technique that creates a sharp-edged image using a stencil. A screen print or serigraph is an image created using this technique.

A screen is made of a piece of porous, finely woven fabric (originally silk, but typically made of polyester or nylon since the 1940s) stretched over an aluminum frame. Areas of the screen are blocked off with a non-permeable material—a stencil—which is a positive of the image to be printed; that is, the open spaces are where the ink will appear.

The screen is placed on top of a piece of dry paper or fabric. Ink is placed on top of the screen, and a squeegee (rubber blade) is used to push the ink evenly into the screen openings and onto the substrate. The ink passes through the open spaces in the screen onto the paper or fabric below; the screen is lifted away and then the squeegee is pushed back across the screen, with the screen lifted, "flooding" the ink into the screen. The screen can be re-used after cleaning. If more than one color is being printed on the same surface, the ink is allowed to dry and then the process is repeated with another screen and different color of ink.

While the public thinks of garments in conjunction with screen printing, the technique is used on tens of thousands of items, including birthday cake designs, decals, clock and watch faces, and many more products. The vast majority of silk-screen printings are monochromatic.

Graphic screen printing is widely used today to create many mass or large batch produced graphics, such as posters or display stands. Full color prints can be created by printing in CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow and black). Screen printing is often preferred over other processes such as dye sublimation or inkjet printing be

OFFSET

In offset lithography, a printing plate, which is most often made from aluminum, contains an image of the content that needs to be printed. When the plate is inked, only this image part holds ink. That inked image is subsequently transferred (or offset) from the plate to a rubber blanket and then to the printing surface. The process can be used to print on paper, cardboard, plastic, or other materials, but these have to have a flat surface.

Below is a picture of a 4 color sheetfed printing press. At the far end is the intake where individual sheets of paper are automatically fed into the press. The 4 towers or printing units each print one color, typically black get printed first, followed by cyan, magenta, and yellow. The stack of printed sheets is visible on the front of the machine, underneath the press console & monitor which the press operator uses to control the press.

For higher volume work offset presses use rolls of paper. The picture below shows such a much larger web press. It is so fast that the printed paper needs to be force dried. The black unit at the end of the press is an oven.

SCREEN PRINTING

As its name implies, this printing technique relies on a screen, which is a woven piece of fabric. Certain areas of this mesh are coated with a non-permeable material. In the remaining open spaces, ink can be pushed through the mesh onto a substrate. The advantage of screen printing is that the surface of the recipient does not have to be flat and that the ink can adhere to a wide range of materials, such as paper, textiles, glass, ceramics, wood, and metal.

The image below shows a screen printing press that is used to print t-shirts.

REPEAT ADVERTISING

Repetition is used in advertising as a way to keep a brand or product in the forefront of consumer's minds. Repetition can build brand familiarity, but it can also lead to consumer fatigue, where consumers become so tired of an ad that they tune out or actively avoid the product. Therefore, to be effective, repetition must occur in the right proportion, as too much repetition may be counter-productive as an advertising strategy. Types of Repetition

The idea behind repetition is that when the consumer goes to buy a particular product, the name of your brand is the first one that comes to mind. There are several different types of advertising repetition. One is simply to repeat the same advertisement, such as a television commercial, over and over. For example, the same commercial may be broadcast at each ad break of a show.

Another way to use repetition is to place the product or brand in as many places as possible. For example, print ads in newspapers and magazines, television ads, radio ads and utilize product placement on television shows or in movies. Another type of repetition is to use ads that are produced with similar styles, but have a slightly different final product. For example, television ads that use the same actors, but in different scenarios.

INFORMATION ACQUISITION THROUGH REPETITION

Repetition is generally required before an ad registers with an audience. Some professionals refer to this process as the "wear-in." The exact number of views required to ensure the information is absorbed in the wear-in period is varied, as some ads are extremely effective at leaving an impact because they are designed extremely well. As audience members acquire the information distributed through ads, ad producers also hope to penetrate the audience's long- term memory, not just their short-term memory.

ATTITUDE FORMATION THROUGH REPETITION

As people are exposed to advertising repetition, their attitudes about the advertisement or brand will begin to form and remain in their minds, even if the exact phrasing of the ad does not. This attitude may be positive or negative. Most researchers theorize that the continued pairing of information and its brand through repetition always increases the brand's product awareness, and advertisers rely on this as they spend money to advertise their brand or business.

FORGETTING ADVERTISEMENTS

Inevitably, an audience will forget information over time. This, in essence, is why advertisers are consistently coming up with new ad campaigns and ways to get the word out about their product or business. One of the main goals of repetition in advertising is to reduce forgetting by reinforcing messages so the audience commits favorable attitudes and knowledge to long- term memory.

PUTTING REPETITION TO USE

Business owners and advertising professionals can use this information to make important decisions about how to use their advertising dollars. Repetition of exposure is generally a positive thing, to a point. When people are overexposed to an advertisement, they begin to show an adverse response. According to Professor Christie L. Nordhielm of Northwestern University, several studies have found that wear-out on advertisements happens after about three to 10 exposures. After this, positive attitudes decline.

00 ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN

An advertising campaign is a series of advertisement messages that share a single idea and theme which make up an integrated marketing communication (IMC). An IMC is a platform in which a group of people can group their ideas, beliefs, and concepts into one large media base. Advertising campaigns utilize diverse media channels over a particular time frame and target identified audiences.

The campaign theme is the central message that will be received in the promotional activities and is the prime focus of advertising campaign, as it sets the motif for the series of individual advertisements and other marketing communications that will be used. The campaign themes are usually produced with the objective of being used for a significant period but many of them are temporal due to factors like being not effective or market conditions, competition and marketing mix.

STEPS IN ADVERTISING CAMPAIGN 1. Market research: Before you even start thinking about where you might want to place an ad or even what it could look like, it’s important to do at least some basic research. Even if you aren’t in a position to bring in an expensive research firm, you can ask your current customers questions about why they come back to you, as well as taking a close look at your target demographic’s needs and interests. 2. Budgeting: Your business probably has a set advertising budget for the year — but how do you divvy it up between your various advertising projects? For each project you’re planning, you need to be clear on just how much money you’re willing to spend. You’ll almost certainly change exactly how you divide it between costs like copy writing and design, but you can treat the overall amount as set in stone. Write it down and put it in your project folder. 3. Setting goals: The aims you have in mind for a particular advertising project need to be written down ahead of time. While it’s good to be ambitious, it’s also important to decide what constitutes a successful advertising campaign for your business. Sales can be the simplest metric: if you’re advertising a particular product, how many units will you need to sell to pay for that campaign? 4. Advertising venue: The website, tv station, newspaper, radio station, magazine or other advertising venue you place your ad with is a crucial decision. You’ll need to look at not only the cost of your preferred venues but also whether they reach your target demographic. Ad buys can make up a significant portion of your budget. Deciding on where you will place your ads first tells you how much money you’ll have left over for actually creating your ad. 5. Choosing creative’s: Unless you’re planning to write, shoot and design every part of your ad, you’ll probably need to bring in some help. Finding the right freelancers for each aspect requires checking through portfolios and rates — if you can find a business or freelancer who can handle all aspects of creating your ad, even if that means subcontracting, it can save you a lot of time. You’ll also want to make sure that you find any talent you’ll need for your ad (voice actors for radio, models for photography and so on). 6. Design and wording: While you may not have a lot of actual writing and designing to do for your ad, during the creation process you will need to review and sign off on different stages of the project. When starting with a new designer or other creative, make sure that you both know any expectations for timelines and progress checks. 7. Placing the ad: Once you have a finished ad in hand, it’s time to actually place it with your preferred advertising venue. You may have a few contracts to sign and a check to hand over. You’ll also want to make sure you actually see your ad once it’s run — from a newspaper, for instance, you’ll want to see the tear sheets of pages containing your ad. 8. Evaluation: Depending on your ad, how you evaluate it can vary. If it included a coupon, for instance, you can simply count how many customers brought in the coupon. For other ads, you may be simply comparing sales before, during and after your advertising campaign. Spend as much time on analyzing how your advertising campaign worked as you can. That information can point you to more effective uses of advertising in the future.

UNIT - IV Sales force Management-Importance-sales force decision-sales force size-recruitment & selection-training-methods-motivating salesman Controlling - compensation & incentives-fixing sales territories-quota - Evaluation. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT? Sales force management systems are simply information systems whose purpose is helping an organization to grow better, faster, by organizing and partly automating the work that sales force and sales management. It is a customer relationship management platform. Often called CRM WHAT ARE THE MAJOR STEPS IN SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT?  Setting Objectives.  Recruitment and Selection. Recruitment process follows five stages:  Training.  Motivation and Compensation. Three types of compensations plans.  Evaluation of Salespeople. Quantitative measures of performance. Qualitative measures of performance.  Evaluation and Control of Total Sales Operation. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT – OBJECTIVES OF SFM

Objectives of sales force management are achieved through strategies. Policies provide the guidelines. Selling strategies have two dimensions – what type of salesforce is needed and how many of salespeople are needed. The overall size of the salesforce affects the number of calls made and the frequency with which they are made. A company takes into account its competitive setting, because this influences all its sales-related policies; which in turn affects the formulation of strategies. Marketing plans are long-term and strategic. Mostly, sales plan are short-term and tactical. A company may operate in pure competitive environment which is hardly found in practice, but makes our understanding of other types of competition more incisive. In practice, we may encounter monopolistic competition which is most common, or oligopolistic competition where there are, a number of competitors. Mostly, the qualitative personal selling objectives respond to the competitive setting in which an organisation operates. Qualitative objectives have a bearing on the sales job. A company may have the objective to rely 100 per cent upon personal selling. It then needs a larger and a trained salesforce. Another company relies more on advertising, and expects the salesperson to provide just the support service, and order booking service. It may do well with an ordinary salesforce, not so large in size. ADVANTAGES OF THE SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT i. Understanding the economic structure of an industry ii. Identifying segments within a market iii. Identifying a target market iv. Identifying the best customers in place v. Doing marketing research to develop profiles (demographic, psychographic, and behavioral) of core customers vi. Understanding competitors and their products vii. Developing new products viii. Establishing environmental scanning mechanisms to detect opportunities and threats ix. Understanding one’s company’s strengths and weaknesses x. Auditing customers’ experience of a brand in xi. Developing marketing strategies for each of one’s products using the marketing mix variables of price, product, distribution, and promotion xii. Coordinating the sales function with other parts of the promotional mix, such as advertising, sales promotion, public relations, and publicity xiii. Creating a sustainable competitive advantage xiv. Understanding where brands should be in the future, and providing an empirical basis to write marketing plans regularly to help get there xv. Providing input into feedback systems to help monitor and adjust the process. DISADVANTAGES OF THE SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT i. Difficulty in adopting the system ii. Too much of time spent on Data Entry iii. Losing personal touch in the process of automation iv. Labor process of continuous maintenance, information updating, information cleaning and system up gradations v. Cost involved in Sales Force Automation Systems and Maintenance vi. Difficulty in integration with other management information systems STRATEGY INFLUENCES THE STRUCTURE SALES FORCE (a) Territorial Sales Force Structure: A particular territory in which each sales person is assigned to sell company’s full line. Sales area is small so selling can be done more effectively. The sales man can understand the needs of the area and can design his strategy accordingly. This strategy is cost effective as well. (b) Product Sales Force Structure: It is used when the products are numerous, unrelated and complex. In this, sales force sells along the product line. Kodak films and industrial goods are sold by separate sales force, i.e. for industrial films technical sales force is there and a separate sales force sells commercial armature films. (iii) Sales Force Size: It denotes the number of employees. (iv) Compensation: Proper compensation is required. Both monetary and non-monetary compensation would complete the compensation plan. What does sales force mean?

Definition: The division of a business that's responsible for selling products or services. Evaluating your current sales force is an important step in the process of deciding whether and how to grow your sales team.

STEPS INVOLVE IN SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT

1) Designing sales force objective and strategy

2) Sales force size

3) Recruitment and selection

4) Training and motivation

5) Compensating

6) Supervising

7) Evaluation and control of sales people

1) Designing sales force structure and strategy – The objectives give foundation to the individual objectives of the salesmen. The objectives layout details on what the organisations focus will be. It can be focusing on new customers, new product, existing customers or existing products. Not only should the management focus on sales targets, but also market performance, customer relations and service, supporting the marketing functions. The objectives give platform for measuring the performance of the sales function and the salespeople

2) Sales force size – the size of the sales force is determined based on the market attractiveness, competition, budget allotted to sales function and other environmental factors. It becomes difficult to analyse these elements in the form of data to arrive at an exact size of the sales force but it definitely gives direction in arriving at a certain figure. Basis these influences, the management can make changes to the salespeople deployed.

3) Recruitment and selection – For a successful sales function it is imperative to have good salespeople. A perfect sales person can increase the customer base and profits for the organisation. The human resource department seeks applications via company’s website, print ads, contacting recruitment agencies, etc.

4) Training, Supervision and motivation – It is important that the salespeople are given ample training not only on the product but also on how the organisation functions. Once a salesperson associates himself/ herself with the organisation there is self-drive in the efforts. They need to identify with the organisation. The training should be effective to ensure the salesman is knowledgeable about the company’s product and the competition in the market. They need to be well versed in making sales pitch, handling customer’s queries and their key performance metrics.

5) Compensating – To ensure right sales people get selected there should be an appropriate compensation plan. Compensation involves elements like (1) fixed salary, (2) variable components like commission, rewards, bonus, etc., (3) expenses incurred in the field, and (4) fringe benefits (health benefits, company vehicle, club membership, etc.). The weightage to each of these elements should be assigned so as to give fair compensation as well as keep the salespeople motivated. It should justify the efforts and results given by the salesman and his/ her team. 6) Evaluation and control of sales people – The management has to evaluate and control the entire sales function as well as individual salespeople. For the sales function as a whole the management has to work on the training as well as proper allocation of resources to the assigned territories.

Sales Force Management: Recruitment, Training, Supervision and Sales Performance Evaluation RECRUITMENT AND SELECTION OF SALES FORCE: Recruitment involves searching for prospective candidates and encouraging them to apply for the job. Vacancies are finalised, advertised and applications are collected from interested candidates. Selection is concerned with choosing most suitable candidates out of many available or interested. Available candidates are scrutinised, tests and interviews are conducted to find out most suitable candidates. Salesman is the important corner-stone upon which sales organisation is built. Success or failure of the firm depends upon the type of salesman selected. Therefore, selection must be made carefully. It is the duty of the Sales Manager to select salesmen. Selecting a proper salesman is a major challenge due to a number of reasons: (a) Selling jobs becoming more difficult to perform because of the greater complexity of the products and services, the multiplicity of channels of distribution, etc. (b) Markets today are highly competitive. (c) Selling as a career or profession has not been fully accepted and hence, there is only limited number of salesmen who would qualify. (d) There is a noted absence of institutions where salesmanship is taught. Recruitment of salesmen involves the following processes: 1. Deciding the quantity of salesforce. 2. Determination of the characteristics and qualities to be possessed by the salesman. 3. Tapping the various sources of recruitment. 4. Careful selection of the candidates and finalising the employment. Process # 1. Deciding the Quantity of Sales force: Before the selection is undertaken, the Sales Manager should assess the need for sales force in quantitative terms, e.g., how many sales men are required, based on expansion of business and attrition due to retirement and resignation. 2. Determination of Characteristics and Qualities to Be Possessed By the Sales force: Job Description/Analysis: It is concerned with the determination of nature of duties and responsibilities involved in performing effectively a particular job. Job description is concerned with a job and not the individuals. It gives details of the job to be performed and the qualities and qualifications required. The man specification indicates the exact requirements needed for a particular job. On the basis of nature of duties, the requirements also may change. While planning man specification, emphasis should be given to the basic considerations- (i) Can he do the job? (ii) Will he do the job? Generally speaking, the following qualities are required of a salesman: i. General Qualities- Good personality, sound health, intelligence, honesty and integrity of character, sociability, consistency, and power of observation. ii. Particular Qualities- Educational qualifications, past experience, knowledge of the product, customers and market, languages known. iii. Technical Knowledge- Knowledge about the chemical or mechanical aspects of the product to be sold, knowledge of legal implications involved in the sales activities, etc. Process # 3. Source of Recruitment of Sales force: After job analysis and man-specification, every possible source should be tapped to select the most efficient salesman. The various sources are as follows: (a) Company’s own staff (promotion) (b) Competing firms (not ethical — higher salary) (c) Employment exchanges (d) Educational institutions (e) Situation Wanted’ columns of newspapers (f) ‘Situation Vacant’ advertisements (g) Casual applicants (h) Recommended candidates. (i) Placement agencies. 4. Selection of Salesforce: From these sources, applications are received and screening of the applications is made. Applications which satisfy the job descriptions and man-specifications are only considered for selection. The selected applicants are called for psychological test. If they fare well in the above two they will be referred from the referees mentioned by the applicants. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT 2. TRAINING OF SALES FORCE: There is an old belief that “Salesmen are born and not made.” Once in a while, we may come across a salesman who is capable of selling a refrigerator to an Eskimo, but this is rare. The salesman has to educate the customers about products, sell the same with benefit to the customer and profit for the company. Therefore, he should have excellent knowledge about products, competition, market dynamics, buying motives, and selling skills. NEED FOR TRAINING OF SALES FORCE: The need of training salesman arises from the fact that a newly appointed salesman does not have the knowledge about the product he has to sell. He may not have knowledge about customers and buying motives. He may not know how to sell the product or how to present them to the prospective buyers. Even old salesman need training to acquaint them with the new products of the firm or those of the competitors, to explain to them the improved sales technique or simply as a refresher course. The extent of training will depend upon following: 1. How difficult and complicated is the selling job concern? 2. The level of education and previous training the salesman possesses. 3. Previous selling experience of the salesmen. 4. The type of buyer to be approached. In case of an expert buyer, more knowledge of the product to be sold is the absolute necessity. In general, a good training scheme would include the following: Training Scheme (1) Basic Principle of Salesmanship: Salesmen, to be effective in their sales efforts, should know fully the buying motives of customers and the selling points of the products. They should be well-versed with the methods of approaching the customers. They should know the effective way of arousing the interest in the product and the art of creating desire for it. They should be able to meet the objections raised by the customers. The training programme should stress on the AIDA formula to explain and build the sales presentation. A – Attention – How to get it? I – Interest – How to arouse it? D – Desire – How to develop it? A – Action – How to bring about decision to buy? Training Scheme (2) Knowledge of the Firm: The salesman should be well informed about the company i.e., history of the company, its organisational set up, the name it has earned, achievement records, sales policies, distribution policies, customer’s service provided by the company, selling outlets, (channels) and so on. Knowledge about the firm’s goodwill and its selling policies goes a long way to inject a sense of pride in the salesmen and enable them to do their job as per the firm’s policy. Training Scheme (3) Knowledge of the Product: To be successful in increasing the sales volume of a product, salesmen should possess the requisite knowledge of the product. Good physical appearance alone will not help him to sell the product. Therefore, a salesman must have a detailed knowledge regarding- nature of the product, methods of production, materials used, method of packing, uses of the product, etc. This knowledge could be gained only out of properly organised training by the company. Training Scheme (4) Knowledge about the Customers: A salesman must have a perfect knowledge of customers to whom the products are to be sold. Furthermore, consumers are human beings and their behaviour would be different from one another. Their buying motives would be different from one another. Each customer would be different as to the nature and type. Training Scheme (5) Knowledge of Competitors: Apart from the knowledge regarding the firm represented by the salesman and its products, they must possess the knowledge relating to their products and policies of the competing firm. Training Scheme (6) Matters Pertaining to the Day to Day Work: Salesman should also be given training to know the following: (a) To draft periodical reports to the firm (b) Receipt of and replying letters (c) Preparation of orders and bills (d) Maintenance of accounts (e) Arrangements of display and demonstration of products. (7) Knowledge of self- This is partly a personal quality and partly to be developed by constant self-training. Every individual has certain strengths, weaknesses, and limitations. In order to become an effective salesperson, one should seek knowledge in all relevant subjects and apply the same in day-to-day work. This can be achieved by developing regular reading habits, upgrade technical knowledge, managerial and selling skills. He has to improve skills in communication, public-speaking and presentations. Advantages of Training the Salesforce: A firm having well-designed training schemes gains the following advantages: Greater Sales Volume: A scientifically designed training programme helps to increase the sales volume. Reduces Cost of Production: Increased selling helps to reduce cost of production. Early Selling Maturity: Training reduces the time to be spent by the salesman with each customer in convincing him about the product. Lowers Supervision Cost: In the case of untrained salesmen, sales manager and the other supervisory staff have to pay more visits than those needed in the case of trained salesmen to keep a check on their work. Lowers Turnover of Salesforce: Proper training makes the salesman well-prepared for the field work. This results in reduced number of salesmen leaving their job. This lower rate of turnover gives the advantage of reduced costs of recruitment, selection and training of salesmen. Better Customer Relations: A scientifically trained salesman knows how to deal with a particular sales situation. He does not oversell, e.g., he does not sell the wrong quality or type of goods. The salesman advises the customers in business also. Therefore, a cordial pleasant personal relationship with the customer is established. This makes frequent visits to book repeat orders possible. Methods of Training: Individual Methods: (1) Initial or Break-In Training: The trainee is asked to work in different departments and study for himself. He may be guided but often left free. After a specific period, he would be asked to work in his field. (2) Special Assignments: Slightly easier assignments are given and his capacity in handling problems is watched. Shortcomings, if any, are brought to his notice for future guidance e.g., senior and junior lawyers. (3) Field Coaching: The newly recruited salesman is asked to work along with an experienced salesman in the field. This method creates self-confidence, enthusiasm in the newly recruited salesman. (4) Sales Manuals: These are tailored books where a number of problems are stated together with suggested answers. This is prepared out of company’s past experience and might contain valuable information. These are given to salesman for self-study. Group Methods: (1) Lecture Method: This is the easiest and quickest method of imparting information to the trainees. Most of the training methods are based on this principle, simply because of its assured success. It is theoretically-oriented and the practical aspects are ignored. In spite of these defects, lecture method forms the cornerstone of various training methods. (2) Audio-Visual Methods: It is a ‘telling and showing’ method. This method is often used as a supplementary to the lecture method. The visual aids such as filmstrips, slides, charts, posters, etc., are capable of providing more exposition to the lectures and making it more interesting. Demonstration is possible under this method. (3) Conference Method: Sales conference and seminars are usual nowadays with most organisations. Such methods are useful in sharing the experiences of the experienced people. However, it is not a good method of training for the newly recruited salesmen. (4) Discussion and Case Method: For those who have basic knowledge on the subject this method is quite good. A particular problem is given to various groups and each group is asked to discuss it and put forward its suggestions. Later on, all these suggestions are analysed by all the groups together. This enables to have a correct idea of the problem, and a better solution. (5) Role-Playing: Under this method, each participant is asked to play a role. A situation is suggested and each one will have to act just like what he is expected to do in real-life situation. This method is a lively one and uses confidence in taking independent decisions. Later on the role played by the participants is analysed and the shortcomings are pointed out. C. On-the-Job Methods: This method stresses practice-oriented training. (1) Field Training: The new representative works in the field meeting various categories of customers. (2) Job Rotation: The salesman is trained in all departments and he would be asked to work in all sections of each department. This would give him a clear idea of inter-departmental relationship, which would give him an idea about the company. Further, he may also be asked to work in the factory to know how products are processed. All these would give him enough tools to overcome the resistance of the customers in the sales field. Off-the-Job Method: Many associations generally issue journals, bulletins and other publications to enable their members to perform their duties more promptly and efficiently. The salesperson can become a member of such associations to upgrade his knowledge and skills. Follow-Up Training: Training is not temporary but should be continuous. Even the trained salesmen require periodic training termed as ‘refresher training’ or ‘follow-up training.’ Periodic training is essential as frequent changes are always encountered in the marketing scene. Change in consumer preferences, changes in Government policy, change in product, etc. in order to make the salesman abreast of all these developments, constant training is essential. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT 3. REMUNERATION OF SALES FORCE: Man is a wanting animal. An employee is never contended with what is given to him. He always wants more remuneration. Therefore, remuneration is an evergreen challenge to any business or service. It is more so to a sales organisation. Success of a firm using salesmen to increase sales volume at minimum selling cost depends upon a contended, efficient and loyal salesforce and are closely related to the method by which sales efforts of the salesmen are compensated for. Why pay well? The importance of paying well cannot be over-estimated. There are certain basic reasons as to why the salesforce is to be paid well. Reason # (1) To Attract Best Salesmen: Gifted and talented salesmen can be attracted only when a firm is prepared to reward amply the services rendered. There is no harm in paying a little more than others, as it pays in terms of improved level of performance. Reason # (2) To Keep Salesforce Contended: There is a direct link between payment made to them and the satisfaction. Man performs his duties, looks after well and then he is happy and contended or satisfied. A satisfied employee puts heart and soul together to maximise the work performance. Reason # (3) To Build Up Loyalty: The aim of sound sales organisation is to build not only competent salesforce but to have people who are prepared to serve for a long time. Loyal staff makes the organisation rich. Good pay- masters have this advantage “pay well and keep the employee” is the watch-word. A loyal staff avoids problems of recruitment, selection, and training and, therefore, the dilemmas of labour turnover. Reason # (4) To Guarantee Sound Employer-Employee Relation: Misunderstandings normally arise due to many matters and disparity in treatment. Salesforce of one selling house compares the pay with that of others in the sales line. If there is disparity, the morale of salesmen is affected. Handsomely paid, well-treated salesmen have no scope for grudges or grumbling and as such relations would be sound, with the utmost harmonised effort. Elements of a Good Remuneration Plan: A good remuneration plan should fulfil the following requirements. Fulfilment of these requirements will make it a sound plan, which will help in developing a loyal salesforce. Loyalty will ensure long service with the firm. Thus, salesmen turnover will be reduced. Element # (1) Should provide adequate income to maintain a decent standard of living compared to that enjoyed by others in the same line. Element # (2) Simplicity: It should be easily understood by salesmen of average intelligence without any training in accountancy or statistics. Salesmen are suspicious of any plan that they do not understand completely and, as such, it weakens the confidence and lowers the morale. Element # (3) Flexibility: The plan so designed must be capable of being adapted to various selling conditions. For instance, the firm introducing a new product, commission schemes will work out more profitable. On the contrary, in the case of a regular product, salary system can be relied upon. Thus, the variable makes it flexible to ensure satisfactory results. Element # (4) Incentive Oriented: Monetary reward for extra effort is really a nice and wise stimulus to many of the salesmen who exceed the normal performance level. Such additional amount results in increased volume of sales. It may be in the form of bonus or commission. It is to give an impression that the salesmen are compensated for extra ordinary performance. Element # (5) Low Administration Cost: The cost of administration of the plan, i.e., the need of help from accountants and clerks, etc. for computing salesmen’s earnings should be as low as possible. Element # (6) Fairness: It must be fair to both the firm and salesmen. Also, there should not be any room for discrimination against or favour for any individual salesman. Element # (7) It Is Prompt in Payment: It is already said that the remuneration should be incentive- oriented. The incentives that are added must be given to the workers earlier, to have deep- rooted effects upon the minds of the workers. Many times, bonus earnings are declared but are held up to a quarter, semi-annual and year end. This delay in paying weakens the desire on the part of employees. By the time he receives the payment, he might have lost his interest and enthusiasm. At times, delayed payments of such incentives will induce labour turnover. Therefore, as soon as entitled and earned, they must be paid. Element # (8) Promotion: Provisions should be made for increase in salary when a person promotes and also reward employees for a long service. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT # 4. SUPERVISION: Supervision means overseeing employees at work. Overseeing of performance is done at all levels of management. High degree of overseeing is required in the case of salesforce who are constantly on the move. Supervision involves both the direction (motivation) and control of salesmen and the continuous development of their abilities. Sales Manager as a supervisor and leader must know his men, their needs, attitudes, aspirations, and perceptions. Supervision must be tailored to the needs of the individual salesman. Thus, supervision consists of the following: (a) Observing, monitoring and reporting the performance of the salesforce, (b) Counselling and coaching salespeople to remove the defects and weaknesses in their performances. (c) Giving them adequate information regarding company plans and policies and changes in those policies. (d) Receiving feedback and solving their business and personal problems. (e) Motivating the salespeople through appropriate non-financial incentives in order to satisfy egoistic demands of salespeople. Sales supervision is directly concerned with the basic need of motivating salesmen by satisfying their needs for security, opportunity, self-expression, respect and good conditions of work. In addition, it involves training and re-training, evaluation of performance, providing two-way flow of communication for best understanding, and improving the personal effectiveness of salesmen. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT # 5. MOTIVATION OF SALESMEN: Ability or capacity to work is different from the will to work. You can buy a man’s time; his physical presence at a given place; his muscular motions per hour or day. But you cannot buy his willingness to work, his enthusiasm or his loyalty. Motivation is the act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a desired course of action, to push the right button to get a desired action, a compliment, a pay-rise, a smile, a promise of promotion, praise, public recognition of merits and so on. Motivation ignites the will to work. It moves people to take a desired action. Motivation can be either financial or non-financial. Sales contests, conventions and conferences are examples of motivating salesforce. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT # 6. CONTROL OF SALES FORCE: Control is the act of checking or verifying whether everything occurs in conformity with one charted in the plans. Supervision and control of salesmen is essential for a sales organisation to achieve maximum success. However scientific the selection and training of salesmen may be, it is the duty of the Sales Manager to evolve effective and purposive method of supervising, directing and controlling the activities of the salesmen, so as to secure the most effective and economical performance from them. Apart from the fact that salesmen are after all human beings, the need of supervision and control arises basically out of the following factors: Need # (1) To Enhance the Efficiency of Salesforce: The actual sales effected at each branch of each territory are brought to the notice of sales executives from time to time. This actually can be compared to the targets and deviation or discrepancies can be curbed by taking corrective actions. By means of constant supervision and control the salesmen are indirectly forced to be active, not to lag behind. Need # (2) To Ensure Co-Ordination in the Efforts: Salesman works independently, often at a long distance from the Sales Manager. Therefore, co- ordination and co-regulation of salesman’s efforts become necessary. Need # (3) Nature of Salesforce Demands Controlling: Salesmen are unique in the sales organisation. There are some people who die for the organisation and as devoted people they require no supervision or control. There are people who make the unit die in the absence of strict control and supervision. To make all people to move to the charted course, control of salesmen is a must. Thus, the nature of salesmen demands control. Need # (4) To Have Sound Public Relations: The aim of controlling is not only to secure raise in the profitability but to lay down solid foundations of sales by carving good public relations, i.e., control envisages the guidance and direction of the personnel, to establish good relations with the public and maintain goodwill in the market. Kotler says, “Of all the assets, customers are the most valuable one.” If a firm fails in the eyes of general public, it dies its unwanted premature death. How Control is exercised? The ways of controlling are: reports and records, fixing sales territory and quotas, deciding of authority, and field supervision and remuneration plans. Way # 1. Reports and Records: Salesmen are asked to send reports periodically. These reports may be daily, weekly or monthly. These reports portray valuable information relating to: number of calls made by him; total value and volume of sales transacted, number of new customers contacted and amount of sales turned out; number of old customers lost and the reasons for item-wise expenses; facts regarding credit- standing of customers; selection made; bad debts arising out, impact of publicity and sales- promotion activities; extent and nature of competition; compliance and adjustments from customers. Way 2. Fixing Sales Territories and Sales Quotas: (a) Sales Quota: Quota is the amount of business the Sales Manager fixes for every salesman. It is the target that a salesman is to attain. First the Sales Manager plans the amount of business achieved. Then he allocates quota for each territory. The quota may be fixed for a year or a month or a quarter or for six months. The objectives of sales quota are: (i) To provide a basis for remuneration for sales force, (ii) The sales quota is the most feasible way of measuring the effectiveness of individual salesmen, (iii) Quota system stimulates selling effort of salesmen because no salesman would like his sales falling below the quota. (iv) To plan and control the selling activities and to infuse the spirit of competition amongst the salesmen. (b) Sales Territories: Sales territory implies a geographical area assigned to a salesman for the purpose of marketing the products of the company. Most firms divide the markets into specific geographical area or zones. Each salesman is assigned a particular zone in which he is to carry out his selling activities. The geographical area of the zone allotted to a salesman is in his sales territory. Usually sales territories are determined on the basis of demand for the products, the extent of competition and available means of transportation, types of customers and the capacity of salesman. Objectives of Establishing Sales Territories: Objective # (a) To Perform Contractual Functions: Sales territories are established to attain a thorough coverage of potential market for product. The objective of contacting prospects and old customers can hardly be achieved, unless such a sales territory is assigned to a salesman. Personnel solicitation is facilitated. Objective # (b) To Compare the Individual Performance: Allocation of sales territory provides an excellent opportunity to compare the performance of salesman, such a study of particular territory reveals the potentiality of the market; and the actual sales volume secured by an individual salesman is compared with his potentialities. Objective # (c) To Fix the Responsibility: The responsibilities of Sales Managers and their talks are clearly defined through territorial assignments. This has an effect of developing a sense of responsibility towards his job. He tries to fulfil his commitments. That is, the activities of each sales manager can be evaluated and controlled. Objective # (d) To Minimise Sales Expenses: Such territorial assignments are made in order to minimise the sales expenses and maximise the sales efforts. It is so because wastage of time and energy is avoided by defining the sales tasks. Objective # (e) To Motivate Salesmen: Fixing a sales territory allows full freedom to the Sales Manager to use his ability and skills to maximise sales turnover as there is little interference. Benefits of Sales Territory: (a) Activities of each sales manager can be more effectively controlled and evaluated, (b) Market potentialities of each territory can be more fully tapped, (c) Sales efforts can be more easily planned and duplication and overlapping of efforts of sales managers are avoided, (d) It provides incentive to sales manager to increase more sales in his territory. Way # 3. Deciding the Authority of Sales Manager: Often sales managers are the only persons who have contact with customers and salespersons in whose contact customers of the firm come. For customers they are the firm. Therefore, sales managers and their authority must be well defined and clearly stated. Usually, catalogues and price lists put limit on the authority of Sales Manager. Way # 4. Field Supervision: Control does not pose any problem so long as business is smaller and is confined to a limited area of operation, where salesmen are working under the very nose of the sales manager. In case of business houses with widespread business over a vast area, supervision is a must. Example- In large Pharma companies, thousands of medical representatives are employed. SALES FORCE MANAGEMENT # 7. EVALUATION OF SALES PERFORMANCE: Human beings do have unlimited potential for growth and development, provided there is right work-environment and the right direction, guidance and help is given by management. The performance appraisal or evaluation is based on this firm belief in human resource development. Sound evaluation assures superior performance. There are three reasons to evaluate or appraise the performance of salespeople- (i) To measure performance against planned sales and marketing objectives, (ii) To distribute rewards for performance, and (iii) To guide the development of sales force. Effective Sales Performance Measures: Salesman’s performance can be measured by a number of factors, such as ability to sell a satisfactory volume, ability to sell at a profit, ability to sell at a low cost, ability to plan and organise his time and efforts, knowledge of products, policies, customers and competition, ability to attract and hold customers, etc. The salesmen’s reports and records are used in evaluating performance. Sales quotas also enable in evaluating performance. SALES COMPENSATION PLAN A sale compensation plan refers to the determination of the right compensation schemes and application of it to the sales force to bring a balance between compensation and the sales force performance. Sale Compensation is an integral part of an employee’s sustenance and survival which has a motivational element also. An organization always wants to draw an effective compensation plan to make their employees content and motivated. In a broad sense, compensation is a kind of employee reward. An organization lays an effective reward system management that works for the selection of rewards and its distribution to the employees. Sales Compensation Plan – Aims and Characteristics of SCP Sale Compensation plan (SCP) is a part of strategic marketing plan. It is the line managers and their subordinates who are ultimately responsible for the implementation of these plans. A sound compensation plan should be consistent with the strategic marketing plan because it is linked to sales force motivation, coordination, and control. Satisfaction with the compensation schemes stimulates the salespeople to exert more selling efforts and achieve better results. Managers, too, can lead and supervise salespeople easily. A good compensation plan is crucial for the financial health of the firm. It consolidates the position of the firm on both the financial and human resources. Characteristics of a Good Compensation Plan: Following are the characteristics of a good compensation plan:

1. It is consistent with the position held by a salesperson and the job description laid down for such a position. 2. It decides the right salary and other benefits befitting the position and is at least in conformity with the prevalent salary structure for such a position in the industry. 3. It acts as a catalyst to improve the productivity of the organization. 4. Money is a great motivator. It acts in this direction. It provides satisfaction and security to the sales force. 5. It helps to improve the financial health of the employees, organization, and the society at large. 6. It does not distract the team spirit and the group cohesion within the sales force. CHARACTERISTICS OF A GOOD COMPENSATION PLAN 1. A compensation plan must provide a living and fair wage. It should ideally give a secure income; as monetary difficulties prevent the employees to put in their best. 2. It should be integrated to the motivational programme. 3. It should be fair and should ensure equal pay for equal work. 4. It should be easy to understand. Each employee should be in a position to compute his own salary. 5. It should be flexible enough to accommodate changes in salary as per performance. 6. It should be economical to administer. 7. It should further the objectives of the sales organisation.

SALES QUOTA – MEANING It is an expected performance objective. Quotas are routinely assigned to the sales units, such as departments, divisions, and individuals, and they proceed to reach at these quotas in their respective domain. They are sales assignments or goals, which are to be achieved in a specific period of time. Sales quotas are the sum of the total sales of a future period and duties to achieve the component of total sales by each salesperson are handed down to them at the beginning of the period. According to Philip Kotler, ‘A sales quota is the sales goal set for a product line, company division, or sales representative. It is primarily a managerial device for defining and stimulating sales effort. MAIN CHARACTERISTICS SALES QUOTA 1. It is the sales goals set for a product as well as of a salesman. 2. There is a time-dimension of a sales quota. 3. Sales quotas are assigned to salesmen, middlemen, or a branch 4. It requires a desired level of performance. 5. It is a managerial tool of direction and control of sales activities. 6. Sales quotas are determined on the basis of sales forecasting, sales potential, estimates of costs, and other market studies. 7. The success of sales quotas system will depends on accuracy of data and information used for forecasting. 8. It helps to generate a hearty and a cordial relation between the salespeople and the sales managers. 9. It is simple and very easy for the salespeople to understand. The sales managers find no difficulty to apprise them on the plan. 10. It is flexible so that future changes in the compensation structure can easily be accommodated. 11. One of its components (particularly variable part such as – commissions, bonuses, etc.,) has a direct relationship with the sales force performance. Objectives in setting quotas are as follows: 1. For determining the goals of salesman, sales territory, sales department, or branch office. 2. For evaluating the market territories in respect of prospects of sales and marketing situations 3. For balanced growth of market territories. The territories where the sales are comparatively lower, efforts can be made for increasing the sales. 4. To motivate the salesman towards achievements of the prescribed quota within the prescribed time. 5. For facilitating the sales manager to evaluate the salesman’s productivity. In case of failure to achieve the set quota, the reasons for which can be analyzed. 6. For the development of effective remunerative plans for the salesman. Those who achieve more than the prescribed quota are provided with commission or bonus. 7. To control the activities of salesman and to encourage them to achieve the prescribed quota within the prescribed time limit. 8. For controlling of sales expenses by fixing a limit on every sales quota allotted. 9. For facilitating to evaluate the results of sales contests. Certain minimum sales quota is fixed for each salesman to be achieved, to ensure his participation in sales contests. 10. Sales quotas serve as the basis for preparing the budget for advertising and sales promotion. 11. It is the basis to define the rights and duties of every salesman, sales department or a branch. 12. It is the basis to avoid the duplication of activities as the rights and duties of every salesman, sales department or branch office are clearly defined in advance. SALES QUOTA – IMPORTANCE There are essentially three reasons for the use of sales quota. The sales managers use the sales quota for motivating salespeople. People with a mind to achieve higher things like the concept of sales quota due to its objectivity in measurement and subsequent linking with the reward system. They also get a feedback on their performance through the achievement of quota in the organization. In a multi-product situation, the salespeople are directed to put their efforts in specific product categories that enable them to know where to concentrate for achieving the organizational goal. Quotas always lead organizations towards management by exception. This means that the management focuses attention on the people who are highly performance oriented, and takes care of their interests in the organizational policies. Similarly, managers can devote more time to people who are poor performers, and attention can be given to their knowledge and skill building to improve their efficiency. SALES TERRITORIES: INTRODUCTION, MEANING, CHARACTERISTICS, SIZE, FACTORS, OBJECTIVES, DETERMINANTS, SETTING UP AND OTHER DETAILS WHAT IS SALES TERRITORIES ? The idea behind the creation of sales territories is to match the sales opportunities with the selling effort. A salesman is given a group of similar customers and prospects for servicing. This assignment by itself facilitates the planning and control of the sales operations. Each territory has its own strong and weak points and management can use these strategically. Sales planning is with respect to the territories created. In a heterogeneous market, a territory is comparatively more homogenous. A territorial division also brings out an element of effectiveness in the sales operations. It also helps the appraisal of the sales effort. What is Sales Territories – Characteristics 1. Sales territory is a geographical area containing a number of present and potential customers. 2. Different groups of customers are formed by a firm through allotment of territories. 3. It is a group of customers or geographical area assigned to a salesman. 4. It is the area that can be effectively and economically served by a single salesman. Sales Territory Planning and Management: 1. Research the geographical area 2. Divide the area on the basis of population, accessibility, potential etc. 3. Study the consumer behaviour of the territory 4. Assess the revenue potential from the respective territories 5. Analyze the hurdles that may be present in the territories 6. Define the products suitable for the territory 7. Probe further to find out specific needs and wants of the people within the territory 8. Prepare a plan for each territory with quotas and tasks to be accomplished 9. Appoint sales people or sales team for each territory 10. Monitor and track the performance of each territory 11. Review sales people performance for each territory, and 12. Avoid overlapping territory because it causes conflict among the sales people What is Sales Territories – SIZE OF SALES TERRITORIES There are various factors that influence the size of a sales territory. For a sales manager, an understanding of these factors will aid in deciding on the size of the sales territory. These factors include the nature and demand of the product, mode of physical distribution, the selling process, and transport and communication facilities in the overall market and territory. Factors to be Kept in Mind while Allocating Sales Territories According to Gauss, Whiteman and Bates, the following factors may be kept in mind while allocating the sales territories: 1. Even distribution coverage (uniform distribution) – While allocating the sales territories for each salesman, the Sales Manager should keep in mind that the size of territories to be allotted should be in optimum size, as far as possible. An optimum size will help the salesman to provide his services with pleasure and willingness. 2. Elimination of duplication of activities – While allocating sales territories, care should be given to avoid duplication of activities. A salesman may be given a specified territory for operation at a given time. 3. Equal opportunity – While allocating sales territories, care should be given to have equal distribution of responsibilities and opportunities for all the salesmen. 4. Flexibility in allocation – The allocation of territory may be made flexible so that whenever the sales manager feels it necessary to change the territory between salesmen, he may do so very easily. But, as far as possible, such changes should be avoided. 5. Controllable – The allocation of sales territories may be made in such a way so as to exercise control over the sales functions, at minimum costs. 6. Capable of comparative study – The allocation of sales territories may be made in such a way so that a comparative study of sales opportunities and achievement, and job performance of each salesman can be evaluated well. 7. Uniformity in income – The allotment of territories may be made in such way that all the salesman should get an average of equal income. Inequality in income may develop dissatisfaction among the salesmen. 8. Economical – The allocation of sales territories should be made in such a way that the traveling expenses of salesman, sales managers and other sales personnel may come at the minimum. Maximum services at minimum costs should be the policy to be followed. 9. Efficient performance – Allocation of sales territories should be made in such a way that every salesman may get the motivation to discharge his functions in most efficient manner. 10. Allocation to new salesmen – New salesman may not be given the entire responsibility of a sales territory. FACTORS WHICH DETERMINE THE SIZE OF A SALES TERRITORY: (i) Prospect density or the number of prospects in the specified area. (ii) The extent of ground to be serviced. (iii) Possible volume of sales, (iv) Frequency of visits necessary. (v) Intensity of selling effort required during each call. (vi) Ease with which one can travel within the territory and the mode of transport available. (vii) The inventory turnover at the retail level. (viii) Whether it is easy to sell the product or difficult. As a rule, the smaller the territory, the better it is for travelling, and the greater the depth of selling effort. SALES TERRITORIES – OBJECTIVES 1. To facilitate effective sales planning. 2. To cover and manage the entire market. 3. To assign salesmen’s responsibility for a particular territory. 4. For a better evaluation of performance of the salesmen. 5. To reduce the selling costs. 6. To facilitate coordination in marketing functions. 7. To make the marketing research functions. 8. Development of fair competition among all sales persons. 9. To improve the customer relations. 10. To appoint salesmen matching with the territory and customers. 11. Independent work area for each salesman. 12. To compete effectively with competing institutions. NEED FOR ESTABLISHING SALES TERRITORIES INCLUDES: 1. To provide proper market coverage. 2. To control selling expenses. 3. To assist evaluating performance sales personnel. 4. To contribute to sales force morale, and 5. To help in the coordination of personnel selling and advertising efforts. UNIT -V Sales promotion: Meaning-methods-promotional strategy-marketing communication and persuasion-promotional instruments: advertising -techniques of sale promotion-consumer and dealers promotion. After sales service-packing – guarantee - Personal selling- Objectives - Salesmanship-Process of personal selling-types of salesman.

SALES PROMOTION Sales promotion is the process of persuading a potential customer to buy the product. Sales promotion is designed to be used as a short-term tactic to boost sales – it is rarely suitable as a method of building long-term customer loyalty. Some sales promotions are aimed at consumers. OBJECTIVES OF SALES PROMOTION 1. Launch a new product. If you're going to expand and turn your small coffee shop into a bakery, you need to reach new market segments. You can attract new customers by offering a free cookie with each cup of coffee or suggest visitors set their own price once in a while. 2. Attract new clients. This objective should be your long-term goal since it allows your business to grow. Your potential clients are likely your competitors' customers, so analyzing their product and benefits, you can offer something more valuable. 3. Stay competitive. Researching and analyzing your competitors will not only help you attract new clients but constantly improve your product and customer service. 4. Make existing customers buy more. It's always easier to make an existing customer buy more than attract new clients. Provide each client with a personalized approach — it will help you build customer loyalty. As a result, clients will promote your brand organically. 5. Sell during the off-season. Goods like swimwear, boats, tents, air conditioners, refrigerators are definitely more popular in summer but you should consider special strategies to sell them throughout the year. Offer time-limited discounts, "1+1=3" campaigns, and other marketing tricks. 6. Run clearance campaigns. They're especially popular before summer and winter. As dealers need to make room for a new collection, they often run total clearance campaigns when users can buy goods from old collections at extremely reduced prices.

SALES PROMOTION TECHNIQUES

1. Discounts. This technique is as old as the hills. Small companies and big corporations use this method to sell more. One of the reasons it's so popular, even today, is that discounts are great for both consumers and retailers. 2. Time-limited offers. This technique works even better than a big discount. With this trick, marketers manage to create a sense of urgency and fear of missing out on their products. 3. Seasonal promotions. People often buy ski suits in summer and air conditioners in winter to save money. Selling products during off-seasons can be a real challenge, so we strongly recommend you to run seasonal promotions. Sell items from old collections at reduced prices and don't forget to advertise your campaign via email and social media. 4. “1+1=3". "Buy one and get one for free" and "Buy 2 items and get the third one for free" are very familiar marketing tricks. Such campaigns help you sell products at a low price or save money shopping together with a friend. Retailers can significantly boost sales with this technique reinforcing clearance sales. 5. Holiday promotions. Christmas, New Year's Eve, Halloween, International Women's Day, and Valentine's Day are great chances to skyrocket sales. 6. Gifts. Who doesn't like freebies? If you are a startup or about to launch a new product, go for this technique. 7. Contests. Competitions are a great opportunity to boost user engagement and increase brand awareness and sales. You can let your audience to create a slogan for your brand, a new advertising message, design, or share creative ideas on how to use your product in an unusual way. Make sure that the prize correlates with the effort spent on participating in your contest. 8. Reward points. You definitely should reward clients who buy from you regularly - people love brands that appreciate their choice. 9. Special prices. Marketers usually run a 1-day campaign when users can buy everything at a fixed price. These prices usually look tempting for users and they can’t overcome the feeling of missing out. The goal may be an annual clearance of goods. You can set a fixed price for each product category of your store. For example, sweaters for $5.99, jeans for $9.99, coats for $15.99. This technique works. 10. First-purchase coupons. It always takes time for people to give money to a new store especially when buying expensive products. To make them think over the purchase faster, offer a special incentive. 11. Free shipping. Very often users leave your site without buying just because of expensive delivery options. To win back these potential clients, you can run a time-limited campaign that allows them to receive their orders for free if they spend a certain amount of money. If you sell medium-priced goods, do not make this fixed sum too high. Otherwise, people won’t fall for this trick.

MARKETING COMMUNICATION Definition: The Marketing Communication refers to the means adopted by the companies to convey messages about the products and the brands they sell, either directly or indirectly to the customers with the intention to persuade them to purchase. ELEMENTS OF MARKETING COMMUNICATION MIX

Advertising: It is an indirect, paid method used by the firms to inform the customers about their goods and services via television, radio, print media, online websites etcAdvertising is one of the most widely used methods of communication mix wherein the complete information about the firm’s product and services can be communicated easily with the huge target audience coverage. Sales Promotion: The sales promotion includes the several short-term incentives to persuade the customers to initiate the purchase of the goods and services. This promotion technique not only helps in retaining the existing customers but also attract the new ones with the additional benefits.Rebates, discounts, paybacks, Buy- one –get- one free scheme, coupons, etc. are some of the sales promotion tools. Events and Experiences: Several companies sponsor the events such as sports, entertainment, nonprofit or community events with the intention to reinforce their brand in the minds of the customers and create a long term association with them. The name of the firm sponsoring the event can be seen on the playground boundaries, player’s jerseys, trophies, awards in the entertainment shows, hoardings on stage, etc. Public Relations and Publicity: The companies perform several social activities with a view to creating their positive brand image in the market. The activities that companies are undertaking such as, constructing the public conveniences, donating some portion of their purchase to the child education, organizing the blood donation camps, planting trees, etc. are some of the common moves of enhancing the Public Relations. Direct Marketing: With the intent of technology, the companies make use of emails, fax, mobile phones, to communicate directly with the prospective customers without involving any third party in between. Interactive Marketing: Interactive Marketing has recently gained popularity as a marketing communication tool, wherein the customers can interact with the firms online and can get their queries resolved online. Amazon is one of the best examples of interactive marketing wherein the customers make their choice and can see what they have chosen or ordered in the recent past. Also, Several websites offer the platform to the customers wherein they ask questions and get the answers online such as answer.com. Word-of- Mouth Marketing: It is one of the most widely practiced method of communication tool wherein customer share their experiences with their peers and friends about the goods and services they bought recently.This method is very crucial for the firms because the image of the brand depends on what customer feels about the brand and what message he convey to others. Personal Selling: This is the traditional method of marketing communication wherein the salesmen approach the prospective customers directly and inform them about the goods and services they are dealing in. It is considered as one of the most reliable modes of communication because MARKETING COMMUNICATION – TYPES i. Personal Selling: Personal selling consists of person-to-person communication between the sales persons and their prospects. Unlike advertising, it involves personal interactions between the source and the destination. Advertising aims at group the shotgun approach; while personal selling aims at individuals the right approach. Sales persons are in a position to tailor their messages according to the unique characteristics of each prospect. ii. Sales Promotion: According to the American Marketing Association, sales promotion consists of those marketing activities, other than personal selling, advertising, and publicity, that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness, such as displays, shows and expositions, demonstrations, and various non-recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine. iii. Publicity: Publicity is a means of promoting the mass market, and is similar to advertising, except that it is free, is found in the editorial portion of the news media, and pertains to newsworthy events. The most common type of publicity are news releases (also known as press releases), photographs and feature stories. iv. Public Relations: Marketers engage in public relations in order to develop a favourable image of their organizations and products in the eyes of the public. They direct this activity to parties other than target consumers. These “others” include the public at large, labour unions, the press, and environmental groups. PERSUASION MARKETING Persuasion marketing applies what we know about human psychology to develop techniques to market products or services. In this case, it specifically applies to the promotions aspect of the marketing mix, and builds on a customer's impulsive behavior to lead them to purchase. PRINCIPLES OF PERSUASIVE MARKETING Reciprocity: give something to get something. Give your client something that makes him feel lucky. If a waiter gives you a candy together with a bill, you’ll probably tip him. If he gives you the same bill and the same candy, but adds ‘And this is for you, because you were such a cool client’, the tip will be way bigger. Authority: buying something means trusting someone. Human beings, hence consumers, follow credible leaders. If a person called Peter tries to sell you an apartment, you will be less inclined to buy it from him than if he was introduced to you as a real estate professional with 22 years of experience in selling and buying apartments. Social proof: people tend to do what other people do. Instead of telling them what to do in a certain situation, it is easier to get someone to change his/her behavior by telling him/her what other people did in similar situations. Commitment: selling by involving. Make people feel they are part of your community. If people have a say in what the brand, product or service brings to the market, people will buy you more. Start small with this, you’ll see that once you get commitment from consumers, you can snowball your marketing actions. Commitment is the basis of a loyal relationship. Liking: we tend to buy more from people who like us. We are narcissistic beings who easily buy from people who complement and appreciate us. Of course, the main question here is the authenticity: Scarcity: people love to buy things other people cannot buy. We tend to rush for things that are rarely available. So the question here is: ‘How do I make my product look and feel rare and scarce?’. WHAT IS ADVERTISING IN PROMOTION? Advertisements are a one-way form of communication that ideally appeal to consumers' emotions and persuade them to purchase your product or service. Promotion is typically a short- term marketing strategy, meant to increase sales through the use of immediate customer incentives (motivations). ROLE OF ADVERTISING 1. Awareness 2. Information 3. Persuasion 4. Attitudes 5. Reminder 6. Brand Loyalty 7. Brand Image 8. Counter Competitors’ Claims 9. Expansion of Markets 10. Educating the Customers. IMPORTANT TECHNIQUES OF SALES PROMOTION ARE AS FOLLOWS:  (1) Rebate:  (2) Discount:  (3) Refunds:  (4) Product Combination:  (5) Quantity Gift:  (6) Instant Draw and Assigned Gift:  (7) Lucky Draw:  (8) Usable Benefits

CONSUMER PROMOTION TOOLS 1. Samples – Small quantity, sometimes free of cost or sometimes at minimum price, sent door to door personally or through mails or with other products etc. 2. Coupons – A certificate that gives buyers a saving when they purchase specified products. 3. Cash refund offers or rebates – Are like coupons except that the price reduction occurs after the purchase rather than at the retail outlet. Consumer sends proof of purchase and manufacturer sends the refund part of the purchase price to the consumer. 4. Price packs (cents-off deals) – Offers consumers saving off the regular price of the product, directly cuts price on the label, or combination of two products (tooth paste and tooth brush). 5. Premiums – Goods offered either free or at low cost as an incentive to buy a product. Sometimes premium are costlier than the product it is sold with, (brass tray free with a product). 6. Advertising specialties – They are useful articles imprinted with an advertisers name given as gifts to consumers, e.g. pen, dairy, calendars, key etc. 7. Patronage reward – Cash or gift, for the regular use of a particular product of the company like privilege card membership given by the company to the regular user of the products. 8. POP displays (Point of purchase promotion) Right display at right place to attract consumers. 9. Contests, Sweepstakes, game – (i) Contests- Submitting the entry (ii) Sweepstakes – Calls for consumers to submit their names for draws (iii) Games – Daily games 10. Demonstrations can be at – (i) Retail stores (ii) School (iii) Door to door BUSINESS PROMOTION TOOLS I. Promotion for industrial customers – These promotions are used for such purposes as generating business leads, stimulating purchase, rewarding customers, and motivating sales people. II. It uses many tools as used in trade promotion and consumer promotion. Its main focus is on conventions, trade shows and sales contests. III. Convention – By this the company gets many benefits like finding new sales leads, contacting customers, introducing new products, meeting new customers, selling more to present customers, and educating customers with publication and audio-visual materials. IV. Sales contest – It involves salesmen or dealers to motivate them to increase their sales performance during a given period, with prizes going to those who did best.

TOOLS OF SALES PROMOTION ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1. Coupons: Coupons are issued by producers of packaged goods or by retailers that enables customers to buy the product next time at a reduced price. These coupons are either advertised by producers/retailers in newspapers or distributed in weekly flyers via mail across households. 2. 2. 2. Free Samples: Free samples are small and packaged portion of the (main) merchandise distributed for free. Free samples are developed for introducing new products. These samples may be distributed door-to- door (through personal selling) or retail stores. For examples, Sensodyne Toothpaste meant for relieving tooth sensitivity is unique product introduced in India. The manufacturer of Sensodyne has been reaching out to local dentists of Mumbai who have been distributing free sample of these toothpastes to create awareness among their patients. 3. Price-Off Offer: This involves offering products to consumers at discounted or reduced prices by a certain percentage from the regular price of the product. This activity aims at attracting consumers to other or newer brands, seasonal and unseasonal goods. For example- a 15 to 60 percent off on clothes before some festive season in retail shops are examples of sales or sales promotion. 4. Fairs and Exhibitions: Fairs and exhibitions may be organised at local, regional, national or international level to introduce new products, demonstrate the products and to explain special features and usefulness of the products. For example- ‘International Trade Fair’ held in New Delhi in November every year. 5. Free Gifts: Producers may distribute a free gift along with their product as a incentive to the consumers for purchasing the product. For example- milkshake along with Nescafe, toothbrush along with a toothpaste. 6. Competitions or Contests: Producers can organise competitions or contests among salespersons to encourage them to generate more sales from new customers. Companies can offer a car or consumer durables for generating a certain percentage sales in a particular month or quarter. 7. Free Service: Producers/retailers may promise free service to consumers for a specified period of time after sales. For example- few car retailers offer free servicing for the first 6 months if certain car components are damaged or are under performing. 8. Special Rebate: Rebate is a partial refund to someone who has paid more or extra on purchase of a specified quantity or value of goods within a specified period. Unlike, price cut off or discounts, rebates are provided after the full payment of full invoice amount. 9. Full Finance Under this method, the product is sold and money is received on installment basis at 0% or without interest rate. The seller determines the number of installments in which the price of the product will be recovered from the customers. 10. Scratch and Win Offer: Under this scheme, a customer scratches a specific marked area on the package of the product and gets the benefit according to the message written therein. 11. Money-Back Offer: Under this scheme customers are given assurance that full value of the product will be returned to them if they are not satisfied after using the product. This creates confidence among the customers with regard to the quality of the product. 12. Exchange Schemes: It refers to exchange of old product for a new product at a price less than the original price of the product. This is useful for drawing attention to product improvement. Example—”Exchange your black and white television with a colour television.” OTHER PROMOTIONS ARE AS FOLLOWS I. Price deals (price-off, price-cut, cents-off, denote the same thing) ii. Bonus-packs (price-pack) iii. Refunds and rebates (both terms are used interchangeably) iv. Coupons v. Contests and sweepstakes vi. Premiums – a. In-packs, on-packs, near packs and container premiums b. Free—in-mail premiums c. Self-liquidating premiums vii. Sampling viii. Continuity plans ix. Trade coupons x. Trade allowances and deals xi. Exchange offers xii. Displays, trade fairs, exhibitions, and event sponsorship. DEALER PROMOTION METHODS: 1. Booster for Dealers – For example, Telco offered 2% discount to dealers if payments, made upfront to reduce mounting inventories and boost sagging morale of dealers. 2. Advertisement Allowances/Materials, encouraging dealers and distributors to advertise products. Adv. materials may be Diaries, calendars, Literature, Sign Boards, Packing Bags, Posters, etc. 3. Quantity Discounts for purchasing product in large quality. 4. Incentive to Salesmen e.g., some prize of salesmen achieve their predetermined targets. 5. Special Commission on achieve pre-determined sales targets, Higher rate for Higher sales. 6. Training to Salesman by producers for certain period to enable them buy larger quantity. 7. Free Gifts to Dealers/Distribution; such gifts increase with increase in quantity of purchases. 8. Meetings and Seminars by Producers of all dealers/ distributors where all problems of middlemen are discussed and solutions given.

AFTER SALES SERVICE WHAT IS AFTER SALES SERVICE? After sales service refers to all the things you do for the care and feeding of your valued customers after they buy your product. This type of customer aftercare is important for any business, but especially for small businesses where every client counts. WHAT DOES AFTER SALES SERVICE INCLUDE? After-sales services are all processes that come after the act of selling itself, such as contact via email, sending purchasing coupons on customers' birthdays, discounts for a second purchase, among others 7 MOST COMMON TYPES OF AFTER SALES SERVICE 1) Pre-Installation services Whenever a product is bought it comes with a manual for installation. Depending on the nature of the product the installation may vary. While some products have very specific installation steps other products are customer friendly. Products like a ceiling fan, air conditioner, washing machine etc. require technical expertise for installation other products like mobile phones does not. Providing free pre-installation is one of the after sales services. 2) User training Training of the end user is another part of after sales service. In the case of industrial machinery, this is a very crucial part. Even in case of surgical equipment’s which are used in the operation theatres, it is very essential that the doctor has to get trained on the machine. Organizations like St Jude’s, Medtronic, etc. 3) Warranty services This is perhaps the most common type of after sales service provided by almost every company for almost every product. Warranty services include repairing replacement of selected parts for a selected period of time. 4) Online support E-Commerce companies have started providing online support for any of the product related queries. There is a dedicated helpline for customer service wherein the grievance redressal mechanism is carried out according to the standard procedure of the company. 5) Return/Replacement For a Limited period of time companies provide free replacement of the product in case of any queries. However, this is with certain terms and conditions. In some cases, replacement may be of the entire device, or in other cases, replacement may be only of the defective part. 6) Features and benefits One of the Types of after sales service, some companies provide additional features for example replacement of a part for a lifetime, for free counseling for the entire duration of the product. A perfect example of this would be when Google provided free unlimited storage of photos on Google photos for all the pixel devices. 7) Upgrades This usually works with software and electronics. Upgrading a software for the device for a limited period is one of the Types of After sales service followed by companies. The upgrades are for a limited time owing to the fact that the hardware remains the same throughout the years and it may not be compatible to run new software after a period of time. IMPORTANCE OF AFTER-SALES SERVICE I. Good after sales service helps improve firms long-term brand image and brand loyalty. II. Offering after sales service can help to convince consumers to trust the firm and buy the service in the first place. III. Sales affected by word of mouth recommendation. Good after sales service can make difference. In an era of social media – poor after sales service can be damaging to reviews and reputation of firms. IV. After sales service imposes extra cost on firms. For firms, they need to strike a balance between keeping the customer happy and not being burdened with expensive maintenance. For example, a firm may offer one free service, but then have a clearly defined price for future service. V. The provision of after sales service varies in importance depending on the type of good. For example, after sales service and extended warranties are important for goods like electrical goods and new cars. VI. After sales service can also become an opportunity to sell related products. For example, AFTER SALES SERVICE GUARANTEE 1. . Free system management and control software upgrade services. 2. 12 months warranty for screens,3 years warranty for PC parts 3. We will provide free training and guidance services to user; system equipment operation and daily maintenance work also can be authorized by the trained and qualified user of their own technical personnel to responsible for it. 4. After the warranty period, we will continue to offer a lifetime technical support and maintenance services for user, such as on-site maintenance service and component replace service. WHY IS SERVICE GUARANTEE IMPORTANT? A good guarantee forces the company to focus on its customers. An effective guarantee sets clear standards for the organization. A good guarantee generates immediate and relevant feedback from customers. PERSONAL SELLING Personal selling is a part of promotional- mix and it is an art of person-to-person communication for persuading prospects or consumers in the sales process. For introducing effective marketing system, balancing of other marketing elements like, product development, pricing, distribution system, advertising etc. should be organised along with implementation of personal selling methodology. OBJECTIVES OF PERSONAL SELLING. 1. To enhance the sales volume of the different products of the company 2. To ensure the there is a proper mix of products in the total sales volume 3. To ensure that the market share of the company is increased 4. To ensure that the profits of the company have improved 5. To bring down or reduce the overall selling expenses of the company 6. To gain new accounts and ensure that there is growth of the business 7. It helps in the appointment of dealers and expansion of the distribution channel. 8. To secure channel members co-operation in stocking as well as selling the products of the company. 9. To achieve the desired proportion of cash and credit sales. 10. To provide pre-sale and after-sale services. 11. To train the dealers and customers. 12. To assist and support other promotional measures. 13. To help in collecting the amounts due from the market. 14. To help in gathering and reporting marketing intelligence. Role of personal selling

1. Availability of more information regarding the market. 2. Increasing of economic power in organised sectors, 3. Advancement of technological developments 4. Enhancement of managerial efficiency. 5. Globalisation effect on the economy. PERSONAL SELLING – IMPORTANCE 1. Personal selling is oral communication with potential buyers of a product/service with the intention of making a sale deal. 2. Personal selling is an important tool for meeting promotional objectives. 3. Personal selling occurs when an individual sales person sells a product, service or solution to a client. 4. No activity is more vital to the company’s health than personal selling. 5. Personal selling enables a person to confront new challenges almost every day. 6. For a sales person, every day is an adventure. 7. Importance to customer- Sales persons educate and guide customers, for product features and application which gives the customer more satisfaction. 8. Salesmanship is a creative approach and it can create needs and converts needs into wants. OBJECTIVES OF PERSONAL SELLING 1. Creating awareness, 2. Demonstrating product benefits, 3. Answering queries, 4. Countering misconceptions 5. Unearthing the potential inner needs, 6. Pushing products through Channels, 7. Price negotiation between buyers and sellers.

FUNCTIONS OF PERSONAL SELLING

(i) To sell the goods to new and old customers;

(ii) To demonstrate the goods before customers;

(iii) To remove the doubts and confusions of customers about products;

(iv) To provide after-sale-services to the customers;

(v) To instruct the customers for the use of product; (vi) To advise the customers on certain matters;

(vii) To maintain the record of sales;

(viii)To prepare long-term and short-term marketing programmes;

(ix) To train new salesman;

(x) To solve the problems of selling force

SALESMANSHIP

Definition:

According to W.G Carter, “Salesmanship is in attempt to induce people to buy goods.” According to the National Association of Marketing Teachers of America, “It is the ability to persuade people to buy goods or services at a profit to the seller and benefit to the buyer.”

DUTIES OF A SALESMAN:

1. The principal duty is to make sales of products or services.

2. He has to do the assigned duty (travelling).

3. He has to make collection of bills relating to sale.

4. He has to make report-Sales made, Calls made, Services rendered, customers lost, competition and any other matters, relating to firm.

5. All complainants must be satisfied peacefully

6. He has to attend sales meetings.

7. A salesman with his experience must supply information in order to solve problems relating to product or the firm.

8. He must maintain a good relation with the customers.

9. He must assist the customers to make good selection.

Characteristics or the Qualities of a Successful Salesman:

1. Establishing good relationship with a variety of people.

2. Learning quickly and adapting smoothly.

3. Planning ahead and efficiently managing his time and efforts. 4. Working hard to achieve his goals, dedicating himself to provide long-term service, rather than having a get-rich-quick attitude.

5. Communicating clearly both in speech and in writing.

6. Thinking analytically and learning to break problems down to their basic components.

7. Producing constantly both in quality and quantity rather than performing erratically.

8. Persisting steadily his goal and not giving up easily

TYPES OF A SALESMANSHIP Salesman can be divided into four categories depending on their roles in the sales. In this section, you will learn about the different kinds of salespeople in the sales business. 1. WHOLESALERS The wholesalers’ salesmen are concerned with only wholesalers. A product passes through several stages from after leaving the warehouse and final when it reaches the hands of the final consumer. The wholesaler plays a central role in this supply chain. The purpose of a wholesaler is to market the products only to wholesalers of the product. The followings are the primary concern of a wholesaler salesman: 1. The wholesaler salesman takes orders from the wholesalers of the product. 2. He guides the wholesalers in the process of giving credit to the retailers. 3. He helps wholesalers to improve their sales. 4. He collects crucial information like current trends in the market. 2. MANUFACTURER’S SALESPERSON The following are the different types of manufacturer’s salespersons. i. Missionary salesperson The role of a missionary salesperson is significant as they perform all the essential works that are required to be done. For example, they collect information about market trends, and they create goodwill about the product. They interact with wholesalers, retailers, and final consumers of the product to provide them the information about the product and to provide guidance to them to use the product. ii. Technical salesman The technical salesman is hired to sell electronic products such as computers, machines, and other equipment. These salesmen have professional training and are capable of helping their customers with the installation, use, and problems related to the use of the products. iii. Merchandising salesman The role of merchandising salesman is significant in the present market conditions. A merchandising salesman not only sells the product but will also help the retailers in the display and arrangement of the products in the store by working alongside them. They provide demonstrations to the retailers to train them to use the product and to make them capable of selling the products to the customers. The merchandising salesmen usually promote products like grocery products, drugs, and medicines, apparel, and fashion accessories. iv. Sale promotion salesmen The sales promotion salesmen are also referred to as retail salesmen. The main job of sales promotion salesmen is to create the demand for the product. They don’t take orders immediately from the customers or sell products directly, but they perform an essential role in convincing the customers to buy or use their products. v. Dealer servicing salesmen: Dealer servicing salesmen work in their designated territory and visit the customers to provide them samples, training, and to take new orders. 3.RETAIL SALESMAN: Retail salesmen are those salesmen who directly work with the final consumer of the product. There are mainly two types of retail salesmen, such as indoor salesmen and outdoor salesmen. The retail salesman that works inside a store is known as indoor salesmen. These salesmen are hired by retailers to help shoppers to help in making purchasing decisions, locating goods in the store, and keeping the store in order. The indoor salesmen don’t require excellent salesmenship skills.