Communications: the marketer’s voice GOALS: you could match the eight communication (promotion) tools that marketers use (267-68) to audience targets and communication objectives (270-71); and distinguish informational vs. transformational appeals (271-72). You could tailor budget to objectives (274) or objectives to budget, relating both to buyer readiness (276-77) 15-1

15-2 Communications Objectives Category need: Earning an MBA boosts salaries an average of 35% Brand awareness: University of Houston has a variety of MBA programs Brand attitude: An amazing number of CEO’s are Bauer alums Purchase intention: Come to our orientation this month, at……

15-3 We think there are two useful reasons to communicate, but many ways to do so Message/Creative strategy Informational appeal: the audience learns something Transformational appeal: someone who uses this brand now has a “transformed” experience Message source: a testimonial? If so, from whom? YES, “it depends.”

15-4 Budgets depend on objectives, which determine tasks and thereby, costs. Creating category need or awareness? Mass media. Which ones depends on your target. Costs: low per thousand people reached, but maybe high overall Creating favorable attitudes? We may need personal contact. Spend dollars prompting word of mouth communication. Creating purchase intention? Personal selling. Expensive and effective.

15-5 IN GENERAL, you might figure on spending at least: $5,000 to reach 100 people by personal selling (could be far more, of course) $200 to reach 100 people by telemarketing $100 to reach 100 people by direct mail $5 to reach 100 people by media advertising A major “it depends” for Web ads, but you may be charged by click-through Plus production costs for advertising, especially high for TV commercials

Let’s consider tray table ads for GotVMail mail%20communications| http://gotvmail.com/brand2/?s_kwcid=gotv mail%20communications| They can buy 5 million impressions for $300,000 for two months of ads on tray tables on Boston-New York-Washington shuttles For 60 days, that’s an average of 83,333 impressions per day. If everybody flies daily, you’ve reached 83,333 people. If everybody flies once, 5 million.

Time for some calculations Suppose we guess 600,000 see the ads so we can say “OK, 50 cents per person” Suppose 5% are small business entrepreneurs or know one and might mention us, so $10 per prospect Suppose on average revenue from “$9.95/month up” is $200/year Variable cost? Tiny. Duration? 3 years? If so, a customer is worth $

15-6 Developing Effective Marketing Communications Cost-Effectiveness of Different Promotional Tools at Different Buyer-Readiness Stages

15-9 Communication Guidelines: 1.If you don’t have a product that merits repeat purchase, fix it before you promote it. 2.If you can’t afford repeat exposures, choose a smaller target audience. 3.Promotion that says “We exist” is not worth paying for. 4.Promotion that says “We’re cheap” is not worth paying for if buyers don’t know who you are. (Note --- the textbook isn’t exactly saying all of the above; I am.