DB 5

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Product and Promotion:

Creating and

Communicating Value

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Learning Objectives

By the end of this chapter, you should be able to:

12-1 Explain “product” and identify product classifications

12-2 Describe product differentiation and the key elements of product planning

12-3 Discuss innovation, including the product life cycle

12-4 Explain promotion and integrated marketing communications

12-5 Discuss development of the promotional message

12-6 Discuss the promotional mix and the various promotional tools

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Encourage students to look for answers to these learning objectives as you move through the lecture.

12-1

Product: It’s Probably More Than You Thought

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12-1 Product (1 of 4)

Product*: Anything that an organization offers to satisfy consumer needs and wants

Services: A Product by Any Other Name

Qualities of services include:

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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A product includes not only physical goods but also services and ideas.

It is difficult to say whether a product is a good or a service because many products contain elements of both.

Intangibility

Inseparability

Variability

Perishability

Exhibit 12.1 Goods and Services Spectrum

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Pure goods*: Products that do not include any services.

Pure services*: Products that do not include any goods.

A spectrum of goods and services provide a valuable tool to analyze the relationship between pure goods and pure services.

People often cannot see, hear, smell, taste, or touch a service, and one can virtually never “own” it.

One simply cannot separate the buyer of a service from the person who renders it.

Variability is closely tied to inseparability, and it also applies to the difference in a service provided by different providers.

Marketers cannot store services for delivery at peak periods.

12-1 Product (2 of 4)

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Most products also provide secondary benefits that help distinguish them from other goods and services that meet the same customer needs.

Identifying the actual product is sometimes tough when the product is a service.

Augmentations come in a range of different forms.

Core benefit

Consumers buy a core benefit that satisfies their needs

Actual product

Physical good or the delivered service that provides the core benefit

Augmented product

Additional goods and services provided with the actual product that sharpen the product’s competitive edge

12-1 Product (3 of 4)

Consumer products*: Products purchased for personal use or consumption

Convenience products: Inexpensive goods and services that consumers buy frequently

Shopping products: More expensive products that consumers buy less frequently

Specialty products: Much more expensive products that consumers seldom purchase

Unsought products: Goods and services that hold little interest or even negative interest for consumers

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Convenience products are inexpensive goods and services that consumers buy frequently with limited consideration and analysis.

Shopping products are the more expensive products that consumers buy less frequently.

Specialty products are the more expensive products that consumers seldom purchase.

Unsought products are the goods and services that hold little interest (or even negative interest) for consumers.

Lecture Booster: Ann Handley (author, speaker, and chief content officer of MarketingProfs) once said, “Make the customer the hero of your story.” Discuss this statement with students to establish how a successful product manager’s key focus is to satisfy customer needs.

Source: 20 Inspirational Quotes for PRs.

12-1 Product (4 of 4)

Business products*: Products purchased to use either directly or indirectly in the production of other products

Installations

Accessory equipment

Maintenance, repair, and operating products

Raw materials

Component parts and processed materials

Business services

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Installations are large capital purchases designed for a long, productive life with an emphasis on personal selling and customization.

Accessory equipment includes smaller, movable capital purchases that are designed for a shorter productive life than installations.

The maintenance, repair, and operating products category consists of small-ticket items that businesses consume on an ongoing basis but don’t become part of the final product.

Raw materials include the farm and natural products used in the production of other products.

Component parts and processed materials include finished (or partially finished) products used in the production of other products.

Business services are services that businesses purchase to facilitate operations.

Discussion Activity 1

Make a goods and services spectrum by drawing a horizontal line and labeling the far left end as “Goods” and the far right end as “Services.” Determine where to place the following products along this spectrum: a nightclub, a car, a designer clothing store, an Internet search engine, a tennis racquet, and a ceramics class. What are the reasons for your choices?

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Answers will vary. Students may place the products on different parts of the spectrum, depending on their perceptions of how much service is bundled with the good and vice versa. But their rationale should justify their choices. As a starting point, the order might be as follows, moving from the good to the service end of the spectrum: tennis racquet, car, designer clothing store, nightclub, ceramics class, internet search engine.

Discussion Activity 1 Debrief

Did you agree or disagree about where others thought the items should fall on the spectrum?

For those items where you disagreed with others, did you understand their argument for where they wanted to place the item? Did they understand your argument?

Can you think of some pure goods or pure services?

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Answers will vary.

Pure goods examples include basic commodities. An online search lists the following as examples of pure services: airlines, banks, computer service bureaus, law firms, plumbing repair companies, motion picture theaters, and management consulting firms. Further discussion might talk about how few items are pure—either goods or services—and why many goods come with some type of service and many services include goods on some level.

12-2

Product Differentiation and Planning:

A Meaningful Difference

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12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (1 of 7)

Product differentiation*: The attributes that make a good or service different from other products that compete to meet the same or similar customer needs

Product Quality

Quality level*: How well a product performs its core functions

Product consistency*: How reliably a product delivers its promised level of quality

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Product quality is directly related to product value.

The two key aspects of product category are quality level and product consistency.

The level that meets the needs of the consumers is considered to be the right level of product performance.

If there is a positive relationship between price and performance, consistent delivery can offer a competitive advantage at all quality levels.

Lecture Booster: Product differentiation plays an important role in the product life cycle. Explain this to the students by giving contemporary examples such as McDonald’s. For more data on this, use the following web links:

Product differentiation, marketing examples:

uwmktg301.blogspot.in/2010/01/product-differentiation.html (accessed October 11, 2017)

Marketing strategy mandatory for business success, Trailer Body Builders®: trailer-bodybuilders.com/archive/marketing-strategy-mandatory-business-success, (accessed October 11, 2017)

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (2 of 7)

Features and Benefits

Product features*: The specific characteristics of a product

Customer benefit*: The advantage that a customer gains from specific product features

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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In a well-designed product, each feature is related to a customer benefit.

It is important for a marketer to design a package of features that offers customers the highest level of value at a reasonable price.

This package should be designed in such a manner that the marketer gains a profit from it.

Marketers usually try to offer a few low-cost features that give high-value benefits.

Companies offer several products to enhance their revenue and profits.

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (3 of 7)

Product Lines and the Product Mix

Product line*: A group of products that are closely related to each other, either in terms of how they work or the customers they serve

Product mix*: The total number of product lines and individual items sold by a single firm

Firms can add new product lines to reach new customers

Cannibalization*: When a producer offers a new product that takes sales away from its existing products

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Some companies focus all of their efforts on one product, but most offer a number of different products to enhance their revenue and profits.

Decisions regarding the number of items in a product line and in the overall product mix can potentially impact the firm’s profits.

Adding new products to different product lines helps in reaching new customers.

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (4 of 7)

Branding

Brand*: A product’s identity—including product name, symbol, design, reputation, and image—that sets it apart from other players in the same category

Brand equity*: The overall value of a brand to an organization

BRAND NAME

Catchy, memorable name

Unique in the industry

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Brands now aim to display a strong group identity.

This, in turn, creates brand fanatics—loyal customers who advocate for the brand better than any advertising a marketer could buy.

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (5 of 7)

LINE EXTENSIONS VERSUS BRAND EXTENSIONS

Line extensions*: Similar products offered under the same brand name

Brand extension*: A new product, in a new category, introduced under an existing brand name

LICENSING

Licensing*: Purchasing the right to use another company’s brand name or symbol

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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With line extensions, marketers have to make sure that they steal market share from competitors rather than from their own core brand.

Licensing helps gain instant name recognition, an established reputation, and a proven track record.

Some companies opt to license their brands from other businesses.

The benefits are instant name recognition, an established reputation, and a proven track record.

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (6 of 7)

COBRANDING

Cobranding*: When established brands from different companies join forces to market the same product

NATIONAL BRANDS VERSUS STORE BRANDS

National brands*: Brands that the producer owns and markets

Store brands*: Brands that the retailer both produces and distributes (also called private-label brands)

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Cobranding is advantageous for both partners because it uses their strengths to enter new markets and gain more exposure.

However, cobranding can be a problem when one partner’s mistake causes trouble for the other partner. The influence and quality of low-end private labels are on the rise.

This puts a lot of pressure on national brands as they have to constantly innovate while keeping their prices constant.

Lecture Booster: In a recent article, Grocery Headquarters found that 96 percent of consumers buy private-label groceries. Analyze with students how national brands and private labels fight it out for a spot in today’s rapidly changing and demanding market.

Source: 96% of Consumers Buy Private Label Groceries.

12-2 Product Differentiation and Planning (7 of 7)

Packaging

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Packaging is especially important for grocery stores and mass merchandisers.

Although packaging is dependent on consumer needs, it also includes some creative brilliance.

Protects the product

Provides information

Facilitates storage

Suggests product uses

Promotes the product brand

Attracts buyer attention

Knowledge Check

Your firm wants to offer a new product line, but it is afraid it might cannibalize an existing line. Which of the following reasons best justifies going ahead with the new line despite the risk to the existing line?

The market for both lines is nearly a 100 percent overlap.

Introducing the new line could preempt a competitor’s offering.

It has been a long time since the company introduced a new product line.

The old line has been showing an increasing market share among competitors in the industry.

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The correct answer is (b) Introducing the new line could preempt a competitor’s offering.

A firm may opt to offer a new line that cannibalizes an existing line for several possible reasons:

If they believe that a new product would be more profitable

If they believe that the new product would appeal to a wider audience than the current product

If they believe that the new product and the old product together would do better as a whole

If they believe that the new introduction could preempt a competitive offering

If they uncover or develop new technology that would better satisfy customers

Apple introduces new versions of the iPhone knowing some cannibalization is inevitable. Similarly, Starbucks has introduced new outlets close to current outlets, knowing that combined sales would outweigh any losses from cannibalization at the current outlets.

12-3

Innovation and the Product Life Cycle:

Nuts, Bolts, and a Spark of Brilliance

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12-3 Innovation and the Product Life Cycle (1 of 4)

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A business that aims to survive for a long time needs to develop successful new products.

Discontinuous innovations require extensive customer learning, which should guide the marketing process.

Dynamically continuous innovations require a moderate level of consumer learning in exchange for significant benefits.

The goal of continuous innovation is to differentiate a product from the competition.

Discontinuous Innovation

Brand-new ideas that radically change how people live

Dynamically Continuous Innovation

Characterized by marked changes to existing products

Continuous Innovation

Features a slight modification of an existing product

12-3 Innovation and the Product Life Cycle (2 of 4)

The New Product Development Process

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Ideas can be generated from customer research, customer complaints, salespeople, engineers, suppliers, and competitors.

Idea screening weeds out ideas that don’t fit with the company’s objectives and ideas.

Analysis helps estimate costs and forecast sales for each idea. This helps calculate potential profit and judge the product fit.

Development results in detailed descriptions of each concept with specific product features.

Testing involves the formal process of asking for feedback from consumers by testing the product concept.

Commercialization entails the introduction of the product to the general market.

Two key success factors are gaining distribution and launching promotions.

But a product that tested well doesn’t always mean instant success.

12-3 Innovation and the Product Life Cycle (3 of 4)

New Product Adoption and Diffusion

Rate of new product spread depends on both individual consumers and the product itself

PRODUCT ADOPTION CATEGORIES

First adopters are risk takers

Laggards are late to adopt products

Most adopters fall somewhere between the two

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Knowing the product life cycle helps marketers design effective strategies for existing products and identify profitable categories for new products.

All products go through a product life cycle or a pattern of sales and profits that typically changes through time.

The product life cycle is different for different products and product categories, but it is the same for most products that move through its four distinct stages: introduction, growth, maturity, and decline.

Lecture Booster: Product life cycle management (PLM) is the process of managing the entire life cycle of a product from its conception, through design and manufacture, to service and disposal. Accenture, a major IT company, acquired a German-based company, Prion Group, which is a provider of PLM strategy and consultancy. Discuss with students how this move will help both the companies in the future.

Source: Accenture to acquire Prion to strengthen PLM skills.

12-3 Innovation and the Product Life Cycle (4 of 4)

PRODUCT DIFFUSION RATES

Observability: visibility of a product to other potential consumers

Trialability: ease in which potential consumers sample a new product

Complexity: ease with which potential consumers easily understand a product

Compatibility: consistency of a product

Relative advantage: benefits of the new product in comparison with an existing product

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Some product categories are easier to observe than others.

Offering a trial can be a powerful way to create new consumers, which is why many markets fill their aisles with sample tables during popular shopping hours.

If a product confuses people—or if they find it hard to explain to others—adoption rates will slow.

Products should also be consistent with the existing way of doing things.

They should also have better benefits than the existing product.

Exhibit 12.7 Product Life Cycle for a Typical Category

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Product life cycle*: A pattern of sales and profits that typically changes through time.

Introduction: time of low sales and nonexistent profits as companies invest in raising awareness about the product

Growth: sales continue to rise, profits usually peak, competitors notice and begin to enter the market

Maturity: sales peak, profit declines

Decline: sales and profits decline, competitors drop out of market

cwilms (CW) - Picked up alt text from prev. edition. Please confirm it is still appropriate.

Janneck, Allie K (JAK) - Will confirm once we receive it, thanks!

Polling Activity

Where do you fall when it comes to the five personas of innovation adoption?

Innovator

Early adopter

Early majority

Late majority

Laggard

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Answers will vary.

Potential discussion can focus on how each of these types affects a product’s life cycle and contributes to the success or failure of products.

12-4

Promotion: Influencing Consumer Decisions

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12-4 Promotion: Influencing Consumer Decisions (1 of 2)

Promotion*: Marketing communication designed to influence consumer purchase decisions through information, persuasion, and reminders

Promotion in Chaos: Danger or Opportunity?

Technology has empowered consumers to choose how and when they interact with media

Key is to reach the right customers, at the right time, with the right message

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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A promotion works best if it attracts the same customers to the same product repeatedly.

Marketers can directly control most promotional tools.

However, great promotion only works with a great product.

12-4 Promotion: Influencing Consumer Decisions (2 of 2)

Integrated Marketing Communication: Consistency and Focus

Integrated marketing communication*: The coordination of marketing messages through every promotional vehicle to communicate a unified impression about a product

Coordinating the Communication

Coordinating the message starts at the top of the organization

Information needs to flow top-down, bottom-up, and laterally to keep everyone on the same page

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Group Activity

Form groups of 3‒5 people. For a new nightclub that will be opening, the club must do the following:

Decide the name of the club, the musical style, the location, and the target audience.

With a budget of $100,000, create a promotional mix that will lead to a full house and positive experience on opening night, which happens three months from now. The mix can include the following tactics:

Newspaper advertising: $10,000 per ad

Radio advertising: $50,000 for a three-week campaign

DJ promotion: $10,000 (with campaign)

Flyers: $500 per 1,000 high-quality, four-color flyers

Personal promoters: $10 per hour

Celebrity appearances: $10,000 per celebrity (includes PR costs)

Premiums (e.g., T-shirts): $10 per piece

Present your allocations and a rationale for your promotional mix to the rest of the class.

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Answers will vary.

Instructors note: Have each group present its plans to the class, and then vote on which concept is most likely to succeed. Discuss why they voted as they did and why some types of promotion work better for a nightclub than for, say, a golf course or a grocery store: target market, location, price points, and product brand/image will all influence promotion choices. As time permits, discuss elements that might be included in a promotional mix for a business venture other than a nightclub. Have students create a list of possible options, beyond those used in the exercise.

Group Activity Debrief

Did you approach the task by using as many tactics as possible or by focusing heavily on a specific tactic?

What people are involved in your promotion outside of your promotional mix planning team?

What information, other than the prices of various tactics, would you like to have before making your promotional mix decisions?

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Answers will vary.

12-5

A Meaningful Message: Finding the Big Idea

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12-5 A Meaningful Message: Finding the Big Idea

Positioning statement*: A brief statement that articulates how the marketer would like the target market to envision a product relative to the competition

The creative development ideally leads to the “big idea”

An International Perspective

Some ideas translate well across cultures; others do not

Requires careful research

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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A positioning statement is considered to be a success when it gives rise to a big idea.

Companies communicate their big ideas via promotional channels such as advertising, sales, promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling.

Discussion Activity 2

Although Adidas was an official sponsor of the 2012 London Olympics, people who watched the Olympics are more likely to believe that Nike was the official sponsor. The reason? Just before the Olympics opened, Nike also launched a lush TV ad called “Find Your Greatness” that featured exciting amateur athletic events in different Londons all around the world from London, Ohio, to London, Nigeria. The ad immediately went viral, with viewership eclipsing Adidas’s competing ad in just a week. Host countries and host cities of major events routinely enact anti-ambush marketing laws, but creative marketers can routinely subvert them.

What might the arguments be both for against ambush marketing? Could you support ambush marketing?

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Answers will vary.

In favor of ambush marketing:

Done within the bounds of the law, ambush marketing represents highly creative marketing promotion.

Ambush marketing increases consumer choices, rather than limiting choices to the products (and prices) provided by official event sponsors.

Against ambush marketing:

By its very nature, ambush marketing is deceptive, creating a false association between a brand and an event.

The ambush marketer is essentially stealing buzz from the official sponsors of events, who paid richly for their sponsorship rights. Regardless of how creative the execution, stealing is unethical.

The values of the individual students will heavily influence which side of the argument they feel more strongly about. The best responses should consider the implications of anti-ambush laws on free enterprise and free competition. They should also address the issue of whether enforcing anti-ambush rules might do harm to event sponsors or the event itself, versus the potential consequences of inaction.

Source: Mallory Russell, Nike Ambushes Adidas on World Stage … Again, July 31, 2012, adage.com/article/the-viral-video-chart/nike-ambushes-adidas-world-stage/236400/.

Discussion Activity 2 Debrief

If you feel strongly about one side of the ambush marketing argument, can you see validity in the points the other side is making?

Do you think ambush marketing would be more harmful to large firms or small firms?

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Answers will vary.

12-6

The Promotional Mix: Communicating the Big Idea

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12-6 The Promotional Mix (1 of 7)

Promotional channels*: Specific marketing communication vehicles, including traditional tools, such as advertising, sales promotion, direct marketing, and personal selling, and newer tools such as product placement, advergaming, and internet minimovies

Emerging Promotional Tools: The Leading Edge

Businesses face greater consumer expectations and empowerment

Consumers show less tolerance for impersonal corporate communication

Digital technology continues to change the promotional landscape

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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The combination of production tools that a company chooses to promote its product is called its “promotional mix.”

Big brands use advertising to increase sales and build reputation.

Television is the number-one advertising medium, followed by magazines and newspapers.

Personal selling refers to person-to-person presentation of a product to potential buyers.

It occurs on a long-term basis.

12-6 The Promotional Mix (2 of 7)

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Consumer tolerance for impersonal corporate communication has fallen, whereas digital technology has surged forward at breakneck speed.

As a result, new promotional tools have emerged, and previously minor tools have burst into the mainstream.

Product placement*: The paid integration of branded products into movies, television, and other media.

Buzz marketing*: The active stimulation of word of mouth via unconventional, and often relatively low-cost, tactics. Other terms for buzz marketing are “guerrilla marketing” and “viral marketing.”

Sponsorship*: A deep association between a marketer and a partner (usually a cultural or sporting event), which involves promotion of the sponsor in exchange for either payment or the provision of goods.

Internet advertising

Social media

Native advertising

Product placement

Advergaming

Buzz marketing

Sponsorships

12-6 The Promotional Mix (3 of 7)

Traditional Promotional Tools: A Marketing Mainstay

ADVERTISING

Advertising*: Paid, nonpersonal communication, designed to influence a target audience with regard to a product, service, organization, or idea

Major media categories:

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Instructors note: Global spending on media is noted in Exhibit 12.9. The advantages and disadvantages of these major media categories are listed in Exhibit 12.10 in the text.

Broadcast TV

Cable TV

Newspapers

Direct Mail

Radio

Magazines

Outdoor

Internet

12-6 The Promotional Mix (4 of 7)

SALES PROMOTION

Sales promotion*: Marketing activities designed to stimulate immediate sales activity through specific short-term programs aimed at either consumers or distributors

Consumer promotion*: Marketing activities designed to generate immediate consumer sales, using tools such as premiums, promotional products, samples, coupons, rebates, and displays

Trade promotion*: Marketing activities designed to stimulate wholesalers and retailers to push specific products more aggressively over the short term

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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Traditionally, sales promotion has been subordinate to other promotional tools, but spending has accelerated in the past decade.

Sales promotion falls into two categories: consumer and trade.

Consumer promotion tools include premiums, promotional products, samples, coupons, rebates, and displays.

Special deals and allowances are the most common form of trade promotion, especially for consumer products.

12-6 The Promotional Mix (5 of 7)

Public Relations

Public relations (or PR)*: Ongoing effort to create positive relationships with all of a firm’s different publics

Publicity*: Unpaid stories in the media that influence perceptions about a company or its product

Personal Selling

Personal selling*: Person-to-person presentation of products to potential buyers

* Words accompanied by an asterisk are key terms from the chapter.

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The endgame of public relations (PR) is to boost demand by generating positive publicity.

Some of the advantages of publicity are that it is usually credible and that it is almost free.

The greatest disadvantage of publicity is that the marketer has no control over how the company or its products are portrayed.

In today’s competitive environment, personal selling is a success only when it builds relationships on a long-term basis.

12-6 The Promotional Mix (6 of 7)

Sales Process

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Prospecting means identifying potential customers.

Qualifying means choosing those who are most likely to buy a product.

Before making a sales call, research is critical, especially in a business-to-business environment.

The presentation should match the features of the product to the benefits that the customer seeks (a chance to use all that preparation).

Testimonials, letters of praise from satisfied current customers, can push the sale forward by reducing risk for the prospect.

Objections give individuals a chance to learn more about the needs of their prospects and to elaborate on the benefits of their products.

The close should flow naturally from the prior steps, but often it doesn’t—sealing the deal can be surprisingly tough.

The quality of service and support plays a crucial role in future sales from the same customer, and getting those sales is much easier than finding brand-new prospects.

Prospect

and Qualify

Prepare

Present

Handle Objections

Close Sales

Follow-Up

12-6 The Promotional Mix (7 of 7)

Choosing the Right Promotional Mix: Not Just a Science

Product Characteristics

Product Life Cycle

Target Audience

Push versus Pull

Competitive Environment

Budget

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The promotional mix varies dramatically among various industries but also within specific industry segments.

The best approach may simply be to consider the product characteristics, product life cycle, target audience, push versus pull strategy, competitive environment, and budget while developing a mix that works best for a particular product.

Push strategy*: A marketing approach that involves motivating distributors to heavily promote—or “push”—a product to the final consumers, usually through heavy trade promotion and personal selling.

Pull strategy*: A marketing approach that involves creating demand from the ultimate consumers so that they “pull” your products through the distribution channels by actively seeking them.

Lecture Booster: The article “Forget Shareholders, Maximise Consumer Value Instead” from The Telegraph ( telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/8583476/Forget-shareholders-maximise-consumer-value-instead.html) talks about how companies need to focus on customer value maximization. Analyze this article with the students. For some more information, follow with a discussion of “Maximizing Customer Value With Behavioral Marketing” by Andrea Fishman.

Discussion Activity 3

What are the six stages in the selling process? What role does each stage play? Which stage do you believe is most important? Why?

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Answer:

The six stages are as follows:

Prospect and qualify: Prospecting means identifying potential customers and qualifying means choosing those who are most likely to buy your product. This stage helps salespeople use time efficiently.

Prepare: This involves research about the customer, the customer’s business, and their wants and needs. This stage helps salespeople customize their presentations effectively.

Present: The presentation should match the features of the product to the benefits the customer seeks. This stage is clearly at the heart of the sales process.

Handle objections: This stage represents a chance to overcome barriers to the sale.

Close sale: This means asking the prospect to buy. Clearly the close must be effective for the sale to happen.

Follow-up: This involves service and support. The result can be long-term sales momentum from current customers and referrals.

Clearly, answers will vary about which stage is most important.

Discussion Activity 3 Debrief

Did you have trouble deciding which selling process step was most important? Why?

When you are buying an item, in which step are you most aware of what the salesperson is doing or trying to accomplish?

If you were a salesperson, selling life insurance, which of the steps do you think would require the most effort?

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Answers will vary.

Self-Assessment

Think about your favorite advertisements. Did you ever consider all the effort, time, and money that goes into producing a national commercial?

Why are the elements of the marketing mix so important to the success of products we use every day?

What promotional activities are you involved in either today or in your life until today (i.e., in a job you have/had, a social or charitable group you are/were a part of, or within your group of friends or acquaintances)?

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Instructors note: Can be used for in-class reflection or as written assignment for review.

DB 5

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