Course title: Consumer behavior

Submitted To: Mubashir Ali

Submitted By: Sameer Bilal
(70057367)
Class: BBA
Assignment-4
Q1: What are some strategies marketers can use to increase consumers’ involvement with
their products? Discuss this question by choosing any product from Pakistan?

In a successfully operated campaign, all activities will be well coordinated to build on one another and
increase the overall impact. For example, a single campaign might include:

 Advertising: A series of related, well-timed, carefully placed television ads coupled with print
advertising in selected magazines and newspapers
 Direct marketing: Direct-to-consumer mail pieces sent to target segments in selected geographic
areas, reinforcing the messages from the ads
 Personal selling: Preparation for customer sales representatives about the campaign to equip them
to explain and demonstrate the product benefits stressed in advertising
 Sales promotions: In-store display materials reflecting the same messages and design as the ads,
emphasizing point-of-sale impact
 Digital marketing: Promotional information on the organization’s Web site that reflects the same
messages, design, and offers reflected in the ads; ads themselves may be posted on the Website,
YouTube, Facebook, and shared in other social media
 Public relations: A press release announcing something newsworthy in connection to the
campaign focus, objectives, and target segment(s)

For each IMC campaign, new display materials must be prepared, all reflecting common objectives,
messages, design, and other elements to maximize the campaign’s impact.

People responsible for the physical delivery of the products or services must ensure that the distribution
points are well stocked and equipped to deliver in all outlets prior to the start of the campaign. People
managing public and media relations should be constantly kept aware of marketing planning, allowing
them to identify and coordinate opportunities for earned media attention. Because public relations deals
with media, conference/event organizers, and other stakeholders outside the organization, it is extremely
important to give enough lead time for the public relations effort to take advantage of optimal timing in
support of the overall campaign.

The Purpose of Advertising

Advertising has three primary objectives: to inform, to persuade, and to remind.

 Informative Advertising creates awareness of brands, products, services, and ideas. It announces
new products and programs and can educate people about the attributes and benefits of new or
established products.
 Persuasive Advertising tries to convince customers that a company’s services or products are the
best, and it works to alter perceptions and enhance the image of a company or product. Its goal is
to influence consumers to take action and switch brands, try a new product, or remain loyal to a
current brand.
 Reminder Advertising reminds people about the need for a product or service, or the features and
benefits it will provide when they purchase promptly.
When people think of advertising, often product-focused advertisements are top of mind—i.e., ads that
promote an organization’s goods or services.

Institutional advertising goes beyond products to promote organizations, issues, places, events, and
political figures.
Public service announcements (PSAs) are a category of institutional advertising focused on social-
welfare issues such as drunk driving, drug use, and practicing a healthy lifestyle. Usually PSAs are
sponsored by nonprofit organizations and government agencies with a vested interest in the causes they
promote.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Advertising

As a method of marketing communication, advertising has both advantages and disadvantages. In terms
of advantages, advertising creates a sense of credibility or legitimacy when an organization invests in
presenting itself and its products in a public forum. Ads can convey a sense of quality and permanence,
the idea that a company isn’t some fly-by-night venture. Advertising allows marketers to repeat a message
at intervals selected strategically. Repetition makes it more likely that the target audience will see and
recall a message, which improves awareness-building results. Advertising can generate drama and human
interest by featuring people and situations that are exciting or engaging. It can introduce emotions,
images, and symbols that stimulate desire, and it can show how a product or brand compares favorably
to competitors. Finally, advertising is an excellent vehicle for brand building, as it can create rational and
emotional connections with a company or offering that translate into goodwill. As advertising becomes
more sophisticated with digital media, it is a powerful tool for tracking consumer behaviors, interests, and
preferences, allowing advertisers to better tailor content and offers to individual consumers. Through the
power of digital media, memorable or entertaining advertising can be shared between friends and go
viral—and viewer impressions skyrocket.

The primary disadvantage of advertising is cost. Marketers question whether this communication method
is really cost-effective at reaching large groups. Of course, costs vary depending on the medium, with
television ads being very expensive to produce and place. In contrast, print and digital ads tend to be
much less expensive. Along with cost is the question of how many people an advertisement actually
reaches. Ads are easily tuned out in today’s crowded media marketplace. Even ads that initially grab
attention can grow stale over time. While digital ads are clickable and interactive, traditional advertising
media are not. In the bricks-and-mortar world, it is difficult for marketers to measure the success of
advertising and link it directly to changes in consumer perceptions or behavior. Because advertising is a
one-way medium, there is usually little direct opportunity for consumer feedback and interaction,
particularly from consumers who often feel overwhelmed by competing market messages.

Developing Effective Ads: The Creative Strategy

Effective advertising starts with the same foundational components as any other IMC campaign:
identifying the target audience and the objectives for the campaign. When advertising is part of a broader
IMC effort, it is important to consider the strategic role advertising will play relative to other marketing
communication tools. With clarity around the target audience, campaign strategy, and budget, the next
step is to develop the creative strategy for developing compelling advertising. The creative strategy has
two primary components: the message and the appeal.

The message comes from the messaging framework: What message elements should the advertising
convey to consumers? What should the key message be? What is the call to action? How should the brand
promise be manifested in the ad? How will it position and differentiate the offering? With advertising, it’s
important to remember that the ad can communicate the message not only with words but also potentially
with images, sound, tone, and style.
The emotional appeal targets consumers’ emotional wants and needs rather than rational logic and facts.
It plays on conscious or subconscious desires, beliefs, fears, and insecurities to persuade consumers and
influence their behavior. The emotional appeal is linked to the features and benefits provided by the
product, but it creates a connection with consumers at an emotional level rather than a rational level. Most
marketers agree that emotional appeals are more powerful and differentiating than informational appeals.
However, they must be executed well to seem authentic and credible to the the target audience. A poorly
executed emotional appeal can come across as trite or manipulative. Examples of emotional appeals
include:

 Self-esteem: L’Oreal “Because I’m worth it”

 Happiness: Coca-Cola “Open happiness”
 Anxiety and fear: World Health Organization “Smoking Kills”
 Achievement: Nike “Just Do It”
 Attitude: Apple “Think Different”
 Freedom: Southwest “You are now free to move about the country”
 Peace of Mind: Allstate “Are you in good hands?”
 Popularity: NBC “Must-see TV”
 Germophobia: Chlorox “For life’s bleachable moments, there’s Chlorox”

Public Relations: Getting Attention to Polish Your Image

Public relations (PR) is the process of maintaining a favorable image and building beneficial relationships
between an organization and the public communities, groups, and people it serves. Unlike advertising,
which tries to create favorable impressions through paid messages, public relations does not pay for
attention and publicity. Instead, PR strives to earn a favorable image by drawing attention to newsworthy
and attention-worthy activities of the organization and its customers. For this reason, PR is often referred
to as “free advertising.”

In fact, PR is not a costless form of promotion. It requires salaries to be paid to people who oversee and
execute PR strategy. It also involves expenses associated with events, sponsorships and other PR-related
activities.

The Purpose of Public Relations

Like advertising, public relations seeks to promote organizations, products, services, and brands. But PR
activities also play an important role in identifying and building relationships with influential individuals
and groups responsible for shaping market perceptions in the industry or product category where an
organization operates. Public relations efforts strive to do the following:

 Build and maintain a positive image

 Inform target audiences about positive associations with a product, service, brand, or organization
 Maintain good relationships with influencers—the people who strongly influence the opinions of
target audiences
 Generate goodwill among consumers, the media, and other target audiences by raising the
organization’s profile
 Stimulate demand for a product, service, idea, or organization
 Head off critical or unfavorable media coverage

When to Use Public Relations

Public relations offers an excellent toolset for generating attention whenever there is something
newsworthy that marketers would like to share with customers, prospective customers, the local
community, or other audiences. PR professionals maintain relationships with reporters and writers who
routinely cover news about the company, product category, and industry, so they can alert media
organizations when news happens. At times, PR actually creates activities that are newsworthy, such as
establishing a scholarship program or hosting a science fair for local schools. PR is involved in publishing
general information about an organization, such as an annual report, a newsletter, an article, a white paper
providing deeper information about a topic of interest, or an informational press kit for the media. PR is
also responsible for identifying and building relationships with influencers who help shape opinions in the
marketplace about a company and its products. When an organization finds itself facing a public
emergency or crisis of some sort, PR professionals play an important role strategizing and managing
communications with various stakeholder groups, to help the organization respond in effective,
appropriate ways and to minimize damage to its public image.

To illustrate, PR techniques can help marketers turn the following types of events into opportunities for
media attention, community relationship building, and improving the organization’s public image:

 Your organization develops an innovative technology or approach that is different and better than
anything else available.
 One of your products wins a “best in category” prize awarded by a trade group.
 You enter into a partnership with another organization to collaborate on providing broader and
more complete services to a target market segment.
 You sponsor and help organize a 10K race to benefit a local charity.
 You merge with another company.
 You conduct research to better understand attitudes and behaviors among a target segment, and it
yields insights your customers would find interesting and beneficial.
 A customer shares impressive and well-documented results about the cost savings they have
realized from using your products or services.
 Your organization is hiring a new CEO or other significant executive appointment.
 A quality-assurance problem leads your company to issue a recall for one of your products.
Media relations is the first thing that comes to mind when many people think of PR: public
announcements about company news, talking to reporters, and articles about new developments at
a company. But media relations is the tip of the iceberg. For many industries and product
categories, there are influential bloggers and analysts writing about products and the industry. PR
plays an important role in identifying and building relationships with these individuals. Offering
periodic “company update” briefings, newsletters, or email updates helps keep these individuals
informed about your organization, so you are top of mind.
It is wise to develop a PR strategy around strengthening relationships with any group that is important in
shaping or maintaining a positive public image for your organization: reporters and media organizations;
industry and professional associations; bloggers; market or industry analysts; governmental regulatory
bodies; customers and especially leaders of customer groups, and so forth. It is also wise to maintain
regular, periodic communications with these groups to keep them informed about your organization and
its activities. This helps build a foundation of familiarity and trust, so these relationships are established
and resilient through the ups and downs of day-to-day business.