Free Custom «Sales and Promotion Management» Essay Paper

Introduction

Sales promotion boosts business through stimulation of product’s market demand, increasing consumer preference and by increasing product availability in the market. The effort is essentially meant to make consumers embrace and buy the product over a short period of time (Bose, 106). This event has to involve consumers and members of the distribution channel of the product. Sales promotion is crucial in attracting customers especially when one is launching a new product in to the market or when trying to overcome competition in the market for established products (Pride, Hughes and Kapoor, 2009). I plan to use the strategy of sales promotion to market a new deodorant for men. The sales promotion plan for the men’s deodorant involves a number of strategies and activities that shall be conducted with consumers and prospective dealers of the product being the point of reference.

Explanation about the product

The product that I wish to conduct sales promotion for is a deodorant for use by men. This is a new deodorant that my company wishes to introduce to the market that already has a lot of similar products hence competition is high. Our deodorant is a beauty product which acts by eliminating body odour. A deodorant is a product that is used to prevent body odour by eliminating perspiration, killing odour causing bacteria or masking odour of perspiration. The deodorant that I wish to promote performs the three functions. It contains antiperspirant that reduces perspiration, alcohol and antimicrobials that kill or slow the growth of bacteria and fragrance capable for masking body odour. The deodorant has a mild fragrance and is therefore suitable for men who consider themselves urbane. It is packaged in aerosol spray cans of 50 ml, 100 ml and 200 ml. This product is designed to be used by men though boys are expected to use it due to increasing demand for deodorants among them. The product for this promotion is green-deo; a deodorant for use by men. This is a new product with difference since deodorants presently in the market have not suitably solved the beauty needs of men consumers. Since the product will have mild fragrance, none of its users will be offended by its use as if often occurs when strong scented deodorants are used. The product would be suitable for informal and formal settings such as social meetings and the workplace respectively.

 

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Explanation of the promotional plan of the product

The promotional plan shall integrate a number of collaborative strategies which are premiums, price deals, coupons, contests and demonstrations on the part of consumers. On the part of dealers the promotional plan shall involve allowances, providing free trials, discounts, displays, and buy back guarantees.The plan represents a combination of pull and push tactics respectively. The promotional plan shall be manageable and the incentives offered shall be reasonable since the goal of the promotion is to maximally utilise incentives while creating demand for the product. The promotional plan for the deodorant is shaped by the targeted customers and the established supply chain. The deodorant is currently marketed to men all over the country through wholesalers and retailers. The deodorant is also present in chain stores and beauty product shops. The promotion plan is scheduled to take three months and all activities will run concurrently.

Under premiums, consumers will be offered a 10% extra percentage of the product through packaging. Special promotional packs will be prepared for this purpose.

Price-off deal will involve reduction of the price of the product on temporary basis. This will entail prices being reduced during peak shopping hours. Coupons which entitle consumers to buy the product at a lower price shall also be used. The coupons will be available at the point of purchase and they will definitely tempt more buyers to purchase the product. Contests will play a crucial role in the promotion of the deodorant. Consumers will be given an opportunity to win fantastic prizes such as television sets, microwaves and cookers. To win the prizes offered in the contest, consumers will have to shop for products worth a specified amount and thereafter submitting their entry to the contest draw. Demonstration shall be another promotional strategy used whereby the good results derived from use of the products shall be emphasized.

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These pull activities shall be complemented by push strategies in the promotional plan. The push activities will be aimed at members of the supply chain including wholesalers and retailers. Dolak (2010) argues that push promotional strategy entails having supply chain intermediaries promote the product to consumers by personal selling and through promotions. The intermediaries will be encouraged to stock the brand, give it shelf space, advertise and push the product to consumers. To encourage wholesalers and retailers my plan will involve offering allowances, providing free trials, discounts, displays, and buy back guarantees. These will act as incentives since the dealers will run no risk of losses as the company shall guarantee cover for any losses due to customer rejection of the product. A combination of pull and push strategies is very vital in the launch of a new product since the public has to thoroughly see the quality of the new product being proven in order to shift to it.  

Hardware/objects to be involved

Several objects shall be needed in the promotional plan to implement the push and pull strategies. In the consumer sales promotion category, hardware materials are needed in staging point of sale displays. These materials include outdoor signs, counter pieces, self service cartons, display racks and computerized displays. Other items required include material for staging contests. Concerning the push strategy, the objects required include display and advertising items. These objects have to be purchased and tested in time so that the promotion is launched without a hitch.

Planned activities

Several activities are necessary for implementation of the promotion plan. The activities planned involve both supply chain members and consumers. In the trade sales promotion category the activities which shall be involved are demonstration, computerized displays and assistance with marketing. Demonstrations will be aimed at getting the attention of consumers. This would be suitable for the deodorant which is a cosmetic product and it would involve men going for shopping being sprayed with the deodorant. Computerised displays will draw the attention of shoppers to the new deodorant. Assistance in marketing shall be offered to dealers in the form of facilitating displays of the products in the point of sale.

Prizes and what they entail

The incentives and prizes involved in the promotion will require a promotional budget. A detailed promotion budget would detail the costs involved in providing the incentives and those incurred during the administration of the sales promotion. Fairly cheap activities will be chosen. For instance, premiums will be preferred to samples since the latter are very expensive. The cost effectiveness is crucial to ensure that the endeavour is successful. Enough funds have to be set aside for funding the whole affair as the budget is projected to cost millions of dollars. Each strategy has to be allocated its own budget such that neither of them fares worse than others.

Duration of the promotion

The sales promotion would have to go for a period of three months. This time period is suitable to allow all consumers of the product to have enough time to get familiar with its use. As a marketer I must balance between either having a prolonged sales promotion period and a short period. A too long promotion period makes the quick results element of the sales promotion to lose meaning and on the other hand, too short period may lock out prospective consumers (Bose, 106). The timing of period of the promotion will also be helpful in ensuring the success over the allocated time period. Major activities of the promotion shall be conducted during peak hours of the day in order to maximise sales. Moreover, during days when members of the public receive their pay, longer duration for the promotion shall be effected. The three month period will therefore be enough time for the reestablishment of the deodorant into the market.

People to be affected by the promotion

The campaign is principally aimed at men in the modern setting. It has been argued that men need to use deodorants since they work in arduous jobs hence they sweat a lot. The deodorant would therefore be handy in reversing the effect of perspiration. Men are nowadays expected to take care of their personal hygiene and they are increasingly conscious of the way they smell (Nicksplan, 2010). Women who care about their men will also be most likely to encourage their men to use the deodorant. Boys are also another category of consumers who shall be affected by the promotion since deodorants are perceived as a way to improve masculinity especially among young men. Hoffman (2010) argues that among young people the grooming products are thought to heighten confidence and to increase sex appeal. The purchasing power of boys is also not an issue since the deodorant shall be packaged in affordable sizes starting from 50 ml can. Boys have been known to have disposable incomes that they can use to purchase not so expensive cosmetics. The tendency to purchase the perfumes is boosted by increasing sense of insecurity as they think they are less masculine if they don’t use the products.

Plan for getting free publicity out of the campaign

The sales promotion offers a unique chance of free publicity since though the company pays for the cost of the promotion it does not incur any costs related to the publicity the occasion offers. The entire business is bound to benefit from free publicity since members of the public will get more satisfied with it, an aspect that might promote the entire business. Other products offered by the company will no doubt have higher rating compared to the time before the promotion. Again, new products that could be launched by the company would have a better starting point since the credibility of the company would already have been set by the promotion.  

Conclusion

As a promotional manager of for a new deodorant, I have made a comprehensive plan to introduce the product in a market that is full of competitors’ products. The deodorant has a suitable formula and shall be useful for eliminating body odour in men and to leave them fresh. The promotional plan is a combination of pull and push strategies whereby customers will be enticed to purchase the goods and dealers shall be encouraged to stock them respectively. The promotional campaign shall be intense and in the time period of three months, I expect the product to have picked in the market. There is already a ready market as men and boys are increasingly using deodorants. Hopefully, the promotional strategy shall be successful as consumers get hooked to the product and dealers stock it.