Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Communications tools effectiveness
Figure 11.12 shows the effectiveness of each of these tools across the four stages of the com-
munications model. In general, advertising, PR and sponsorship are better at raising levels 
of awareness and interest than creating desire or action. Personal selling, direct marketing 
and sales promotions are more effective at inducing action. An effective communications 
campaign will determine first what the objectives are, then select an appropriate mix of 
tools to achieve that objective.
11.3.5 The use of the Internet for marketing communications
Globally, most of the advertising budget is going online, and primarily on mobile devices.
As noted previously, a significant feature of the Internet is the shift in power away 
from manufacturers and retailers towards customers. While the period to the middle 
of the twentieth century saw power concentrated in the hands of manufacturers and 
suppliers (due to demand typically outstripping supply in many industries), a major 
feature of the last quarter of that century was the shift in power to retailers. It was 
the retailers who controlled the connection between manufacturers and customers, 
and crucially managed the information flows to customers. Customers who wanted 
Figure 11.12 
Communications 
effectiveness
Advertising
Direct marketing
EFFEC
TIVENESS
Sales promotions
Public relations
Sponsorship
Awareness
Interest
Desire
Action
Selling

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COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES
to gather information about competing products could do so, but the process was 
often time-consuming and cumbersome, resulting in choices being made with limited, 
imperfect information. A major characteristic of the Internet-based marketplace of 
the twenty-first century is the ‘information superhighway’ that makes comparative 
information far more easily available to customers. Indeed, the customer now typically 
initiates information search, whereas in the past the manufacturer or the retailer initi-
ated and controlled this.
For example, powerful retailers such as Tesco and Walmart participate in global 
online exchanges based on the Web. They can source products from the cheapest suppli-
ers anywhere in the world. They can also pressure their suppliers to switch sources for 
raw materials and components to cheaper alternatives located on the exchange; though 
not obliged to adopt such suggestions, suppliers find that their prices are adjusted down 
as though they had. This represents a significant change in the marketing communica-
tions process, and a shift in power from seller to buyer. Information search is more likely 
to be triggered by customers than by marketers, despite the large sums being spent on 
online advertising.
Customers are becoming information seekers rather than passive recipients, as evidenced 
by the extensive use of search engines such as Google and Yahoo. Coupled with this are 
changes in media viewing habits brought about by the explosion in channel availability 
through cable satellite and mobile, and media merging as the boundaries between phones, 
television and Internet technologies become blurred.
One of the potential benefits of communicating online is the possibility of relating sales 
to promotions more accurately. This is reflected in a number of new marketing communica-
tion methods emerging to take advantage of the particular characteristics of the Internet. 
Among these are display advertising and social media marketing.