We all receive information on products and brands from different sources in different ways. Our grandparents usually got informed about news and updates through print media – newspapers, magazines, etc.). Today, even if we look around, there is information overload from different companies informing masses about their products through hoardings, TV commercials, magazines, internet, personal selling (sales people), phone calls from company representatives, etc. This communication from the organisation helps an organisation share information on products available, and their benefits that set them apart from the offerings of the competitors. If the buyers in the market are not aware about a product that meets their needs and wants, they will not ask for that product or search about that product. Evena quality product without proper communication or promotion strategy accompanying it is set to fail in the market.

The organisations have no choice but to employ effective communication strategies. These strategies mostly focus on –
• What needs to be communicated in the target market (message),
• Who are these target customers, and
• Which mode of communication is to be adopted (tool of promotion mix).

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In a communication process, the information or message flows between a sender and the receiver.
From the marketing perspective, in the promotion function the information flows between the manufacturer and the audience (end consumers, intermediaries, stake holders, employees, financial institutions like banks, and all the elements which form the target market).

For a marketer, it becomes very critical to understand the elements of the communication process, and how the information flows.

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Creating a proper blend of promotion mix tools is one of the most critical decision for marketing managers. One organisation can rely on television advertising and the other can remain dependent on the efforts of its sales team.

The marketing managers are forced to select certain promotion mix tools (advertising, sales promotion, publicity, personal selling, and direct marketing)depending on large number of factors. We will look at these factors in brief–

1) Promotion Budget allocation, objectives and policies– Depending on the market research done for making a product of consumer’s choice, budget is allocated for various promotion activities. The organisations do alter the budget basis their marketing strategies. For many organisations, the budget allocated is the final deciding factor in selecting the promotion tools. The company has to decide on the reach (number of target customers to reach) and frequency (how often to spread the message to the target customers). For example, a low budget may not let an organisation promote its product on TV shows that have maximum viewership. In such cases they opt for newspaper ads, fliers or promotion activities like free samples at crowded locations in the target market.
The objective of the Promotion also determines the selection of appropriate promotion tool – Whether the objective is sharing information or persuading the customers to buy the product,
– Creating an image about the product in the minds of customers (positioning),
– How frequently the message is to be disseminated in the target market.

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A marketer has five promotion tools at his/ her disposal for carrying out the promotion activities – Advertising, personal selling, publicity, sales promotions, and direct selling. Each of these offer advantages and disadvantages for different conditions in the market. To help utilise an effective promotion plan, most of the organisations follow the steps shown in the figure.

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