Theme 6: I was hit (Product adoption and promotional mix)

Product Adoption

Five step adoption process
*Knowledge / Awareness
-Aware of the product but lack of detailed knowledge
*Interest
-Curious, seeking more information
*Evaluation
-Deciding whether to test the product
*Trial
-Using the product on a test basis
*Adoption
-Deciding to become a regular customer/user.

Adopter categories
*Innovators
-The first people to adopt a new product (2,5% of the market).
*Early adopters
-People who choose new products carefully and are consulted by people in the subsequent categories (13,5 %).
*Early majority
-People who adopt just prior to the average person (34%).
*Late majority
-Conservative and sceptical but eventually adopt (34%).
*Laggards
-The last people to adopt a new product (16%).

So we talked about the adoption model and process, why is it important, so let’s get into the relevance of the adoption model:

*Need to develop strategies to move customers from awareness to adoption.
*Need to win over the innovators and early adopters (i.e. the trend setters) – unless they purchase the product, it will fail commercially, since the rest follows this group.
*Need to win over late customers in a cost effective way.

Own case concerning adoption model: I fall into the catogory of early adopters, since i choose products carefully with through research and usually many of my friends and family/relatives follow my example, so i would consider my role important to companies, since people like me tend to be trend setters. However i'm not a innovator, i usually am not the first one to try it, since i need some research and review from it.

Going through the adoption process in the case of product chosen Audi A6, following the five step guidline. In the beginning i was aware of Audi and their products but not in detail and lacked knowledge, since my main interest was Bmw. Then i built interest toward audi and decided to give it a test drive after which i liked the car and started seeking information about the car and their brand. After this i decided that i would first like to test audi by buying a used car of theirs for a while. After a few months i was sold on audi and decided that i must have the new model.

Promotional mix

It is not enough for a business to have good products sold at attractive prices. To generate sales and profits, the benefits of products have to be communicated to customers. In marketing, this is commonly known as "promotion".
Promotion is all about companies communicating with customers.
A business' total marketing communications programme is called the "promotional mix" and consists of a blend of advertising, personal selling, sales promotion and public relations tools. In this revision note, we describe the four key elements of the promotional mix in more detail.
It is helpful to define the four main elements of the promotional mix before considering their strengths and limitations.
(1) Advertising
Any paid form of non-personal communication of ideas or products in the "prime media": i.e. television, newspapers, magazines, billboard posters, radio, cinema etc. Advertising is intended to persuade and to inform. The two basic aspects of advertising are the message (what you want your communication to say) and the medium (how you get your message across)
(2) Personal Selling
Oral communication with potential buyers of a product with the intention of making a sale. The personal selling may focus initially on developing a relationship with the potential buyer, but will always ultimately end with an attempt to "close the sale".
(3) Sales Promotion
Providing incentives to customers or to the distribution channel to stimulate demand for a product.
(4) Publicity
The communication of a product, brand or business by placing information about it in the media without paying for the time or media space directly. otherwise known as "public relations" or PR.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Element of the Promotional Mix:

Advertising

Advantages
Good for building awareness
Effective at reaching a wide audience
Repetition of main brand and product positioning helps build customer trust

Disadvantages
Impersonal - cannot answer all a customer's questions
Not good at getting customers to make a final purchasing decision

Personal Selling

Advantages
Highly interactive - lots of communication between the buyer and seller
Excellent for communicating complex / detailed product information and features
Relationships can be built up - important if closing the sale make take a long time

Disadvantages
Costly - employing a sales force has many hidden costs in addition to wages
Not suitable if there are thousands of important buyers


Sales Promotion

Advantages
Can stimulate quick increases in sales by targeting promotional incentives on particular products
Good short term tactical tool

Disadvantages
If used over the long-term, customers may get used to the effect
Too much promotion may damage the brand image


Public Relations

Advantages
Often seen as more "credible" - since the message seems to be coming from a third party (e.g. magazine, newspaper)
Cheap way of reaching many customers - if the publicity is achieved through the right media

Disadvantages
Risk of losing control - cannot always control what other people write or say about your product


Author: Hezha Sadek Muhammad

Sources:
*Online resource for learning
www.tutor2u.net

*Marketing 6th edition ( Evans & Berman 1994)
*Marketing 2nd edition (Hill & O'Sullivan 1999)