Introduction to Marketing Chapter 12 Test Bank

Exam Name___________________________________ MULTIPLE CHOICE. Choose the one alternative that best completes the statement or answers the question. 1) Starbucks has signed a contract with a television production company to have its brand featured prominently in a new situation comedy about empty nesters. The conditions of the agreement state that the situation comedy will feature only the Starbucks brand of coffee. What kind of advertising technique is being used in this example? A) subliminal advertising B) vertical integration C) geofencing D) product placement E) advertainment 1) 2) Which of the following best describes the term "Madison and Vine"? A) voicing social concerns through advertising B) utilizing the slice of life style of advertising C) using social media for advertising a brand D) emphasizing reach over impact in advertising E) merging advertising with entertainment 2) 3) In the competitive-parity method of setting an advertising budget, the budget is set based on ________. A) a percentage of future sales B) a percentage of current sales C) the amount spent by similar companies in the same industry D) objectives set by the company and the cost required to accomplish them E) the total revenues that a company makes 3) 4) In a promotion mix, ________ occurs when a firm's sales force makes individual presentations to consumers for the purpose of promoting sales and building customer relationships. A) crowdsourcing B) merchandising C) advertising D) personal selling E) public relations 4) 5) Inglast, a chocolate producer, is faced with a class action suit when customers found pieces of plastic in boxes of cocoa powder. Inglast settles the case and then releases an advertising campaign to show the new and improved safety seals on all containers of cocoa powder. Which kind of advertisement has Inglast most likely used? A) informative B) comparative C) reminder D) personalized E) classified 5) 1 6) Which of the following promotion mix approaches involves a producer promoting a product to different channel members who in turn promote the product to customers? A) a push strategy B) vertical integration C) direct marketing D) a pull strategy E) the publish-subscribe method 6) 7) The objective of ________ advertising is to build primary demand. A) comparative B) personal C) informative D) reminder E) persuasive 7) 8) Which method of setting advertising budgets best helps management think about the relationship between promotion spending, selling price, and profit per unit? A) adaptive -control method B) percentage-of-sales method C) objective -and-task method D) affordable method E) competitive-parity method 8) 9) Which of the following is a disadvantage of using digital, mobile, and social media for advertising? A) The audience controls content and ad exposure. B) Audience selectivity is low. C) The interactive capabilities are low. D) There is little scope for personalization. E) The costs are high. 9) 10) A TV ad promoting how an ordinary person's life has changed due to considerable weight loss is an example of the ________ style of advertising. A) mood or image B) fantasy C) testimonial evidence D) technical expertise E) scientific evidence 10) 11) Crest toothpaste has used a ________ style of advertising to convince buyers that Crest is better than other brands at fighting cavities. A) mood or image B) testimonial evidence C) technical expertise D) fantasy E) scientific evidence 11) 2 12) Which of the following is true of advertising in the new marketing communications model? A) Advertisers are using less targeted media to reach customers. B) Advertisers are finding traditional media less expensive. C) Advertisers have replaced print catalogues with digital versions. D) Advertisers are increasingly shifting toward digital media. E) Advertisers are spending more on broadcast advertising. 12) 13) In a marketing communications mix, ________ refers to any short-term incentive that encourages the purchase or sale of a product or service. A) public relations B) advertising C) crowdsourcing D) personal selling E) sales promotion 13) 14) The ________ style of advertising shows ordinary people clearly using a product in a normal setting. A) mood or image B) technical expertise C) testimonial evidence D) slice of life E) personality symbol 14) 15) Which of the following is true of public relations? A) It is the most widely used promotional tool. B) It cannot be used to dramatize a product or company. C) It provides quick incentives to make product purchases. D) It involves training a dedicated sales force to meet customers. E) It emphasizes news and events rather than sales. 15) 16) Which of the following is true of marketing strategies that are being developed in the new marketing communications model? A) They use very little alternative media. B) They are more targeted, social, and engaging. C) They include a greater number of print media ads. D) They target much larger customer segments. E) They rely more on mass -media marketing techniques. 16) 17) Which of the following is a function of an integrated marketing communications system? A) controlling production levels by feedback received from customers B) delivering a clear, consistent, and compelling message on the product to each brand contact C) allowing suppliers or vendors to manage the inventory of products D) designing products using environmentally friendly techniques E) sharing company forecasting details with shareholders 17) 3 18) Pepsi Cola has long used this form of ________ advertising in an attempt to take market share from their primary rival, Coca Cola. A) reminder B) comparative C) informative D) personal E) classified 18) 19) Which of the following is true of personal selling? A) It presents a firm's message as news rather than as a sales-directed communication. B) It is the most effective promotional tool for geographically dispersed buyers. C) It allows firms to dramatize product offers through arts and visuals. D) It is the most expensive promotional tool for companies to utilize. E) It is an ineffective method for building long-term customer relationships. 19) 20) Which of the following best describes the personality symbol style of advertising? A) using an animated character or mascot to represent a product in an advertisement B) using scientific evidence to support claims about a product in an advertisement C) using a celebrity to endorse a product in an advertisement D) using a technical expert to recommend a product in an advertisement E) using ordinary people to show how a product affects them in their daily lives 20) 21) Which of the following is a disadvantage of advertising? A) It does not allow dramatization of the brand or company. B) It reaches targeted customers too slowly in most cases. C) It is the most costly promotion tool for companies. D) It can be too customized and only attracts small, niche markets. E) It only provides one-way communication with customers. 21) 22) Which of the following is an example of a firm utilizing public relations as a promotion tool? A) a firm using its personal sales force at an expo to sell its products B) a firm providing interesting information about a product to the news media C) a firm using a celebrity to endorse a product in a television commercial D) a firm sending its catalog directly to customers through e-mail E) a firm informing customers of special discounts on its website 22) 23) Which of the following is an example of branded entertainment? A) a company using a famous song in its advertisement B) a company placing its product in a movie scene C) a company using a celebrity to endorse a product D) a company using an acclaimed movie director to film an advertisement E) a company airing its advertisements in movie theaters 23) 4 24) Which of the following is most likely a difference between advertising and sales promotion? A) Advertising is a sales -directed form of communication, while sales promotions are endorsed as company news. B) Advertising can trigger quick sales, while sales promotions cannot. C) Advertising can be used to build up a long-term image for a product while sales promotion effects can be short lived. D) Advertising is not as effective in building long-term brand preferences as sales promotions. E) Advertising can be used to dramatize product offers, but sales promotion cannot be used for this purpose. 24) 25) Which of the following is a disadvantage of using a magazine as an advertising medium? A) It involves high costs. B) It has low credibility and image. C) It consists of low-quality reproduction. D) It has low geographic selectivity. E) It has a poor pass -along readership. 25) 26) Studio 19 is a dance studio geared to adults who want to learn ballroom and Latin dance. When individuals call the studio, they're encouraged to access the website to receive a $25 e -coupon entitling them to a free half hour of dance instruction. Once they become patrons, text messages are sent to share news about featured dance instructors and upcoming special events. Which of the following promotion mix tools does Studio 19 employ to reach target customers? A) personal selling B) crowdsourcing C) public relations D) direct marketing E) retailing 26) 27) Which of the following is an example of a combination of sales promotions and direct marketing? A) a company's sales representatives meeting customers directly to present customized offerings B) a company giving discounts on their product prices in order to gain a brand image C) a company releasing a nationwide television ad about every buyer having a chance to win a lottery prize D) a company sending an e-mail to a customer about a discount on a product during a holiday season E) a company holding a press conference to talk about their new product 27) 28) Strings, a family -owned musical instrument business, offers three hours of free music lessons with the purchase of any stringed instrument over $500 during the month of May. This is an example of which promotion mix element? A) personal selling B) direct and digital marketing C) sales promotion D) advertising E) public relations 28) 5 29) Which of the following is true of direct and digital marketing? A) It is suited for highly targeted marketing efforts and for building one -to-one customer relationships. B) It is presented as company news rather than as a sales-directed communication. C) It is an impersonal promotion tool that hinders two-way communication. D) Its marketing message is fixed and does not change according to the customer's requirements. E) It does not involve any interaction between the company and its customers. 29) 30) According to the text, the most logical budget-setting method in advertising is the ________ method. A) adaptive -control B) affordable C) objective -and-task D) percentage-of-sales E) competitive-parity 30) 31) Chic Eyewear, a producer of designer eyeglass frames, promotes their new line in national fashion magazines. Chic Eyewear lists the select optical retailers that carry their line at the bottom of their ads. This is an example of a ________ strategy. A) direct marketing B) pull C) push D) publish -subscribe E) vertical integration 31) 32) Window Concepts has introduced a new line of windows that offer the same benefits as solar panels in reducing heating and cooling costs in homes. The state -of-the -art windows will also contribute to the slowing of global warming while providing energy reliability. The company sends a team of representatives to the National Doors and Windows Trade Show to promote the new line of windows. Which promotion mix tool has Window Concepts used in this scenario? A) public relations B) personal selling C) crowdcasting D) crowdsourcing E) advertising 32) 33) Rather than just creating and placing "TV ads" or "print ads" or "Snapchat branded stories," many marketers now view themselves more broadly as ________ managers. A) social media marketing B) integrated marketing communication C) direct marketing D) content marketing E) multi-media marketing 33) 6 34) Which of the following media is most suitable for advertising a product that needs to be demonstrated? A) newspaper B) billboard C) magazine D) television E) radio 34) 35) ________ advertising primarily maintains brand relationships and is important for mature products. A) Personalized B) Persuasive C) Reminder D) Comparative E) Classified 35) 36) Which of the following is true of consumers in the new marketing communications model? A) They are less powerful than before in affecting the way a company markets its products. B) They are more reliant on mass-media marketing methods for product information. C) They are less informed than before about companies and product marketing techniques. D) They are better equipped to find product and brand information on their own. E) They are more reliant on traditional methods of marketing for product information. 36) 37) A company that uses telephone marketing to sell its products to customers is most likely using the promotion tool of ________. A) retailing B) public relations C) advertising D) direct and digital marketing E) merchandising 37) 38) When a company issues a press release to announce a sizable donation to a national charity, it is using ________ to generate goodwill and maintain a positive corporate image. A) personal selling B) sales promotion C) direct and digital marketing D) advertising E) public relations 38) 39) Trendy Appliances has introduced a new product, Minute Yogurt, into the yogurt maker appliance market. Minute Yogurt differs from competitive offerings because it takes a minute to blend and a minute to clean. Which type of advertising would be best for promoting Minute Yogurt? A) reminder advertising B) classified advertising C) personalized advertising D) comparative advertising E) informative advertising 39) 7 40) Which of the following is an effect of the advancement of technology on marketing? A) Marketers go through more intermediaries to connect with consumers. B) Consumers rely less on marketer-supplied information than in the past. C) Marketers tend to supply less information to consumers than in the past. D) Fragmented markets have assimilated into a few mass markets. E) Marketers have increasingly moved toward mass-marketing techniques. 40) 41) Lush Lawns, a new landscaping company, uses the same logo and shade of green in all forms of communication including its online ads, truck signage, website, and business cards. Which technique is being used by Lush Lawns to promote its business? A) logistics information management B) global marketing management C) inventory control segmentation D) niche market penetration E) integrated marketing communications 41) 42) Which of the following media is most suitable for having consumers provide input on product design or features? A) radio B) television C) billboards D) magazines E) social media 42) 43) ________ tends to legitimize products, is very expressive, allows brand or company dramatization, and can build up a long-term image for a product. A) Door-to-door selling B) Telephone marketing C) Printed-catalog marketing D) Direct mailing E) Television advertising 43) 44) The aim of ________ is to make ads and brand content so engaging or useful that people want to watch them. A) subliminal advertising B) advertainment C) infotainment advertising D) social advertising E) branded entertainment 44) 45) A pharmaceutical manufacturer offers monetary incentives to its sales representatives to promote a new drug to the medical professionals in their respective geographic territories. This is an example of a ________ strategy. A) push B) direct marketing C) publish -subscribe D) pull E) vertical integration 45) 8 46) In a promotion mix, ________ performs the functions of building a good rapport with entities outside the company, building up a good corporate image, and handling unfavourable rumors and events. A) advertising B) personal selling C) sales promotion D) public relations E) direct marketing 46) 47) In a promotion mix, ________ involve(s) personally connecting with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships. A) advertising B) public relations C) indirect procurement D) predictive analyticals E) direct marketing 47) 48) ________ is any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. A) Direct marketing B) Public relations C) Personal selling D) Advertising E) Sales promotion 48) 49) The early manufacturers of electric vehicles (EVs) first had to invest in ________ advertising to make the market aware of the economic and performance benefits. A) reminder B) switching C) informative D) comparative E) persuasive 49) 50) TechGreen is launching a line of miniature solar chargers for laptops, cellphones, and other electronic devices. The chargers are compact and affordable, and the green energy technology is a value -added benefit for both the company and consumers. Which of the following would qualify as an advertisement for TechGreen's new solar chargers? A) a press conference to discuss the various benefits, including environmental features B) a front-page notice of the release of TechGreen's solar chargers in all leading newspapers C) an online lottery where interested buyers have a chance to win a prize D) an endorsement by a national environmental organization to tout the benefits of the new solar chargers E) the use of dedicated sales personnel to explain the qualities of the new solar chargers to retailers 50) 9 51) Karen Dodd is employed by Dell and responsible for calling on primary schools in her home province of British Columbia to promote the company's offerings. She demonstrates the Dell line of products including desktop computers, laptops, and tablets and fields questions from teachers and administrators alike. This is an example of which promotion tool? A) personal selling B) digital advertising C) television advertising D) public relations E) sales promotion 51) 52) Which of the following is the first step in developing an advertising program? A) developing an advertising strategy B) setting the advertising budget C) evaluating advertising campaigns D) setting advertising objectives E) developing a brand message 52) 53) Marketers need to know how customers connect with an ad and brand idea as a part of the broader brand relationship. This can be achieved by measuring ________ levels. A) reach B) media engagement C) frequency D) readership E) listenership 53) 54) Power Pro, a leading manufacturer of lawn and garden equipment, releases a new line of cordless, lightweight, electric weed trimmers. To boost sales, Power Pro issues a 50 percent off coupon to the first 100 buyers at all Home Depot stores in Ontario. Which element of the promotion mix has Power Pro used in this scenario? A) advertising B) public relations C) sales promotion D) crowdsourcing E) personal selling 54) 55) ColaBlue, a soft drink manufacturer, is sued by an environmental group for not meeting certain safety standards in its waste disposal. ColaBlue remedies the problem by adding higher-grade filters and purifiers. Which of the following actions by ColaBlue would constitute a public-relations effort to address the effects of the lawsuit and the consequent damage to its brand image? A) lowering prices of ColaBlue's products in the short term B) holding a press conference to explain the remedial steps that ColaBlue has taken C) having well-trained personnel at retail outlets to explain the different ranges of products the company provides D) tying in with local restaurants to promote exclusive sales of ColaBlue soft drinks E) making new advertisements for ColaBlue products and sponsoring shows on television 55) 10 56) The primary objective of ________ advertising is to build selective demand. A) informative B) reminder C) classified D) persuasive E) personal 56) 57) Which of the following types of promotion tools requires a considerable degree of personal interaction with a customer? A) personal selling B) television advertising C) sales promotion D) public relations E) digital advertising 57) 58) Trainstar, a sportswear equipment manufacturer, releases a new line of energy drinks called VitaZing. The television ad for the energy drink shows people jogging, working out in a gym, and doing aerobics. The actors then take a break to drink VitaZing, which visibly re-energizes them and leads them to continue exercising. Which advertising methods most likely used in the VitaZing ad? A) lifestyle B) scientific evidence C) personality symbol D) technical expertise E) testimonial evidence 58) 59) Which statement is most likely true about the affordable method of setting an advertising budget? A) Spending on advertising is based on a predetermined percentage of current or forecasted sales for the year. B) Spending on advertising is calculated based on the financial objectives a company wishes to accomplish. C) Spending on advertising is calculated as a percentage of the unit sales price. D) Spending on advertising is calculated after operating expenses and capital outlays are deducted from total revenues. E) Spending on advertising is based on a competitor's advertising outlays. 59) 60) The ________ method of setting an advertising budget typically overlooks how promotion affects sales. A) percentage-of-sales B) affordable C) competitive parity D) objective -and-task E) adaptive -control 60) TRUE/FALSE. Write 'T' if the statement is true and 'F' if the statement is false. 61) In a pull strategy, the producer promotes the product to channel members who in turn promote it to final consumers. 11 61) 62) Standardization produces many benefits—lower advertising costs, greater global advertising coordination, and a more consistent worldwide image. 62) 63) Content marketing managers create, inspire, share, and curate marketing content—both their own content and that created by consumers and others. 63) 64) The aim of advertainment is to make ads and brand content so entertaining or so useful that people want to watch them. 64) 65) In advertising media selection, frequency describes the qualitative value of message exposure through a given medium. 65) 66) John Deere's sales force working with Lowe's, Home Depot, Home Hardware, and other independent dealers, and other channel members to promote their products to final consumers is an example of a push promotion strategy. 66) 67) Paid media refers to promotional channels owned and controlled by the company, including company websites, corporate blogs, owned social media pages, proprietary brand communities, sales forces, and events. 67) 68) Lobbying refers to a PR department maintaining relationships with shareholders and others in the financial community. 68) 69) In any medium, the relevance of advertising content to an audience is less important than how many people the advertisement reaches. 69) 70) Usually, when using public relations, a company pays for the space or time in the media. 70) 71) Native advertising refers to advertising or other brand-produced online content that looks in form and function like the other natural content surrounding it on a Web or social media platform. 71) 72) A promotion strategy consists of two major elements: creating advertising messages and selecting advertising media. 72) 73) Mass marketing is the optimal promotion tool for building personal and long-lasting relationships with customers. 73) 74) When an Infiniti automotive dealership sends e -mail updates to customers about new products it is engaging in personal selling. 74) 75) Despite the shift toward digital media, traditional mass media still capture a sizable share of the promotion budgets of most major marketing firms. 75) 76) In an effort to better engage its younger consumers, Adidas relies entirely on digital and social media. 76) 12 77) A common PR tool is special events, ranging from news conferences and speeches, brand tours, and sponsorships to multimedia presentations or educational programs designed to reach and interest target publics. 77) 78) Traditional mass media still make up a majority of today's media mixes. 78) 79) The competitive-parity method of setting promotion budgets prevents promotion wars between companies. 79) 80) The mood or image style shows the company's expertise in making the product. 80) 81) A consumer demanding a product from a retailer after watching an ad on television has responded to a pull promotional advertising strategy. 81) 82) The affordable method tends to place promotion last among spending priorities, even in situations in which advertising is critical to the firm's success. 82) 83) Product placement is a form of brand integration. 83) 84) Advertising's goal is to help move consumers through the buying process. 84) 85) Comparative advertising is a type of persuasive advertising. 85) ESSAY. Write your answer in the space provided or on a separate sheet of paper. 86) What are the different functions of a public relations (PR) department? 87) Why do today's firms need integrated marketing communications systems? How do firms benefit from such systems? 88) What methods of setting advertising budgets are directly based on company revenues? What are the disadvantages of such methods? 89) How does public relations help in creating an integrated marketing communications system? 90) What is a promotion mix? Define the major tools used in a promotion mix. 91) Contrast pull and push promotion mix strategies with suitable examples. 92) Explain the use of sales promotions as a promotion mix tool. 93) How has the new communications model changed the face of today's marketing communications? 94) Kronos Inc., a car manufacturer, makes a car called Hover that runs on the force generated by super magnets. Kronos is the first company to use super-magnet technology in automobile manufacturing, aiming to reduce dependency on non-renewable fuels. If Kronos plans to release television advertisements about Hover, what kind of advertising objective should it pursue when introducing the new product into the market? 13 95) What is consumer-generated content? Provide an example. 96) John works as a junior marketing executive at Frontloop Corporation. Frontloop Corporation manufactures guitars and other stringed instruments. It designs a new guitar, the Loneway, customized for the folk music genre. The company plans to attract both folk artists and folk music lovers with its advertising campaigns and decides to exclusively use mass -media marketing techniques to advertise the Loneway guitar. What arguments can John use if he wants to convince Frontloop to adopt digital media instead of television advertising? 97) Watson Insurance is an insurance company that provides coverage for personal property and bodily injury. The company offers customized policy options for individual customers. High levels of interaction with customers are needed so that the company can provide the best customized service possible. What kind of promotional tool will best help Watson Insurance to sell its policies to its target customers? 98) Yuran Inc., a designer and seller of lifestyle products and inexpensive furniture, has decided to engage in brand integration to advertise its products. The decision coincides with Yuran's plan to release a new line of coffee tables that fold easily and do not take up much space. What are the different ways in which Yuran can achieve brand integration? 99) With a suitable example, show how advancements in technology help consumers avoid advertisement cluttering. What implications does this trend hold for advertisers? 100) Message execution is when the advertiser turns the big idea into an actual ad. The creative team must find the best approach, style, tone, words, and format for executing the message. Describe the nine types of execution and provide an example for each. 14 Answer Key 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) 6) 7) 8) 9) 10) 11) 12) 13) 14) 15) 16) 17) 18) 19) 20) 21) 22) 23) 24) 25) 26) 27) 28) 29) 30) 31) 32) 33) 34) 35) 36) 37) 38) 39) 40) 41) 42) 43) 44) 45) 46) 47) 48) 49) D E C D A A C B A C E D E D E B B B D A E B B C A D D C A C B B D D C D D E E B E E E B D D E D B 15 50) 51) 52) 53) 54) 55) 56) 57) 58) 59) 60) 61) 62) 63) 64) 65) 66) 67) 68) 69) 70) 71) 72) 73) 74) 75) 76) 77) 78) 79) 80) 81) 82) 83) 84) 85) 86) B A D B C B D A A D B FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE FALSE FALSE FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE FALSE FALSE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE TRUE PR departments may perform any or all of the following functions: Press relations or press agency: Creating and placing newsworthy information in the news media to attract attention to a person, product, or service. Product publicity: Publicizing specific products. Public affairs: Building and maintaining national or local community relationships. Lobbying: Building and maintaining relationships with legislators and government officials to influence legislation and regulation. Investor relations: Maintaining relationships with shareholders and others in the financial community. Development: Working with donors or members of nonprofit organizations to gain financial or volunteer support. 16 87) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Consumers today are bombarded by commercial messages from a broad range of sources. But consumers don't distinguish between message sources the way marketers do. In the consumer's mind, messages from different media and promotional approaches all become part of a single message about the company. Conflicting messages from these different sources can result in confused company images, brand positions, and customer relationships. An integrated marketing communications system helps to integrate its many communications channels to deliver a clear, consistent, and compelling message about the organization and its brands. Integrated marketing communications calls for recognizing all touchpoints where the customer may encounter the company and its brands. Each brand contact will deliver a message–whether good, bad, or indifferent. The company's goal should be to deliver a consistent and positive message to each contact. Integrated marketing communications leads to a total marketing communications strategy aimed at building strong customer relationships by showing how the company and its products can help customers solve their problems. Integrated marketing communications ties together all of the company's messages and images. 88) One of the methods of setting advertising budgets based on company revenues is called the affordable method. The team sets the promotion budget at the level they think the company can afford. Small businesses often use this method, reasoning that a company cannot spend more on advertising than it has. They start with total revenues, deduct operating expenses and capital outlays, and then devote some portion of the remaining funds to advertising. This method of setting budgets completely ignores the effects of promotion on sales. It tends to place promotion last among spending priorities, even in situations in which advertising is critical to the firm's success. It leads to an uncertain annual promotion budget, which makes long-range market planning difficult. Other companies use the percentage -of-sales method, setting their promotion budget at a certain percentage of current or forecasted sales. Or they budget a percentage of the unit sales price. The percentage -of-sales method has advantages. It is simple to use and helps management think about the relationships between promotion spending, selling price, and profit per unit. Despite these claimed advantages, however, the percentage -of-sales method has little to justify it. It wrongly views sales as the cause of promotion rather than as the result. 89) An integrated marketing communications system is required to deliver a consistent and positive message of a company's brand to its customers. Public relations is used to promote products, people, places, ideas, activities, organizations, and even nations. Companies use PR to build good relations with consumers, investors, the media, and their communities. Public relations can have a strong impact on public awareness at a much lower cost than advertising can. When using public relations, a company does not pay for the space or time in the media. Rather, it pays for a staff to develop and circulate information and manage events. If the company develops an interesting story or event, it could be picked up by several different media and have the same effect as advertising that would cost millions of dollars. Moreover, public relations has the power to engage customers and make them a part of the brand story. Although public relations still captures only a small portion of the overall marketing budgets of many firms, PR can be a powerful brand-building tool. Especially in this digital age, the lines between advertising, PR, and other content are becoming more and more blurred. For example, are brand websites, blogs, brand videos, and social media activities advertising, PR, or something else? All are marketing content. And as the use of earned and shared digital content grows rapidly, PR may play a bigger role in marketing content management. More than any other department, PR has always been responsible for creating relevant marketing content that draws consumers to a brand rather than pushing messages out. Hence, public relations works hand-in-hand with advertising within an integrated marketing communications program to help build brands and customer relationships. 17 90) The specific blend of promotion tools that a company uses to persuasively communicate customer value and build customer relationships is known as promotion mix. A company's total promotion mix–also called its marketing communications mix–consists of the following promotion tools: Advertising: Any paid form of nonpersonal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Sales promotion: Short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. Personal selling: Personal presentation by the firm's sales force for the purpose of making sales and building customer relationships. Public relations: Building good relations with the company's various publics by obtaining favourable publicity, building up a good corporate image, and handling or heading off unfavourable rumors, stories, and events. Direct, digital, and social media marketing: Engaging in direct connections with carefully targeted individual consumers to both obtain an immediate response and cultivate lasting customer relationships. 91) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Marketers can choose from two basic promotion mix strategies: push promotion or pull promotion. A push strategy involves "pushing" the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward channel members to induce them to carry the product and promote it to final consumers. For example, John Deere does very little promoting of its lawn mowers, garden tractors, and other residential consumer products to final consumers. Instead, John Deere's sales force works with Lowe's, Home Depot, independent dealers, and other channel members, who in turn push John Deere products to final consumers. Using a pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertising and consumer promotion, and direct and digital media) toward final consumers to induce them to buy the product. For example, Unilever promotes its Axe grooming products directly to its young male target market using TV and print ads, a brand website, its YouTube channel and Facebook page, and other channels. If the pull strategy is effective, consumers will then demand the brand from retailers. 92) Sales promotion includes a wide assortment of tools–coupons, contests, discounts, premiums, and others–all of which have many unique qualities. They attract consumer attention, offer strong incentives to purchase, and can be used to dramatize product offers and boost sagging sales. Sales promotions invite and reward quick response. Whereas advertising says, "Buy our product," sales promotion says, "Buy it now." Sales promotion effects are often short lived, however, and often are not as effective as advertising or personal selling in building long-run brand preference and customer relationships. 93) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) The new communications model is changing the face of today's marketing communications in several ways. First, consumers are changing. In this digital age, wireless consumers are better informed and more communications empowered. Rather than relying on marketer-supplied information, they can use the Internet, social media, and other technologies to find information on their own. Second, marketing strategies are changing. As mass markets have fragmented, marketers are shifting away from mass marketing. More and more, they are developing focused marketing programs designed to build closer relationships with customers in more narrowly defined micromarkets. Finally, sweeping advances in digital technology are causing remarkable changes in the ways companies and customers communicate with each other. The digital age has spawned a host of new information and communication tools–from smartphones and tablets to satellite and cable television systems to the many faces of the Internet (brand websites, e-mail, blogs, social media and online communities, the mobile Web, and so much more). Just as mass marketing once gave rise to a new generation of mass -media communications, the new digital and social media have given birth to a more targeted, social, and engaging marketing communications model. 94) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Hover uses a new technology in its production, and its advertisement should reflect that. Introducing a new product and potentially creating a new market requires an advertising campaign that stresses on its uniqueness and usability. The best advertising model to follow for Hover would be informative advertising. Informative advertising is used heavily when introducing a new product category. In this case, the objective is to build primary demand. 18 95) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Taking advantage of today's digital and social media technologies, many companies are now tapping consumers for marketing content, message ideas, or even actual ads and videos. Sometimes the results are outstanding; sometimes they are forgettable. If done well, however, user-generated content can incorporate the voice of the customer into brand messages and generate greater customer engagement. Perhaps the best known consumer-generated content effort is the long-running annual "Crash the Super Bowl Challenge" held annually by PepsiCo's Doritos brand. Doritos invites consumers to create their own 30 -second video ads, and winners receive large cash awards and have their ads run during the Super Bowl. But brands across a wide range of industries — from automakers and fast-food chains to apparel brands and pet food marketers — are inviting customers to participate in generating marketing content. 96) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) The Loneway guitars are specifically designed for folk music lovers, who form a niche market in music. Marketing these guitars through mass-media outlets like television will not help the company reach its target customers efficiently. The costs of mass media are rising, and their audiences are reducing in number. Though mass media have good coverage, they provide low audience selectivity. In contrast, the digital media, like the Internet, are relatively inexpensive and highly customer selective. They are also highly interactive. The Loneway guitar ads could be placed at strategic websites that folk music enthusiasts frequently visit. The ads can be uploaded on sites like YouTube, or Facebook, which are very apt at reaching target customers and niche markets. On the other hand, television advertising is highly cluttered and provides fleeting exposure to potential customers. Using the Internet also saves time as compared to television, which may have a higher ad purchase lead time. Hence, advertising the Loneway line of guitars through online advertising is the cheaper, more audience selective, and customer interactive outlet that the Frontloop Corporation can adopt, especially when compared to television advertising. 97) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Since Watson Insurance requires high levels of interactions with its customers, so as to customize its policies, the promotional tool of personal selling will best help Watson Insurance. Personal selling is the most effective tool at certain stages of the buying process, particularly in building up buyers' preferences, convictions, and actions. It involves personal interaction between two or more people, so each person can observe the other's needs and characteristics and make quick adjustments. Personal selling also allows all kinds of customer relationships to spring up, ranging from matter-of-fact selling relationships to personal friendships. An effective salesperson keeps the customer's interests in mind to build a long-term relationship. 98) Yuran can achieve brand integration through product placement. Product placement involves embedding brands as props within other programming like TV shows, either being used in a show, or being scripted into the show. The Yuran coffee table, for example, could be placed in sitcoms which generally have home settings. The product could even be worked into the show's overall storyline, making it an integral part of that episode. It can even have product placement in movies, video games, comic books, and even pop music. Yuran can achieve brand awareness by being part of the entertainment rather than interrupting it. 19 99) (Students' answers may vary. The answer given below is indicative.) Until recently, television viewers were pretty much a captive audience for advertisers. But today's digital wizardry has given consumers a rich new set of information and entertainment choices. With the growth in cable and satellite TV, the Internet, video streaming, tablets, and smartphones, today's viewers have many more options. Digital technology has also armed consumers with an arsenal of weapons for choosing what they watch or don't watch. Increasingly, thanks to the growth of DVR systems, consumers are choosing not to watch ads. Seventy-six percent of American TV households have a DVR, subscribe to Netflix, or use video-on-demand from a cable or telecommunications provider and two-thirds of DVR owners use the device to skip commercials. Thus, advertisers can no longer force-feed the same old cookie -cutter messages and content to captive consumers through traditional media. Simply interrupting or disrupting consumers no longer works. Unless ads provide content that is engaging, useful, or entertaining, many consumers will simply ignore or skip them. To break through the clutter, many marketers have subscribed to a new merging of advertising and entertainment, dubbed "Madison & Vine." It represents the merging of advertising and entertainment in an effort to create new avenues for reaching consumers with more engaging messages. Just to gain and hold attention, today's content must be better planned, more imaginative, more entertaining, and more emotionally engaging. Simply interrupting or disrupting consumers no longer works. Unless ads provide information that is interesting, useful, or entertaining, many consumers will simply skip by them. 100) • Slice of life. This style shows one or more "typical" people using the product in a normal setting. For example, IKEA content–from microsites and Instagram posts to print ads and television commercials–features people living in rooms furnished with IKEA furniture and household goods. • Lifestyle. This style shows how a product fits in with a particular lifestyle. For example, an ad for Athleta activewear shows a woman in a complex yoga pose and states: "If your body is your temple, build it one piece at a time." • Fantasy. This style creates a fantasy around the product or its use. For example, an ad for Nestlé Pure Life water shows a young girl diving into a water-filled fantasy land where children blow bubbles high on a gondola lift and paddle a boat through the clouds, suggesting "a future full of possibilities starts by drinking pure bottled water now." • Mood or image. This style builds a mood or image around the product or service, such as beauty, love, intrigue, serenity, or pride. Few claims are made about the product or service except through suggestion. For example, a warm, soul-stirring three-minute "Little Moments" ad for HP's phone -sized Sprocket printer captures through printed images the evolving relationship between a father and his moody 12-year-old daughter as she starts sixth grade. "Hold onto the ones you love," the ad urges. "Reinvent memories." • Musical. This style shows characters singing about the product. For example, as part of its "Insure Carefully, Dream Fearlessly" campaign, American Family Insurance sends Grammy Award—winner Jennifer Hudson to the streets of Atlanta to help make a dream come true by singing a surprise duet with an aspiring street performer. "With the right support, any dream is possible," the ad concludes. In another musical ad, Hudson surprises the Morehouse College Glee Club. • Personality symbol. This style creates a character that represents the product. The character might be animated (Mr. Clean, the GEICO Gecko, or the Travelocity Gnome) or real (perky Progressive Insurance spokeswoman Flo, KFC's Colonel Sanders, or Ronald McDonald). • Technical expertise. This style shows the company's expertise in making the product. Thus, Jim Koch of the Boston Beer Company tells about his many years of experience in brewing Samuel Adams beer. • Scientific evidence. This style presents survey or scientific evidence that the brand is better or better liked than one or more other brands. For years, Crest toothpaste has used scientific evidence to convince buyers that Crest is better than other brands at fighting cavities. • Testimonial evidence or endorsement. This style features a highly believable or likable source endorsing the product. It could be ordinary people saying how much they like a given product. For example, Whole Foods features a variety of real customers in its Values Matter marketing campaign. Or it might be a celebrity presenting the product, such as Taylor Swift for Diet Coke or NBA star Stephen Curry for Under Armour. 20