Task 1 Promotional Mix Definition | Organisation 1: Aldi | Organisation 2: Red Bull | Advertising public communication about causes, goods and services, ideas, organizations, people, and places, through means such as direct mail, telephone, print, radio, television, and internet. A vital part of marketing, advertisements are public notices designed to inform and motivate. Their objective is to change the thinking pattern (or buying behaviour) of the recipient, so that he or she is persuaded to take the action desired by the advertiser. When aired on radio or television, an advertisement is called a commercial. | Above-the-line promotions are paid-for advertising aimed at a huge range of audiences. This is reached to these people by using the media, such as the TV, newspapers, magazine, radio and many more, using these types of advertising can be very expensive and it also makes it difficult for the business to find out their specific target audience, therefore they use above the line promotions to reach their customers, these promotions include: Advertising on television. Printed leaflets are distributed within stores. Newspaper adverts extend the ‘Like Brands’ campaign. In store posters are also used to highlight the ‘Swap and Save’ message | Red Bull takes a different approach to advertising than Aldi. Although Red Bull uses the TV advertisements, magazines, posters and many more, they also create and organise their own event around the world. Many talented athletes that come from around the world, then take part in these events to showcase their skills an ambitions. These events include: Red Bull X-Fighters Red Bull Air Race This is where the athletes perform in front of tens of thousands of spectators. These events therefore help increase the brand value and help raise awareness of the brand which would in return create more revenue for the business. | Personal selling Personal selling is when a company uses a salespersons to build a relationship and engage with their customers to determine their needs and get a sales order that may not otherwise have been placed. The personal selling process is a seven step approach: prospecting, pre-approach, approach, presentation, meeting objections, closing the sale, and follow-up. | Aldi also use below the line promotions, this is a way of being able to engage with their customers or their potential customers. The below the line promotions can be used to easily find out their specific target audience, these methods include: Social media Targeted email to customers 3rd party endorsement and awards Public relations and media relations Aldi also use Facebook and twitter to be able to engage in 1 on 1 communication with their customers, they can use this to assess their opinions about the brand which could be used to improve wherever they have gone wrong. | The founder of Red Bull, used personal selling as a method of promotion. In the 1980s, the founder hired a Red Bull team to go out and talk to the consumer’s one on one about the product and why they should buy it to advertise their product. This was a promotional method because once they talked to one customer they would learn to appreciate the brand and realise that it is a quality brand, therefore they would talk to their friends who would talk to their friends which would create more awareness of the brand and help with the business revenue. | Sales promotion Sales promotion is any initiative undertaken by an organisation to promote an increase in sales, usage or trial of a product or service. Sales promotion can come in different ways, e.g. Free gifts Samples Discounts Vouchers Competition | Aldi uses sales promotion by giving rewards such as vouchers, for example, the “I love Aldi” campaign asked their customers to send their friends a virtual Aldi’s valentine card, Aldi used rewards such as the chance to win a £10 voucher to make them want to send the card over Facebook. They could also win a box of Aldi’s chocolates for their valentine if they did send a card to their friend. | Red Bull also use sales promotions by organising events and competitions for young teenagers etc. For example Red Bull held a competition called the Red Bull bedroom Jam, this was a competition to help teenage musicians to get onto the big stage and experience something they have never experienced before, and Red Bull records the band live from their bedrooms for the world to see by the internet. The bands that attracts the most attention on the internet then compete for long term career support and also the opportunity to play at UK festivals. | Public relations The deliberate planned and nonstop effort to establish and keep mutual understanding between publicity and public relations. Most businesses have little control over publicity of their business. Public relations can included open days, holding conferences, hospitality events and award celebrations. | Public relations can massively help with promotions for any business, therefore Aldi has managed to secure record coverage through hard working and ground-breaking media stories. Journalists from newspapers such as The Grocer, The Financial Times and The Times were asked to come in for an interview with the Aldi’s group managing directors, where they went over record breaking sales results. More coverage by the media was gained by targeting the media at specific time with seasonal promotional messages. | Red Bull have a lot of media coverage, as mentioned before they hold events such as the Red Bull bedroom Jam, this, as well as creating awareness of the brand, also created media coverage which helped them raise awareness of the brand as well. As well as that Red Bull use social media as a source of media coverage, because they can engage in communication with their customers which would also help raise awareness of the brand and increase its brand value. | Direct marketing Direct marketing is used by many businesses in different sectors, as the advances in technology have increased over the years direct marketing has become more common and easier for businesses. It uses databases to target customers whose characteristics are similar to those the business intend to market and sell products or services to. | Aldi use direct marketing to advertise their business, for example they used the “like brands” campaign, this campaign consisted of gathering a group of people and blind folding them, then they are asked to try out 2 products, one which is the Aldi brand and the other is the leading brand, they then have to decide which is the leading brand. After conducting this campaign they found that the public thought the Aldi brand was the leading brand. This campaign was made to show that Aldi brand has the same quality or sometimes better quality than leading brands. | Red Bull is targeted at energetic people, people who like to push their boundaries. Therefore, they organise events to target that specific audience and get them to buy their product. This is done by creating events such as the Red Bull cliff diving in the south of Italy and the Red Bull Flugtag event in Leeds. The competitors were asked to design, build and also pilot their home made flying machine off a 30ft high fly deck. These competitions require courage and creative individuals, therefore Red Bull can easily target that audience since they took part in the event. | Sponsorship Sponsorships are commonly described as when a company/business/organisation pay to be associated with particular events/causes or an image. Many companies and brands sponsor particular television programs to ensure they associated with particular programs viewed. Businesses are also known to sponsor research activities. | Aldi’s main objective is to expand and grow their business, therefore they have recently opened up a huge £10 million sponsorship with Team GB, this will help the business bring in more revenue and massively help raise awareness of the brand. To mark the announcement, Aldi created an online film showing Team GB athletes Samantha Murray, modern pentathlon, and Liam Phillips, BMX Cyclist, making their way around an Aldi store. | Unlike Aldi, Red Bull have a lot of sponsorships. When they create and organise an event they always sponsor the athletes that take part in the event which in return helps raise awareness of the brand and help improve the brand quality as the brand is worn by a famous athlete etc. |