Following are the different types of BTL tools being used for consumer promotions:
- DDS (Door to Door Selling)
- Coupons
- Rebates
- Promotional Pricing
- Trade-In
- Loyalty Programs
- Trial Generation and free Sampling
- Free/Extra Product
- Premiums
- Contests and Sweepstakes
- Demonstrations
- Personal Appearances
- Sponsorship
Door to Door Selling
Door-to-door is a sales technique in which a salesman walks from one door to another trying to sell a product or service to the general public. A variant of this involves cold calling first, when another sales representative attempts to gain agreement that a salesperson should visit. Door-to-door selling is usually conducted in the afternoon hours, when the majority of people are at home.
DDS Products
Typically, products sold door to door will be of the same variety that can be purchased at large discount stores. The products accounting for the largest share of direct-sales revenue includes cleaning supplies, cleaning equipment, magazines, and home improvement products. The largest of these would be the home improvement products where item could be new or repaired roofs, siding, new replacement windows, and decorative stone.
In Pakistan the first DDS was launched by Wheel Washing Powder back in 1995 with a notable success. Its competitor Aerial Surf was the immediate follower. Since then a lot brands have adopted this tool which include:
ú Lifebuoy
ú Blue Band
ú Energile
ú Lux
ú Macleans
ú Head & Shoulders
Interestingly, in many countries, encyclopedias, including theEncyclopedia Britannica, were frequently sold by door-to-door salesmen, although the practice is now less common.
Coupons
Most consumers are quite familiar with this form of sales promotion, which offers purchasers price savings or other incentives when the coupon is redeemed at the time of purchase. Coupons are short-term in nature since most (but not all) carry an expiration date after which the value may not be received. Also, coupons require consumer involvement in order for value to be realized. In most cases involvement consists of the consumer making an effort to obtain the coupon (e.g., clip from newspaper) and then presenting it at the time of purchase.
Coupons are used widely by marketers across many retail industries and reach consumers in a number of different delivery formats including:
- Free-Standing Inserts (FSI) – Here coupon placement occurs loosely (i.e., inserted) within media, such as newspapers and direct mail, and may or may not require the customer to cut away from other material in order to use.
- Cross-Product – These consist of coupons placed within or on other products. Often a marketer will use this method to promote one product by placing the coupon inside another major selling product. For example, a pharmaceutical company may imprint a coupon for a cough remedy on the box of a pain medication. Also, this delivery approach is used when two marketers have struck a cross promotion arrangement where each agrees to undertake certain marketing activity for the other.
- Printout – A delivery method that is common in many food stores is to present coupons to a customer at the conclusion of the purchasing process. These coupons, which are often printed on the spot, are intended to be used for a future purchase and not for the current purchase which triggered the printing.
- Product Display – Some coupons are nearly impossible for customers to miss as they are located in close proximity to the product. In some instances coupons may be contained within a coupon dispenser fastened to the shelf holding the product while in other cases coupons may be attached to a special display (see POP display below) where customers can remove them (e.g., tear off).
- Internet – Several specialized websites, such as HotCoupons.com, and even some manufacturer’s sites, allow customers to print out coupons. These coupons are often the same ones appearing in other media, such as newspapers or direct mail. In other cases, coupons may be sent via email, though to be effective the customer’s email program must be able to receive HTML email (and not text only) in order to maintain required design elements (e.g., bar code).
- Electronic – The Internet is also seeing the emergence of new non-printable coupons redeemable through website purchases. These electronic coupons are redeemed when the customer enters a designated coupon code during the purchase process.
Tea companies in Pakistan seems to have been stick to the coupons. Supreme Tea and Tapal Tea have been in close combat in facilitating the consumer of the rural areas. They offer different small items as the gift on the purchase of their tea packs and later perform lucky draws for them, giving away prizes sometimes Motorcycles.
Rebates
Rebates, like coupons, offer value to purchasers typically by lowering the customer’s final cost for acquiring the product. While rebates share some similarities with coupons, they differ in several keys aspects. First, rebates are generally handed or offered (e.g., accessible on the Internet) to customers after a purchase is made and cannot be used to obtain immediate savings in the way coupons are used. (So called “instant rebates”, where customers receive price reductions at the time of purchase, have elements of both coupons and rebates, but for our purposes we will classify these as coupons due to the timing of the reward to the customer.)
Second, rebates often request the purchaser to submit personal data in order to obtain the rebate. For instance, customer identification, including name, address and contact information, is generally required to obtain a rebate. Also, the marketer may ask those seeking a rebate to provide additional data such as indicating the reason for making the purchase.
Third, unlike coupons that always offer value when used in a purchase (assuming it is accepted by the retailer), receiving a rebate only guarantees value if the customer takes actions. Marketers know that not all customers will respond to a rebate. Some will misplace or forget to submit the rebate while others may submit after a required deadline. Marketers factor in the non-redemption rate as they attempt to calculate the cost of the rebate promotion.
Finally, rebates tend to be used as a value enhancement in higher priced products compared to coupons. For instance, rebates are a popular promotion for automobiles and computer software where large amounts of money may be returned to the customer.
Promotional Pricing
One of the most powerful sales promotion techniques is the short-term price reduction or, as known in some areas, “on sale” pricing. Lowering a product’s selling price can have an immediate impact on demand, though marketers must exercise caution since the frequent use of this technique can lead customers to anticipate the reduction and, consequently, withhold purchase until the price reduction occurs again.
As we will see in a later tutorial, promotional pricing is also considered within the framework of the Price marketing mix component. More on of this technique will be provided in that discussion.
Trade-In
Trade-in promotions allow consumers to obtain lower prices by exchanging something the customer possess, such as an older product that the new purchase will replace. While the idea of gaining price breaks for trading in another product is most frequently seen with automobile sales, such promotions are used in other industries, such as computers and golf equipment, where the customer’s exchanged product can be resold by the marketer in order to extract value.
Loyalty Programs
Promotions that offer customers a reward, such as price discounts and free products, for frequent purchasing or other activity are called loyalty programs. These promotions have been around for many years but grew rapidly in popularity when introduced in the airline industry as part of frequent-filer programs. Loyalty programs are also found in numerous other industries, including grocery, pizza purchasing and online book purchases, where they may also be known as club card programs since members often must use a verification card as evidence of enrollment in the program.
Many loyalty programs have become ingrained as part of the value offered by a marketer. That is, a retailer or marketing organization may offer loyalty programs as general business practice. Under this condition loyalty program does not qualify as a sales promotion since it does not fit the requirement of offering a short-term value (i.e., it is always offered). However, within a general business practice loyalty program a sales promotion can be offered, such as special short-term offer that lowers the number of points needed to acquire a free product.
