envelope should be kept to a minimum. Some mailings consist of so many

items of different shapes and sizes that the recipient is bewildered and

may well discard the whole lot! Good enclosures are those which supplement

the sales letter. Some of the best examples of well-planned shots are the

one-piece mailers which contain all the necessary information and the order

form, making an accompanying sales letter unnecessary.

A printed envelope can be an advertisement just like the packaging of a

retail product. It is the first thing people see. It can attract attention

and invite curiosity about the contents, and if sufficiently interesting to

the recipient the printed envelope could achieve priority over other

correspondence received at the same time.

The size of envelopes can be controlled by the format of printed

enclosures. Large leaflets in large envelopes can arrive in a very battered

state whereas smaller leaflets in smaller envelopes are more likely to

arrive in the same condition as when packed. So it’s better to use the

small ones.

In order to send direct mail shots the company should create mailing lists.

There are a lot of ways of creating or obtaining mailing lists. The

information may be took from sales bills bearing the names and addresses of

purchasers, from the response to advertisements, from yearbooks, annuals,

directories and membership lists. They may be created by using a direct

mail house or by hiring a list from list-brokers who specialize in this

service. There are also firms which specialize in client's lists on

computerized databases, adding and deleting names as requested, and so

managing and maintaining a client's own list.

It is important to have an up-to-date mailing list, and it is bad policy to

build a continuous mailing list which is never checked or revised. People

do move, change their names or die. A mailing list of customers can be out-

of-date after two years and in some cases in six months.

Not all direct advertising, or distribution of materials, is sent by post.

A large volume is delivered door-to-door to houses, shops or offices. There

are three types of mail-drop service:

by specialist door-to-door distributors;

by the Post Office;

in conjunction with the delivery of free newspapers.

Direct Response Marketing

Direct response is a form of distribution as I’ve mentioned above. The

reasons for its growth and success are lack of personal services in self-

service stores and supermarkets, problems of car-parking and road

congestion near shopping centres, popularity of credit and charge cards.

Today the variety of means by which 'armchair' shopping can be conducted

are only limited by the ability of modern mail order traders to conceive

yet another technique of what is now called direct response marketing. We

have moved a long way from the mail-order bargains of the popular press or

the mail order club catalogues, although both still exist. It is now a

sophisticated business extending rapidly into the realms of alternative

television, micro-computers and videodisc catalogues. At the same time,

traditional media continue to be used, but this does now include commercial

television, as with recorded music producers. The largest single user of

direct response is insurance.

Direct response has become a very substantial area of agency business,

conducted either by specialist agencies, or by specialist subsidiaries of

well-known agencies. A major reason for the expansion of direct response

marketing has been the demand from clients for 'accountable advertising'

where they can measure the response in enquiries, sales leads or sales.

From small black and white ads in the popular press to full-colour, full-

page ads in the weekend colour supplements, a huge variety of goods and

services arc sold off-the-page. Most hobby and enthusiasts magazines carry

ads offering goods by post, from foreign stamps to computer software. The

business pages offer unit trusts, and even the popular papers offer life

insurance, motor-car and private hospital insurance. Correspondence courses

have long been sold this way. Even the sale of shares is conducted by

prospectuses published in The Times and Financial Times.

A number of commercial and non-commercial organisations sell from

catalogues which may be advertised in the press and on TV or sent to

regular customers, members or donors, or direct mailed against selected

mailing lists. Such catalogues are usually distributed annually or

seasonally, but some are issued more frequently. They may be for specific

products or services such as garden seeds, bulbs or roses; foreign stamps

or coins; fashion goods; wines; pipes; or perhaps tour holidays.

There are two kinds of clubs, those for club agents who enrol a circle of

members, with the agents earning commission on the sales; and clubs for

individual members who usually undertake to buy a minimum number of books,

records, cassettes or CDs a year. Some airlines operate mail order clubs

for passengers.

The first group enrol agents by means of ads in the women's press and in

family magazines like TV Times and Radio Times. The reader should note the

special wording of the application coupons in these ads. Particular

information is requested such as whether the applicant has a telephone, and

there is generally an age limit and perhaps geographical limits.

Also television, telephone and teletext may be used as the method of

distributing. Advertisers quote the Teledata (ВНР) number to make enquiries

or order goods. It is a 24-hour personalised telemarketing service, making

it unnecessary for customers to mail coupons and for advertisers to handle

them. All the sales information is held in a computer. For example, an

advertisement for the Hyundai Stella 1.6 motor car, concluded with: 'phone

Teledata 071-200-0200 for a brochure and the name and address of your

nearest dealer'. The teledata receptionist gives the addresses of the

nearest dealers, and note the caller's address in order to send the

brochure, and asks where the advertisement has been seen and the make and

year of the caller's present car.

Electronic mail is a system whereby mail is received on a Telex or non-

Telex computer terminal with a modem which permits a print-out on a

printer. This system is limited to recipients who have the necessary

receiving equipment. But the growth of such office facilities is making

electronic mail a viable direct response medium especially since there is

the interaction facility to respond directly and quickly.

Direct marketing relies on trust. Customers have to send money in advance

and do not see the goods until they arrive. That is why this form of

trading is less common in developing countries. In Britain, the Mail Order

Protection Scheme means that customers are protected by the publishers who

do not wish to receive complaints from readers.

In Britain there are many laws which could concern the direct response

marketer, and some may be of general application wherever the goods are

sold. To these may be added the common law of contract. Most of these laws

apply to off-the-page direct response, some apply to all forms of direct

response marketing.

Exhibitions

Importance of exhibitions

Exhibitions are popular throughout the world and have a long history,

originating with old trading markets such as the 'marts' in what are today

Belgium and the Netherlands, where British merchants sold their wool and

woollens in the fourteenth century. The exhibition developed into the show

attended by either the trade or the general public. London for many years

became a major exhibition centre, to mention only the Great Exhibition of

1851, the Wembley Exhibition of 1924, and the Festival of Britain in 1951.

In recent years the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham has rivalled

London although many events are held at Olympia, Earls Court, the

Horticultural Halls and the Barbican Centre in the City.

Throughout the world there are major exhibition centres, often government

supported (unlike Britain!), the chief ones in Europe being Frankfurt,

Basle and Milan. Many exhibitions are nowadays held in the Gulf states, an

indication of the need to develop their emergent economies. Permanent trade

exhibition centres exist in developing countries such as Malaysia and

Nigeria.

Types of exhibition

1. Public indoor

Usually held in specially built halls, the public show is based on a theme

of public interest such as food, the home, do-it-yourself, gardening or

holidays and travel.

2. Trade or business indoor

A more specialised type of exhibition, this will probably have a smaller

attendance consisting of bona fide visitors who are invited, given tickets

in their trade journal or admitted on presentation of their business card.

3. Private indoor

These are usually confined to one sponsor, but occasionally consist of a

few sponsors with associated but not rival interests Venues are usually

hotels, local halls, libraries, building centres or company premises if

suitable.

4. Outdoor

Certain subjects lend themselves to outdoor exhibitions, for instance

aviation, farm equipment (at agricultural shows) camping and large

construction equipment. Exhibition stand may also be available at outdoor

or tented events like flower shows and horse shows. In hotter countries

exhibitions normally held indoors in the northern hemisphere will be held

out-of-doors.

5. Travelling

Mobile exhibitions can be transported by caravan, specially built

exhibition vehicles, converted double-decker buses, trains aircraft and

ships. British Rail has its special Ambassador exhibition train which can

be used by a single client and taken to a choice of railway stations

throughout the country where visitors can be received. It can also be taken

to European countries Mobile van shows are common in developing countries,

travelling from town to town and village to village.

6. In-store

These are popular with foreign sponsors who organise weeks in different

towns to display foods, wines, fabrics, pottery, glassware or tourist

attractions. The displays are usually in appropriate stores, but a special

entertainment evening may be organised for the public in a theatre or hall,

when singers, dancers and/or films may constitute the programme.

7. Permanent exhibitions

Some large organisations may hold exhibitions within their premises or in

special halls or parks. A particularly attractive one is Legoland, a

children's park at Billund, Denmark, which demonstrates Lego toys.

The following are well worth visiting, combining as they do well mounted

exhibits with video shows:

The Thames Barrier Exhibition, near Woolwich. The Mary Rose Exhibition,

Portsmouth Dockyard. The Eurotunnel Exhibition, Folkestone.

8. Conferences

In association with annual conferences there is often an exhibition

supported by suppliers which delegates may visit between and after

conference sessions. Some of them are quite small, perhaps arranged in an

ante-room or in the foyer of the hotel, but others are as big as the

conference itself. The larger exhibitions are usually held at venues like

Brighton or Harrogate where there are combined conference and exhibition

facilities.

Characteristics of exhibitions

Exhibitions are unlike any other forms of advertising and can include

selling direct off-the-stand to visitors. The special characteristics of

exhibitions are summarised in 16-21.

The chief value of an exhibition is that it draws attention to it subject

and so attracts people, often from great distances. Thus the exhibitor has

the opportunity of meeting people he would never meet nor have time to

contact. The message of the exhibition, and often that of individual

exhibitors, spreads far beyond the even itself, and coverage is possible

throughout the appropriate media at home and abroad.

An exhibition requires a lot of time for its preparation, and for manning

the stand. It is essential that the stand is manned by knowledgeable people

capable of answering visitors' questions.

Exhibitions provide opportunities to display prototypes of new products,

and to receive visitors' comments and criticisms.

Confidence, credibility and goodwill can be established by meeting

potential customers face-to-face. This applies to both distributors and

consumers.

There are ideal opportunities actually to show the product which is more

authentic than describing and illustrating it in advertisements, catalogues

and sales literature. Similarly, sampling provides a good sales promotion

opportunity.

The atmosphere of an exhibition is very congenial, even though a long visit

may be hard on the feet. For many people it is an outing to be enjoyed and

there is an atmosphere of entertainment like going to the circus or the

theatre.

Using exhibitions

There are many trade papers which give forward dates of exhibitions, the

most complete details appearing in Exhibition Bulletin. Other publications

which announce some exhibition details are British Rate and Data,

Conferences and Exhibitions International and Sales and Marketing

Management.

The following points should be borne in mind before booking space in an

exhibition,

(a) Organisers. Is the event organised by a responsible firm? Are they

members of the Association of Exhibition Organisers? Have they run this or

other shows before?

(b) Date. What is the date, is it convenient and does it clash with any

other event?

(c) Venue. Is it a good venue, that is one likely to attract a good

attendance? Is it a convenient one for transporting exhibits to and from?

Some foreign venues may impose transportation and customs problems. Does it

have good transport links? Is there adequate car-parking? Are there nearby

hotels?

(d) Cost of sites. What is the charge per square metre and are, perhaps,

modestly priced shell schemes available?

(e) Facilities. Are all the necessary facilities available such as water,

gas or electricity, if they are required?

(f) Publicity. How will visitors be attracted?

(g) Build-up and knock-down. Is there adequate time allowed before and

after the show for erection and dismantling of stands?

(h) Public relations. What press office and press visit facilities will

there be?

This is an aspect of exhibitions which is overlooked by many exhibitors. It

pays to co-operate with the exhibition press officer months before the

event. Valuable press, radio and television coverage can be gained from

exhibitions, and this is a valuable bonus. Hundreds of journalists visit

shows, looking for good stories and pictures. They do not carry suitcases

and will shun clumsy press kits packed with irrelevant material.

(i) Associated events. Are there any associated events like a conference or

film/video shows?

(j) Is it justified? Is the cost of designing and constructing a stand,

renting space, printing sales literature, providing hospitality (especially

at a trade show) and taking staff away from their regular work justified?

Has the company something new to show, does it need to meet distributors

and/or customers, must it compete with rival exhibitors? What value may be

anticipated for the money spent—in goodwill or sales, including perhaps the

finding and appointing of new agents or distributors?

In his very useful book, Exhibitions and Conferences from A to Z, (Modina

Press, 1989) Sam Black makes the following comment:

'Exhibitions are visited by people expecting to see actual objects.

Photographs, diagrams and illustrations play an important part in conveying

technical or general information but they should be subsidiary to the three-

dimensional exhibits. People will read quite detailed explanatory copy on

an exhibition stand if it explains an exhibit which has attracted their

curiosity, but isolated panels of text will rarely be read.'

Sponsorship

Sponsorship consists of giving monetary or other support to a beneficiary

in order to make it financially viable, sometimes for altruistic reasons,

but usually to gain some advertising, public relations or marketing

advantage.

The beneficiary could be an organisation or individual. While some sponsors

may simply wish to be philanthropic, this is seldom so today when the

object is more often deliberately commercial.

At present, the bulk of sponsorship money is spent on sport, and while this

support is given mainly to the major sports of motor-racing, horse-racing,

football, cricket, tennis, golf, a number of other sports have become

popular through sponsorship and television coverage, to mention only bowls,

snooker, and darts. For example, Canon were the origional sponsors of the

football League and at the end of their three - year sponsorship, costing f

3mln they were able to boast that there was hardly an office in Britain

which didn't have a Canon machine. The strength of this sponsorship was

that British football is played of many months of the year by 92 teams,

this producing constant media coverage.

What can be sponsored?

a) Books and other publications such as maps.

b) Exhibitions which may be sponsored by trade associations and

professional societies.

c) Education, in the form of grants, bursaries and fellowships.

d) Expeditions, explorations, mountaineering, round-the-world voyages and

other adventures.

e) Sport.

f) The arts such as music, painting, literature and the theatre.

g) Charities, especially by helping them to promote their activities.

The aim of a sponsorship is to gain results associated with the

advertising,

public relations or marketing strategy.

Advertising objectives:

a) When media advertising a banned. The product may be banned by certain

media, e.g. cigarettes cannot be advertised on British TV, although this

may not apply in other countries. Cigarette manufactures have succeeded in

gaining considerable TV programme coverage by sponsoring cricket, golf and

motor-racing.

b) In association with sponsorship, arena advertising in the form of boards

and bunting can be displayed at racecourses, sports stadiums, motor-racing

circuits and other venues so that they are inevitably picked up by the TV

cameras covering the event, apart from being seen by spectators on the

spot.

Public relations objective:

Public relations objectives do not seek to advertise in order to persuade

and sell, but aim to develop knowledge and understanding of the

organisation. An important public relations objective may be to create

goodwill towards the company, locally, nationally or internationally. A

large corporation, making big profits, may adopt a social conscience by

donating funds or gifts to society. It might give financial aid to a

library, college, theatre, hospital or medical research fund. When a

foreign company enters export markets, where it may be unknown or greeted

with prejudice or suspicion, sponsorship can help create a friendly

attitude without which it would be impossible to sell.

Very popular is the presenting the awards to journalists for their skill

and knowledge when writing about the sponsor's subject or industry. At to

marketing objectives sponsorship helps to position a product, to support

dealers, to establish a change in marketing policy, to launch a new

product, to establish the product in international markets.

Types of stores

Retailers can be classified by the length and breadth of their product

assortment. Among the most important types are specialty stores, department

stores, supermarkets, convenience stores and superstores.

A specialty store carries a narrow product line with a deep assortment

within that line. Examples include stores selling sporting goods,

furniture, books, electronics, flowers or toys. Today, specialty stores are

flourishing for several reasons. The increasing use of market segmentation,

market targeting, and product specialization has resulted in a greater need

for stores that focus on specific products and segments. And because of

changing consumer life styles and the increasing number of 2-income

households, many consumers have greater incomes but less time to spend

shopping. They are attracted to specialty stores which provide high quality

products, nearly locations, good store hours, excellent service and quick

entry and exit. The shopping centre boom has also contributed to the recent

growth of specialty stores, which occupy 60 to 70% of the total shopping

centre space.

A department store carries a wide variety of product lines-typically

clothing, home furnishing, and household goods. Each line is operated as a

separate department. The first department stores appeared and grew rapidly

through the first half of the century. But after World War II, they began

to lose ground to a growing list of other types of retailers, including

discount stores, specialty stores, and *off-price* retailers.

Department stores are today waging a *comeback war*. Most have opened

suburban stores, and many have added "bargain basements" to meet the

discount threat still others have remodelled their stores or set up

"boutiques" that compete with specialty stores. Many are trying mail order

and telephone selling.

Supermarkets are large, low-cost, low-margin, high-volume, self-service

stores that carry a wide variety of food, laundry, and household products.

Most US supermarkets are owned by supermarket chains like Safeway, Kroger,

A&P, Winn-Dixie & fewel. Chains account for almost 70% of all supermarket

sales. Most supermarkets today are facing slow sales growth because of

proliferation of stores, slower population growth, & the appearance of

innovative competitors such as convenience stores, discount food stores &

superstores. They have also been hit hard by the rapid growth of out-of-

home eating. Thus, supermarkets are looking for new ways to build their

sales. They practice "scrambled merchandising", carrying many non-food

items-beauty aids, toys, house wares, prescriptions, appliances,

videocassettes, sporting goods, garden supplies - hoping to find high -

margin lines to improve profits. Many supermarkets are moving "upscale"

with the market. Retailers are adding such amenities as full-service

seafood departments, "from scratch" bakeries, gourmet prepared foods & in

store restaurants complete with bars, jazz pianists, & wine stewards.

Finally, to attract more customers, large supermarket chains are starting

to customize their stores for individual neighbourhoods. They are tailoring

store size, product assortment, prices & promotions to the economic &

ethnic needs of local markets.

Convenience stores are small store that carry a limited line of high-

turnover convenience goods. Examples include 7-Eleven, Circle K, & Open

Pantry. These stores locate near residential areas & remain open long hours

& seven days a week. Convenience stores charge high prices to make up for

higher operating costs & lower sales volume. But they satisfy an important

consumer need. Consumers use convenience stores for "fill-in" purchases at

off hours or when time is short, & they are willing to pay for the

convenience.

Superstores are almost twice the size of regular supermarkets & carry a

large assortment of routinely purchased food & non-food items. They offer

such services as laundry, dry cleaning, shoe-repair, check cashing, bill

paying & lunch counters. Because of their wide assortment, superstore

prices are 5 to 6% higher than those of conventional supermarkets. Many

leading chains are moving towards superstores.

Hypermarkets are in size up to about 6 football fields. The hypermarket

combines supermarket, discount & warehouse retailing. It carries more than

routinely purchased goods, also selling furniture, appliances, clothing, &

many other things. The hypermarket offers discount prices & operates like a

warehouse. Customers select items from bulk displays, & the store gives

discounts to customers who carry their own heavy appliances & furniture out

of the store.

Most stores today cluster together to increase their customer pulling power

& to give customers the convenience of on-stop shopping. A shopping centre

is a group or retail businesses planned, developed, owned & managed as a

unit. A regional shopping centre is like a mini downtown. At contains from

40 to 100 store & pulls customers from a wide area.

Public Relations

PR is often confused with advertising, and sometimes wrongly termed

"publicity". PR is wrongly regarded as "free advertising". The two are very

different forms of communication, but advertising is likely to be more

effective if PR is well carried out.

Briefly, PR aims to create understanding through knowledge, it must be

factual, credible and impartial. Advertising has to be persuasive in order

to sell and it may be emotional, dramatic and certainly partial. Thus, a

basic difference is that in order to succeed PR must be unbiased while

advertising has to be biased. PR may be thought to consist only of press

relations, or rather media relations since radio and television are also

involved. Modem PR extends into all the functions of commercial and

noncommercial, public and private organisations. It deals with matters far

removed from marketing and advertising to mention only community, employee,

share holder and political relations. A major area of public relations in

recent years has been the handling of crisis situations such as strikes,

disasters and take over bids. The creation of understanding is best

explained by the "PR transfer process". A company, product or service may

be subject to some negative states as hostility, prejudice, apathy,

ignorance. PR is concerned with changing them into positive attitudes such

as sympathy, acceptance, interest, knowledge. There may be hostility

towards a company because its behaviour has been criticised, a product has

performed badly, a company personality has received bad publicity , the

company is of foreign origin or simply because it is very big. There may

also be hostility towards the industry because it is believed to be

hazardous or endangers the environment. Prejudice is a more difficult

obstacle to overcome, and is usually long-standing and derived from family,

education, ethnic or even geographical influences. Many people are still

prejudiced about flying, holidays abroad, foreign foods, computers, etc.

Disinterest and apathy is very hard to overcome. People tend to be

conservative, set in their ways and unwilling to try new things. They may

be apathetic about things that could benefit them such as banking

insurance, savings, diet, holidays or different kinds of clothes. In a

complex world everyone is ignorant about many things. It is inevitable.

There was a time when most people were ignorant about detergents, air

conditioning, video-cassettes, all of which large number of people take for

granted today. These are all negative attitudes which PR has to change into

positive ones. From what has been described it is seen that PR concerns the

total communications of the total organisation. It is not confined to

marketing nor it is a form of advertising. Nevertheless, advertising can

benefit from PR activity. In fact advertising may well fail because of lack

of PR. PR has its own communication techniques and it can contribute to the

success of advertising just as it can contribute to good management-

employee relations or good financial relations. The chief benefit lies in

the creation of understanding.

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