Marketing Mix and Promotion Techniques

The assignment discusses the marketing mix and promotional techniques used by TESCO, outlining various theories such as AIDA model and above/below the line marketing. It provides a detailed analysis of these concepts and their application in business, highlighting key challenges and benefits associated with different promotional methods.

Practice and principles of
marketing

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
Promotional techniques used by TESCO....................................................................................1
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................4
Theoretical aspects of the promotional mix................................................................................4
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................7
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................9

INTRODUCTION
Marketing is very crucial and vital business function for any business. Marketing is a
broader concept and it includes functions like product design and development, promotion and
customer services, research etc. The company taken in the report is TESCO. The company is a
British multinational general merchandise and groceries retailer headquartered in Welwyn
Garden City, Hertfordshire, England, United Kingdom. The company is the third largest retailer
in the world measured in terms of revenue. It is biggest UK supermarket. The report will first
discuss some of the promotional techniques used by the company TESCO. After that the report
will outline the theoretical aspect of the promotion mix. And also with that it will highlight the
theories of enhancing the promotional mix of the company. The theories used in the report are
AIDA model and above/ below the line model.
TASK 1
Promotional techniques used by TESCO
Promotion means the methods which are used by the business for making its customers
being aware of some specific products or a product range. Business makes a promotional mix by
combining the different types of the methods and techniques of the promotion (Pererva, Nagy
and Maslak, 2018). Currently the TESCO' s marketing mix intents at regaining the trust of its
stakeholders towards the company TESCO. The company is concentrating on “Every Little
Helps” strap line to modify its core outstanding competitive advantage.
A company uses various types of promotional activities and techniques in order to
communicate its product and services with the target market and the customers. The promotional
method can be of two types. One is direct technique which focuses on creating a relationship
with each client for example personal selling, direct marketing etc. Another type of promotional
technique is indirect which is based on mass communication. Here the massage is identical and
serves a high number of potential customers. Examples of indirect techniques are advertising,
sales promotion, public relations etc. The promotional mix used by TESCO for promoting the
products and services are as follows:
Advertising- it is a process of spreading the product information among the potential buyers
and the users of the products and services through a public medium in order to maximise the
sales of the company. TESCO' s marketing mix comprises of the print and media advertising to
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share the marketing communication messages to the current and prospective buyers and
consumers. TESCO has reduced its advertising budget because of the aim of massive cost saving
but then also the efficiency of the print and media advertising has been increased. This has been
achieved because of the use of market differentiation (Parrott, 2014). Market differentiation is a
promotional strategy employed to create a strong hold in a specific target market. TESCO print
and media advertising contains valuable advises on cooking or home styling. For example the
company has recently released reactive print ads around the Great British Bake off.
Sales promotion- it is an component of the promotion mix which makes use of both the media
and the non- media marketing communication for a restricted time to increase the demand among
the consumers. Various forms of sales promotion plays an integral role within TESCO' s
marketing strategy. The supermarket chain assist sales promotion in the following formats:
Clubcards- it is a form of sales promotion tool in which the company provides membership
schemes to its customers. These schemes allows the customers to save money on shopping by
providing them price- offs and discount vouchers. In this scheme the customers gets a point on
every pound they spend shopping at any stores of TESCO. Once a customer collects 150 points
then these points are converted into clubcard vouchers which helps the customer in saving
money on shopping.
Free gifts- the supermarket also offers free gifts such as buy one get one free offers to rise the
sales of specific range of products. For example for promoting health section of the supermarket
TESCO ha started TESCO Healthy Living Club. In this club the members get a free “40 steps
to healthier life” booklet and also some free magazines offering useful tips on diet, exercise and
health issues. They also provides price off coupons on food products such as dairy farms and
organic foods.
Shifting towards digital marketing- every business needs to invest billions in the marketing of
the products and the services of the company to face the cut throat competition and have an
advantage over its competitors. Now a days everything is going online whether it is doing
business, or buying anything or selling anything (Rogers and Davidson, 2015). TESCO realized
that there are tremendous changes occurring in the market and the marketing trends of the
products. Digital marketing is characterized as the selling and the promotion of products,
services and the different facilities provided by the company with the assistance of the digital
platform. The different types of digital marketing are internet, e- commerce marketing, display
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advertising, social media advertising etc. are termed as the sources of the digital marketing. The
benefit of digital marketing is that it uses all the digital modes of marketing and technologies to
reach to a wider and larger number of customers with the same amount of input.
Customising media- the company sees that there is a huge requirement for focusing on the
individual experience for its improvement. TESCO' s marketing team has come up with a variety
of great marketing ideas for this improvement (Palmatier and Sridhar, 2017). Because of plenty
of competition TESCO has managed to deliver good products and services to both its shoppers
and the shareholders. From deep discounts delivered by emails on the birthdays to print
campaigns delivered directly to the door of the customers etc.
Use of social media- TESCO has built up a large following on each and every major social
media networks like Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. TESCO often provides incentives to its
user comments by offering clubcard points in return for sharing stories relating to TESCO. The
company also encourages live chats which it regularly hosts with various food and health
experts. However TESCO also offers ‘Here to help’ tab which includes contact details for all its
customer care channels and a ‘real food’ app that gives information on seasonal recipes.
Strategic marketing- strategy summarizes that how the company can achieve the goals and the
objectives. To gain a competitive edge in marketing the company needs to have a thorough
knowledge and understanding of the target customers and their buying habits. To decide what the
business goal of the company will be, the company must be up to date on the industry trends and
the competitive position in the market. This type of marketing considers the long term goals of
the company. Here all the work is done by keeping in mind the expanding of the business,
exploring and creating the totally new brand (Crittenden and Crittenden, 2015). All the
marketing is done by keeping in mind the expansion of the business.
Tactical marketing- Tactics refers to the action taken to support the strategy made by the
company. Strategy refers to the plan to achieve a goal while the tactic refers to the way how to
execute the plan. Tactical marketing involves building websites, placing ads to promote the
products and the services of the TESCO. It includes sales promotion, advertising and other
activities which directly supports the strategic marketing of the company. This type of marketing
plays emphasis on the demography. According to the tactical marketing, by knowing the target
demographic the company can choose the right advertising media and to determine that which
marketing channel is the most effective channel of the marketing.
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Brand positioning- the marketing strategy for TESCO is the way in which the company
position's its brand. A positioning refers to a clear picture and image that is set in the minds of
the consumer about the company and the products and the services provided by the company.
TESCO ab initio positioned itself as a high volume low cost retailer but later it places itself as
being the one that not only offers low cost but with that also provide “TESCO Value” items and
also premium range products under its “TESCO Finest” range.
Awareness- the next form in marketing strategy of TESCO is to create and increase the
awareness of the products and services of the company among the consumers. The company
relies to a great extent on offline promotions by investing in promotion techniques like print ads,
billboards, TV commercials etc.
Providing free samples- this is another technique used by TESCO. In this technique it provides
free samples to introduce new products in the market. With help of this method the customers get
a chance to see how well the product works and it is also an opportunity for the company to
know whether the product is liked by the consumer or not.
Offering customer contests- it is yet another method of promoting the product and the services
of the TESCO. Conducting contests offers the customers a chance to win prizes like cash or store
merchandise.
Using special pricing- it is the technique in which special prices are offered to the customers. In
this scheme lower prices are offered to consumers for a period of time or when the customers
purchase in multiple quantities.
Offering free trials- it is yet another way in which a free trial is given to the customers to try a
new product while eliminating the risk of accepting the product in the society. It may be used
when the product is unique to the marketplace, which can make consumers excite for trying it
out.
TASK 2
Theoretical aspects of the promotional mix
It describes the mixture of different types of the promotional techniques and variables
chosen by the marketers to help the company reach its objectives and the goals. Promotional mix
is a subset of the marketing mix (Robertson, 2014). This era encourages the globalisation and for
beating the competition globally the firms must have a competitive advantage. This advantage
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over the competitors can be brought by having a very good and strong base of the promotion
mix. This mix helps the company in increasing the consumer awareness in respect of their
products, which leads to increase in the sales and helps in building the customer loyalty.
Promotion mix helps in the disseminating the content, promotes the purchases and affects the
purchase decision making process of the consumers.
Promotional mix of the TESCO
TESCO has a very strong brand image which helps the company in carrying on the
promotional activities smoothly. This brand image also relies upon lower prices. TESCO uses
hoardings, televisions, newspapers, charitable events etc. as the channels of different types of
promotional tools. The company also uses large extent of the promotional tools and discounts
and different types of offers such as buy one get one free. TESCO also has a card which is
named as the 'TESCO Clubcard'. These clubcard owners gets points each time they shop and
these points can be redeem to get discounts in the future. TESCO also sells and promotes its
products and services online also.
Sponsorship is also one of the most important technique of sales promotion tool. This
techniques includes discounts and promotion as well as coupons, refunds, bonus, samples,
contests and awards etc.
For improving the promotional mix of the company it can use different theories of the
promotional mix. These theories are as follows:
The AIDA Model- it is a model developed by the American businessman E. St. Elmo Lewis, in
1898. This model is an acronym which stands for the Attention, Interest, Desire and the
Action. This model describes the steps which the customers goes through in the process of the
purchasing of the new product. The main purpose of this theory is to optimize the sales and
increase the interaction between the seller and buyer concerning the product. This model is one
of the longest serving hierarchical model having been in use for more than a century
(McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016). The AIDA model is based on the four individual stages
that attract consumers are as follows:
Attract attention- the attention of a potential customer must be drawn before they make a
purchase decision. The product created must be able to attract the customer's attention towards
the product. It is a type of eye catcher and is done via advertising mode. It also includes creating
the brand image and brand awareness and affiliation with the company's product and awareness.
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Maintain interest- after the attracting the interest of the customer, then focus is given on their
interest in the product and services of the company. It generates interest in the consumer by
telling the benefits of the product and service and developing sufficient interest in the consumers
so that they buy the product.
Create desire- in this stage the interest turns into the desire. If interest in the product is aroused
then it is the sellers duty to influence the customers that the product are in specification and
totally in accordance to the customers needs, requirement and specifications. To win the
customer range over the competitors then it has to exaggerate certain product features so that the
product or service will become more valuable than that of the competitors.
Take action- the final step is about the customer taking the action. This results in the customer
buying the product or services. It is important for the consumer to know where they can buy the
products.
The other theory of increasing promotion mix is above/ below the line marketing tools.
The marketing activities today can divided into three segments which are as follows:
Above the line (ATL)- it is also referred to as above the line marketing/ above the line
promotion/ above the line advertising. It consists of the advertising activities that are largely non-
targeted and it has a wide reach. This method is more applicable when a product is directed for a
broader spectrum of the consumers (Charter and Polonsky, eds., 2017). This type of marketing
generally includes collective marketing strategies which are generally untargeted and focuses on
building the brand image of the product. Untargeted means that the communication is not
directed towards a specific group. And the medium through which the message is transferred to
everyone and to them also who have access to that message.
Some examples of above the line (ATL) advertising are radio, television, print
advertisement such as magazines and newspapers etc. These types of marketing tool have certain
advantages like this method has a wider reach of the audience because it uses sources like
television, newspaper etc. The medium like television and radios have a better connect with the
audience.
Below the line (BTL)- it is also referred to as below the line marketing, below the line
advertising or below the line promotion. This concept suggest that the advertising is going to
target a specific group of potential customers only. It consists of many specific and direct
advertising activities which are focused on the targeted group of consumer only and no one else
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in the society is focussed. This type of advertising hires below the line advertising agencies
which help companies in developing ads and promotion strategies which are directed for a
certain group people only. This method uses tools like direct emailing, direct product
demonstration for a specific group of people only.
These are also known as direct marketing strategies because below the line (BTL)
marketing includes direct marketing strategies which are directed to focus on some specific
target groups only and are more focused on the conversion of brand rather than building of the
brand. Some examples of below the line (BTL) advertising, sponsorship, outdoor advertising,
direct mail marketing, in store marketing, brand activation etc. Some of the advantages of the
below the line (BTL) advertising are that as this technique focuses on the specific target groups
so that they have a better reach and it can be easily executed, tracked and controlled. Another
advantage is that these type of advertising strategies are designed according to the needs of the
specific target group and hence it can be modified differently for different customer groups
Through the line (TTL)- also known as through the line marketing/ through the line
advertising/ through the line promotion. It involves the use of both the Above the line (ATL)
advertising and the Below the line (BTL) advertising (Chaffey and Ellis-Chadwick, 2019). This
kind of marketing is an integrated approach where a company uses both the above mentioned
methods to reach their customer base and to generate conversions. This kind of marketing
delivers both the wide reach and a focus on the conversion. Some examples of through the line
(TTL) advertising are 360 marketing in which both the advertising medium are used together to
get the maximum advantage. Another advantage is digital marketing which offers above the line
marketing benefits while acting as the below the line communication to the customer. All the
through the line (TTL) strategies leads to brand visibility and brand recall. The major challenge
of through the line (TTL) approach is the cost associated with the implementation of different
types of promotional campaigns. Only established and financially secure companies can
implement through the line (TTL) advertising because it is a costly sources of advertising.
CONCLUSION
Marketing mix is a combination of certain actions and decisions aimed at the company
achieving its goals and objectives of the company and meeting the customer needs. The report
discussed some of the promotional techniques used by the company TESCO. After that the
report outlined some of the theoretical aspect of the promotion mix. And also with that it
7

highlighted the theories of enhancing the promotional mix of the company. The theories used in
the report are AIDA model and above/ below the line model.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Chaffey, D. and Ellis-Chadwick, F., 2019. Digital marketing. Pearson UK.
Charter, M. and Polonsky, M.J. eds., 2017. Greener marketing: a global perspective on greening
marketing practice. Routledge.
Crittenden, V. and Crittenden, W., 2015. Digital and social media marketing in business
education: Implications for the marketing curriculum.
McDONALD, M.A.L.C.O.L.M., 2016. Strategic marketing planning: theory and practice. In The
marketing book (pp. 108-142). Routledge.
Palmatier, R.W. and Sridhar, S., 2017. Marketing strategy: Based on first principles and data
analytics. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Parrott, L., 2014. Values and ethics in social work practice. Learning Matters.
Pererva, P., Nagy, S. and Maslak, M., 2018. Organization of marketing activities on the
intrapreneurship. MIND Journal. (5). pp.1-10.
Robertson, M., 2014. Sustainability principles and practice. Routledge.
Rogers, T. and Davidson, R., 2015. Marketing destinations and venues for conferences,
conventions and business events. Routledge.
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