1. Promoting Products: Public Relations and Sales Promotion
Marketing for Hospitality and Tourism
Kotler, Bowen and Makens
Promoting Products: Public Relations and Sales Promotion
Chapter 14

2. Learning Objectives
Understand the different public relations activities: press relations, product publicity, corporate communications, lobbying, and counseling.
Understand the public relations process: research, establishing marketing objectives, defining the target audience, choosing the PR message and vehicles, and evaluating PR results.
Explain how companies use public relations to communicate and influence important publics.
Explain how sales promotion campaigns are developed and implemented.
Implement a crisis management program in a hospitality business.

3. Public Relations Activities
Press Relations
Product Publicity
Corporate Communications
Lobbying
Press Relations
The aim of press relations is to place newsworthy information into the news media to attract attention to a person, product, or service
One reason for the growth of press relations in the hospitality industry is its credibility
Product Publicity
Product publicity involves various efforts to publicize specific products
Corporate Communication
Corporate communication covers internal and external communications and promotes understanding of the organization
One important marketing aspect of corporate communication is communication directed toward employees
Companies also need to manage their communication with their stockholders to make sure the stockholders understand the company’s goals and objectives
Lobbying
Lobbying involves dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation
Counseling
Counseling involves advising management about public issues and company positions and image
Counseling is important when there may be sensitive issues associated with the business
Counseling

4. The Public Relations Process
Establishing Market Objectives
Defining the Target Audience
Research
Choosing the PR Message & Vehicles
Implementing the PR Plan
Evaluating the Results
Effective PR is the result of a process – a process that must be integrated with the firm’s marketing strategy
The PR process consists of the following steps: research, establishing the market objectives, defining the target audience, choosing the PR messages and vehicles, implementing the PR plan, and evaluating the results
Research
Before a company can develop a PR program, it must understand the company’s mission, objectives, strategies, and culture
It should know the vehicles that will be effective in delivering messages to the target audience
Much of the information needed by a PR manager is contained in a well-written marketing plan
Environmental scanning system is another important source of information for the PR manager
Establishing the Marketing Objectives
Once the PR manager has identified opportunities through product experiment and research, priorities can be established and objectives set (See Slide 5)
Defining the Target Audience
Effective PR practitioners carefully identify the publics they wish to reach
They study these publics and find media that can be used to deliver their message
They identify issues that will be important to the public and form the message so it will seem natural and logical to the target audience
Choosing the PR Message and Vehicles
The PR practitioner is now ready to identify or develop interesting stories about the product or service
Each event is an opportunity to develop a multitude of stories directed at different audiences
Publications
Companies rely extensively on communication materials to reach and influence their target markets
These include annual reports, brochures, cards, articles, audiovisual materials, and company newsletters and magazines
Implementing the Marketing PR Plan
Implementing publicity requires care
Consider the matter of placing information in the media
Exciting information is easy to place
However, most press releases are less than great and might not get the attention of busy editors
A chief asset of publicists is their personal relationship with media editors
Evaluating PR Results
The contribution of PR is difficult to measure because it is used along with other promotion tools (See Slide 6)

5. Marketing Public Relations Objectives
PR Objectives
Build Awareness
Build Credibility
Stimulate Sales Force
Lower Promotion Costs
Build awareness
PR can place stories in the media to bring attention to a product, service, person, organization, or idea
Build credibility
PR can add credibility by communicating the message in an editorial context
Credibility can be enhanced through positive associations with respected institutions, companies, and individuals
Stimulate the sales force and channel intermediaries
PR can help boost sales force and franchisee enthusiasm
Lower promotion costs
PR costs less than direct mail and media advertising
The smaller the company’s promotion budget is, the stronger the case for using PR to gain share of mind

6. Evaluating PR Results Evaluating PR Results
Exposures
Awareness/ Comprehension/ Attitude Change
Sales-and-Profit Contribution
Exposures
The easiest measure of PR effectiveness is the number of exposures created in the media
Publicists supply the client with a clipping book showing all the media that carried news about the product and a summary statement
This exposure measure is not very satisfying
There is no indication of how many people actually read, heard, or recalled the message and what they thought afterward
A common weakness of publicity is that the persons exposed to it are not part of the company’s target market
Awareness/Comprehension/Attitude Change
A better measure is the change in product awareness/comprehension/attitude resulting from the campaign
Sales-and-Profit Contribution
Sales-and-profit impact is the most satisfactory measure, if obtainable

7. Build Public Relations Around
The Owner/
Operator
Product or
Service
Location
Build PR Around the Owner/Operator
The owner/operator and the enterprise itself often become one and the same in the minds of customers
Obviously, this strategy holds dangers, such as the death of the owners, but benefits usually exceed risks
Build PR Around Location
Some restaurants and bed and breakfasts are almost impossible to find
Normally, this would be viewed as the kiss of death for a hospitality firm
Hundreds of owners/operators of these enterprises have turned their lemon into lemonade
The isolation and obscurity of the enterprises is used as a PR tactic
Build PR Around a Product or Service
Hospitality enterprises everywhere have built a solid and long-lasting image around a drink, a dessert, a special entree, fireplaces in the guest rooms, and even ducks
Unique service also serves as a PR focal point

8. Dos of Crisis Management
An important area of public relations is crisis management
Not all publicity is good
Managers must realize that things do go wrong
A crisis management program will reduce the negative effects of these events (See also Slide 9)

9. Don’ts of Crisis Management

10. Sales Promotions Set Sales Promotion Objectives
Select Sales Promotion Tools
Develop Sales Promotion Program
Pretest and Implement the Plan
Evaluate the Results
Sales promotion consists of short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service
Sales promotion includes a variety of promotional tools designed to stimulate earlier or stronger market response
In using sales promotions, a company must set objectives, select the right tools, develop the best program, pretest and implement it, and evaluate the results
Setting Sales Promotion Objectives
Sales promotion objectives vary widely
Consumer promotions can increase short-term sales or they can be used to help build long-term market share
Sales promotions should be consumer franchise building; that is, they should promote the product’s positioning and include a sales message
Selecting Sales Promotion Tools
Many tools can be used to accomplish sales promotion objectives
The promotion planner should consider the type of market, the sales promotion objectives, the competition, and the costs and effectiveness of each tool (See Slide 11)
Finding Creative Ideas
The Internet makes it possible to see what sales promotion activities other companies are doing
If they are outside your market area, it is a good chance you can adapt the ideas to fit your needs
Consulting companies also give some ideas online as a way to attract potential clients
Developing the Sales Promotion Program
The third step in developing a sales promotion is to define the full sales promotion program
First, they must decide on the size of the incentive
The marketer must then decide how to promote and distribute the promotion program
Finally, the marketer has to decide on the sales-promotion budget
Pretesting and Implementing the Plan
Whenever possible, sales promotion tools should be pretested to determine if they are appropriate and of the right incentive size
Evaluating the Results
Even though result evaluation is important, many companies fail to evaluate their sales promotion programs
Many evaluation methods are available, the most common of which is sales comparisons before, during, and after a promotion

11. Consumer Promotion Tools
Samples
Coupons
Premiums
Patronage Rewards
Point-of-Purchase (POP) Displays
Contests
The main consumer promotion tools include samples, coupons, premiums, patronage rewards, point-of-purchase displays, contests, sweepstakes, and games
Samples
Offers of a trial amount of a product
Some samples are free
For others, the company charges a small amount to offset its cost
Coupons
Certificates that offer buyers savings when they purchase specified products
Overcouponing should be avoided because it lowers the price so the coupon no longer offers a competitive advantage
Premiums
Goods offered either free or at low cost as an incentive to buy a product
Patronage rewards
Cash or other awards for regular use of a company’s products or services
Point-of-purchase (POP) promotions
displays and demonstrations that take place at the point of purchase or sale
POP may be used:
To disseminate information about the company’s products or services
To sell additional products and services, thus adding to gross revenue
Contests
A contest calls for consumers to submit an entry to be judged by a panel
Sweepstakes
A sweepstakes calls for consumers to submit their names for a drawing
Games
A game presents consumers with something every time they buy bingo numbers or missing letters that may or may not help them win a prize
Sweepstakes
Games

12. Key Terms
Contests, sweepstakes, and games Give consumers a chance to win something, such as cash or a trip.
Corporate communications This activity covers internal and external communications and promotes understanding of an organization.
Counseling Involves advising management about public issues and company positions and image.
Coupons Certificates that offer buyers savings when they purchase specified products.
Lobbying Dealing with legislators and government officials to promote or defeat legislation and regulation.
Patronage rewards Cash or other awards for regular use of a company’s products or services.
Point-of-purchase (POP) promotions Includes displays and demonstrations that take place at the time of sale.
Premiums Goods offered either free or at low cost as an incentive to buy a product.

13. Key Terms (cont.)
Press relations Placing newsworthy information into the news media to attract attention.
Press release Information released to the media about certain new products or services.
Product publicity Various efforts to publicize specific products.
Public relations The process by which a positive image and customer preference is created through third- party endorsement.
Sales promotion Consists of short- term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service.
Samples Offers of a trial amount of a product.