Promotion is not easy to define. It doesn’t have a concise and lucid definition. In generalized language, promotion refers to all the strategies and tactics that a business or an organization employs to generate revenues. These strategies and tactics are focused towards the customers, as products and to be marketed and publicized. These measures entice customers to buy and compare certain products which in turn increase the efficiency and credibility of a business organization.  Promotion is all about communicating with the customers and effective promotion not only generates profit but it also helps in setting recognition for the selling organization.

Promotional campaigns are customer and task oriented. They are designed to help achieve certain business goals and to make a name for the organization. Following are some objectives of a promotional campaign.

  • Creating or increasing customer awareness for a given product.
  • Globalizing the product i.e. to reach customers who have diverse backgrounds.
  • Increasing customer turn out by branding products.
  • Degrading market competitor’s product by showing the superiority of our product.
  • Advertising the main business through camouflaging by using the name of products.

Businesses often categorize promotion as:

  • Above the line and
  • Below the line

ABOVE THE LINE PROMOTION

The advertisement of product through independent media such as television, radio, newspapers and internet is known as above the line promotion. These sources are cost-effective. Moreover, message can be delivered far and wide through this independent media. This promotion tactic has led to a substantial increment in product sale and consumer awareness and this effect can be prolonged if brand loyalty is achieved.
Advertising or preaching the business is the most expensive yet the most important promotional technique as the message can be propagated to a larger target audience.

TYPES OF ADVERTISING MEDIA

TELEVISION
This is the most widely used technique that is used to advertise as creative advertisement can create interest and can demonstrate the usage of product.  The message can be reinforced through successive advertisement and a large number of audiences can be addressed.

NEWSPAPERS AND MAGAZINES
This is a very important type of media which can be associated with advertisement of mass market consumer goods. Readers can refer back to the advertisements and the cost of advertising is frugal. Magazines can also be launched with colored and attractive illustration for a combination of products.

INTERNET
The World Wide Web gives business organizations to globalize their products by advertising globally. At the same time, it helps the organization to elevate their products by comparing the best features of their products over their competitors. Many well known companies such as Western Union, PayPal, EBAY, Nokia and Amazon are using World Wide Web extensively to publicize their products and services.

The criterion of selection of an appropriate medium depends on the cost, size of audience, message to be communicated, other competitors approach and legal constraints.

Promotion below the line is dedicated to those promotional mediums which don’t use independent media for promotion and this term is used in connection with the business which has some degree of control over its promotional resources.
Some examples of promotion below the line includes direct mailing, exhibition and trade fairs, point of sales display, sponsorship of sports or cultural events, loyalty cards, personal selling’s, product endorsements, free offers and special credit terms.

In a nutshell, promotion is the super set of branding and advertisements. Good promotion requires good advertising which when becomes chronic results in branding. High communication skills and a far-sighted vision and mission of an organization are essential for effective and efficient promotion of products and services offered.