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Home→The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing→S→sales promotion

sales promotion

Definition:
(1) In its broadest sense, any marketing activity designed to sell a product or service (usually excluding the product's intrinsic packaging). (2) More narrowly, those activities designed to sell a product or service excluding display advertising, public relations and direct selling activities, i.e. some organizations separate out advertising, selling and sales promotion as different activities. A highly elastic term, embracing a host of marketing tactics. Free samples, price deals, banded offers and the like offer an economic incentive to the consumer to buy the product. Product literature or exhibitions, on the other hand, offer the communication of information, rather than the prospect of material gain. This one entity, sales promotion, therefore awkwardly contains at least two different kinds of strategy and operation. A fundamental distinction can now be proposed between economic-incentive sales promotions, such as free samples, premium offers, money-off deals, banded offers, gifts and some competitions; and communication-initiative sales promotions, such as product literature, exhibitions, sponsorship and some competitions. It is worth noting the possibility that some of the first category undertakings may accidentally communicate with the consumers in the market, and not necessarily in a way which supports the objectives of the company's other marketing communications initiatives. People may feel that there is something not quite right about a product or service that needs to be merchandised to such an extent, or virtually given away.

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© Westburn Publishers Ltd 2002, The Westburn Dictionary of Marketing edited by Michael J Baker, ISBN 978-0-946433-01-8. www.themarketingdictionary.com. Entry: [Keith Crosier and James R. Bureau], [1998].