Understanding the Functions of Marketing and PR

Use this work book to help you explain the functions of marketing and public relations. You
should ensure you use additional examples to support your explanations.

Marketing
Market research is the process of gathering information about consumers needs and
preferences. It is having as much knowledge as possible about your client or brand in order for
you to then help them advertise or get them noticed in the media. Market research is a key
factor in making sure you are above any competitors you may have as more knowledge means
you have the better ideas in most cases as you are more likely to understand the needs of your
consumers and your clients. The type of research you do can depend on what you are doing it
for as many people have to do market research if they are trying to promote a person as they
will have to see what audience the person attracts and what those people like and dislike
whether its types of film or songs or their general interests. Many companies use focus groups
as a way to gain much more information when doing market research. This is when a group of
people gather and participate in a discussion about a product before it is launched, or to provide
feedback on a political campaign, television series, etc. One-to-one interviews are also a
technique companys use when conducting market research as they work in the same way as
focus groups but on a one to one basis. This makes it more personal and in some cases can
allow the companies to get more information as although its only one source they have get
much more detail. Testing is also done for products, as companies want to see peoples
reactions and opinions when they actually get to see and use the product instead of just pitching
an idea.
Explain market analysis. Why is it done and who could carry it out for you?
Market analysis is the study or the examination of the dynamics and characteristics of the
market within an industry. This is basically a way for companies to research the market and get
a better understanding of the features of the market, the nature of its market, size and also the
other companies that they would be competing against. A lack in knowledge of the market
would mean that the companies wouldnt be able to create an accurate marketing campaign
meaning disappointment for the clients they are working for. Market analysis is done in order
for companies to develop a plan and to enable them to gain more knowledge on the existing
market, making it much simpler and easier for them to design a product as they then know
whats already out there. This essentially means that they can avoid creating a product identical
to whats already on the market and whats already popular in the market. Marketing helps
companies to create a new, fresh idea that can hopefully do well in the market. It also means
they can target people more specifically with all the extra information they have gained from
their analysis of the market.
Explain marketing strategy using examples.
Marketing strategies is basically the next step after market analysis as once youve gathered the
information from your research and then found out whats on the market and have a better
understanding of your competition it is then time for companies to plan what they are going to
do with all of this information. The companies can think about what kind of audience they are
aiming at basing all of their decisions on the knowledge they have gained previously. The
marketing strategy is the stage in this process where the companies actually create a plan and
put together ideas for their marketing campaign and what it going to work best for the product
they are selling. They can also look at different objectives that they need to stick to and achieve
in this process such as desired level of sales and the brand image. They do this in order to
achieve an improved understanding of their/clients product to improve their campaign and
advertising techniques for the product/brand. For example, when researching energy drinks for
another product I found that it was very clear that the drinks companies have a clear image and

target market for their product with the way they have designed it and also the way they had
advertised it. Such as a sports energy drink that had made it very obvious who they were
targeting and that their audience were clearly athletic with a basketball player as the face of the
company and a whole range of sports stars advertising the drink on the website. Also when I
was creating my own sports drink I thoroughly researched what was already out there and tried
to create something different.

Why is advertising so important to an organisation? Use examples to help you explain.

Advertising is one of the main ways to help a product sell, its the way in which the target
audience for a product are able to see what the product is, what it looks like and why they
should buy it. After the market research, and strategies the product should appeal straight away
to their target audience when it is advertised and this is how they get their sales. Overall if the
marketing hasnt been done at a high level and in the best way they could, it then results in the
product not being suitable for the audience they were supposed to be aiming it at as that
audience may not necessarily be attracted to the product and want to purchase it. However the
companies do have to ensure that the advertisements that they have produced are suitable and
appropriate for purpose and the target audience, which shouldnt be too difficult if they did
thorough research in the marketing stages. Some companies also get a specialised advertising
agency to take over and create their adverts for the product with the information they have
earned previously. The services advertising agencies provide include media planning, designing
advertisements and also the production of the advertisements. As technology has improved and
developed so much over time the different platforms for advertisements has also increased and
now includes, internet, TV, radio and print and these are also produced in some cases
internationally so it is aimed at a much wider scale of people meaning it is even more crucial
for the advertising to be right. This is also another reason as to why advertising is so important
as they can sometimes be aiming it at such a wide range of people that the brand can be in
danger of no sales or a bad reputation as a result of the advertisements and on the other hand it
can go completely different and it could mean double the sales and an increase in popularity for
the brand.
What is brand promotion and what methods could you use to promote a brand?
Brand promotion is a marketing strategy that is commonly used in order to increase brand and
product awareness, their customer loyalty, competitiveness, sales and overall company value. It
is used to ensure that their customers are constantly aware of the brands products, which helps
to increase sales for the companies. The basic idea of brand promotion is that people cant buy
what they dont know exists. So the companies constantly promote new and older products
from their range to ensure that their target audience are aware of what that brand is offering.
They communicate their products and ideas through different media platforms such as; print
ads, radio, commercials or demonstrations and businesses typically use more that one of these
methods to ensure it is effective and is going to reach a wide range of their audience to increase
awareness and sales. Repetitiveness is something companies and brands see as essential when
promoting their products as it can increase the likelihood of someone buying the product if they
do keep hearing or seeing this product being shown on TV or radio. An example of brand
promotion is used a lot with makeup as brands will show makeup in every single method of
communication to their audience. Adverts are constantly used with things such as makeup and
also given away free in some magazines in sample sizes to increase popularity and sales.

PR
What are some of the key principles involved in managing the message?
Some of the key principles include;
Communicate early, communicate often,
Communicate what you know when you know it,
Dont be afraid to say I dont know as long as you follow that up with but Ill
find out and get back to you as soon as I do,
Let everyone know what is happening, why, and what they can do to help,
Reinforce what is staying the same as you discuss what may be changing,
Create multiple, targeted approaches to reach your various audience,
Communicate openly, honestly, and frequently as things continue to change,
Establish feedback mechanisms from those affected by the changes to those in
leadership to inform your ongoing decisions.
Communicate the initial results and early progress of your change efforts to everyone,
Acknowledge and thank everyone who helped contribute to your success,
Continue to communicate well after the changes that occur and as long as the transition
continues.
What is positive publicity? Find an example of it to help explain.
Positive publicity is basically any media attention that shows a brand in a positive and
favourable way. Many brands conduct publicity stunts in some cases where they come up with
an idea to gain lots of media attention, increase sales and popularity of the product. For
example Tropicana installed a large sun over Trafalgar square on a dreary January morning and
handed out over 35,000 orange juice cartons and also allowed commuters and tourists to sit and
watch the sunrise with branded sunglasses and blankets. Celebrities also use positive publicity
to gain attention and popularity from fans, for example many celebrities are pictured at charity
events or doing any sort of charitable activity such as helping the homeless and their was also a
group of celebrities that climbed Mount Kilimanjaro in 2010 to raise money for charity.
In public relations terms, what is spin? Find an example to help you with your
response.
Spin is basically when public relations companies spin the truth or a story out in the press or
any piece of information, usually to make it in to something positive. PR companies have to be
in control of several celebrities and have to ensure that any media attention they are receiving is
positive, and if not they have to have the ability to change or spin it in a favourable way for
that person. It is a form of propaganda and is used to achieve media attention around a person,
event or campaign at times in either a negative or positive way depending on their views of it,
it can all depend. As PR companies are in charge of brands and people it means that they have
to keep track of everything in the press that relates to these things, also if the brand or person is
going to do something positive, (charity work for example) it is the companies job to then spin
it and basically advertise this in the press to gain the person more media attention. Spin can
also be interpreted as being highly manipulative in some cases as it is extremely biased if its
coming from a PR agency due to them being paid by the person or brand they are writing
about. An example of spin being used by a celebrity in this case is the Kardashian family. The
family was known for the father Robert Kardashian in 1995 when he was the defence lawyer in
the O.J. Simpson murder trial. The family was then forgotten about until in 2007 when Kris and
Roberts daughter Kim Kardashians sex tape was released in the media. Her mother Kris used
this as a platform for the family and created a reality TV show based on the family whilst their
name was big in the media. This spin resulted in the familys now global fame.

Why might a person or a company engage in damage limitation? Using an example

will improve your grade.
Damage limitation is something that all companies have to engage in and most commonly it is
regarding brands or celebrities and PR companies then have to protect them and help control
the situation as best as possible. Many of these situations involve stories that PR companies
have been protecting for the privacy and good of their clients public image and reputation. If
they have been hiding and avoiding the release of the story it typically means it is something
negative. As many stories are called crisis stories in this industry is basically means that if it
comes out it can be very damaging and these stories are usually unexpected and released after
being protected for a long time. As a result of this PR companies have people specialised for
damage limitation who are on call 24 hours a day prepared to control a story and limit the
damage the story can cause for the reputation of the brand or person and overall minimise any
negative media attention the story causes. An example of a celebrity using a form of damage
limitation was James Franco, 35, who was in the news recently after it was found he was
messaging a 17-year-old girl from Scotland after meeting her at a signing. The star had been
told she was almost 18, however the messages proved inappropriate with her age in to
consideration and the messages were released to the press. Franco responded without the help
of his publicist and addressed the scandal in an interview to which he explained he was very
embarrassed about the situation, had bad judgement and that he apologises, he also used
humour as a defence and tweeted, I HOPE PARENTS KEEP THEIR TEENS AWAY FROM
ME. Thank you.
What benefit could there be to an organisation to create an event? Use an example of
a marketing or PR event to support your responses.
For an organisation to create an event it results in lots of media and press attention, especially if
the company is particularly popular anyway. For example if the company is planning on having
an event dedicated to raising money for charity it shows the kindness of the brand which then
results in positive publicity surrounding them and increases the likelihood of popularity or sales
for the company. Coca-cola are famous for their marketing campaigns, they also tend to
organise events to cause more media attention and some have even become an annual occasion.
An example of some of these events is; The Sprite Slam Dunk Showdown this event is a
dunk competition and is held at the Sprite court at NBA Nation. It takes place in eight cities
throughout the summer.
Another example is the Coca-Cola 600, which involves the CCBCC joining up with The
Coca-Cola Company to host the largest memorial day celebration in the country with
NASCARs longest race and games and prizes.
What is lobbying and who is most likely to be influenced by it?
Lobbying is the act of attempting to influence decisions made by officials in the government. It
is attempting to influence or even advising people that would like to be a part of influencing the
UK government, parliament, legislatures or administrators, regional or local government or
other public bodies. It is done by many different types of people some of which include
associations or organised groups such as the private sector or government officials. Lobbying is
sometimes seen as morally or ethically wrong in some peoples opinions and is seen by some as
contempt and a form of corruption of the law, making it controversial and somewhat dishonest.