Chapter 8

Tourism Promotion II
Public Relations Process
Introduction
Public relations and sales promotion are two
promotional tools that have risen to great,
importance in recent years. With fragmentation
of traditional media such as radio, television
and print, public relations and sales promotions
have gained prominence.
Public Relations
Public relations (PR) are the process of creating
a third party endorsement. This can be done
using various activities all aimed to generate a
positive image through what others ones
establishment.
Major Public Relations Activities
1. Press/ Media Relations. Mass media
channels help generate publicity and
awareness for huge audiences.
2. Product Publicity. This involves
efforts to introduce or publicize new
product,
especial
events,
new
developments within the business
through
product
endorsement
or
mentions in various channels.
3. Corporate Communications. This
covers
internal
and
externals
communication
that
promote
understanding of the organization
using tools such as newsletters
bulletins, and email blasts.
4. Lobbying. PR also includes building
good relations with the public sector
namely, local government units where
your business operates and legislators
who may pass bills that will have an
impact whether positive or negative on
ones business.
5. Counselling. Employees involved in
PR play the role of adviser with regard
to public issues that may have an
effect on the companys position and
image.
Contributions
Marketing

of

Public

Relations

to

1. Understanding the Firms mission,

culture, and target market. A
thorough understanding of the firms
mission and culture will help one come
up with an effective PR plan.
2. Setting of objectives. Marketing
objectives need to be established prior
to the creation of a PR plan.
3. Defining the target market. Identify
a specific target market and get to
know the behavior of this specific
segment of the market.
4. Designing the PR message. Create
a strategy by which PR campaign will
be designed and what communication
channels would be effective to achieve
your objectives and attract your target
market.
5. Implementing the PR plan. This
means putting the plan into action.
6. Evaluating PR results.
a. Exposures of the brand;
b. Awareness, comprehension/attitude
change within the target market or
c. Sales and profit contribution.
Public Relations Tools and Audiences
Public relations can be used to address various
audiences such as employees, community
groups, other stake holders, and special
audiences. A variety of public relation tools can
be effective in addressing in specific audiences.
Important Points to Remember
1.

2.

Effective public relations begins

with top managementThe PR head
manages how the product or service
will regarded by the public but it is the
top management who leads in creating
good public relations.
Know amount of PR can overcome
a
flawed
product. The public
relations can create a positive image of
a product but no amount of PR can
overcome a bad product.

Public Relations Opportunities

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Assist in the launch of New Product

Assist in Repositioning a mature
Product
Build Up interest in Product Category
Influence Specific Target Groups and
Defend
Products
that
have
Encountered Problems.

1. The Owner/Operator.
If the
owner or operator has potential
star appeal, or has already built a
positive reputation, building PR
messages around him maybe the
best option.

2. The Location. Ones location can

also be used to position a product
positively. A will receive business
location can help bring awareness
to ones product or service.
3. The
Product/Service.
The
product or service itself can be an
opportunity
to
create
public
relations.
CRISIS
MANAGEMENT
COMMUNINICATION

2.

3.

AND
4.

Ultimate PR Test: How to Manage Crisis

Due to the 24/7 nature of the tourism industry,
some things are bound to go wrong. Whether
this
things are entirely the fault of the
company
or
are
beyond
its
control,
management still has to address the concerns
of its publics. When a crisis happens, this is
when ones relationship with the press will be
put to a test. How the press covers the crisis
will be the subject to how well you have
cultivated your relationship with the press.

5.

6.
7.

SALES PROMOTIONS
Sales promotions is a direct inducement that
offers an extra value or incentive for the
product to the sales force, distributors, or the
ultimate consumer, with the primary objective
of creating an immediate sale (Belch & Belch
2007).
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.

Growing power of retailers

Declining brand loyalty
Increased promotional sensitivity
Brand proliferation
Fragmentation of the consumer market
Short term focus of the consumer
market
Increased accountability
Competition
Clutter

Sales promotions can be targeted to different

levels of sales process: (1) consumer, (2) trade
intermediaries, and (3) sales force.
Kotler et al. (2010) spell out some factors to
consider in setting up sales promotional plan:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Objectives of the campaign

Type of market to be tapped
Competition
Cost and effectiveness of each tool

Sales PromotionalTools
1.

Samples are offers of a trial amount of

a product. Some samples are free,

others charge a small amount to offset

its cost while including product trial.
Coupons are certificates that offer
buyers savings when they purchase
specific products. It is used to stimulate
sales of a mature product as well as
promote trial of a new product.
Packages involve putting together a
set of complementing products to
come up with one bundle at a special
price.
Premiums are goods offered either for
free or at a low cost to provide
incentive for consumers to buy a
product.
Patronage rewards are bonuses in
the form of cash or items of value that
can be redeemed for regular purchases
made. These kinds of programs create
more frequency of purchase, positive
word of mouth, and possibly larger
purchases.
Point
of
purchase
promotion
includes display and promotions that
take place at the point of sale.
Contests and games give consumers
a chance to win something such as a
trip or cash upon purchase of products
and services.

Sales Promotion Process- the sales

promotion program is a part of the bigger
promotional plan (which in turn is part of
the bigger marketing plan).
1. Deciding whether a sales promotion in
necessary.
2. Setting of objects for the sales
promotions.
3. Selecting which promotional tools to
use.
4. Developing
the
sales
promotion
program, considering the following:
a. Size of the program based on the
type of incentive.the size of the
program is determined by the type
of incentive to be offered and
magnitude by which the program
will be implemented.
b. Target
market
program.
Determining the target market of
the sales promotion covers the
decision to the offer the program to
anyone or to a select market that
has remained untapped for the
business.
c. Distributed method to be used. The
marketer then decides on what
distribution method used.
d. Duration of the Program. Deciding
on how long the program will run is

5.

6.

a crucial element of the sales

promotion.
Implementing the program. A careful
implementation and monitoring of the
plan will determine the success or
failure of the plan.
Evaluating the program. Since the
sales promotion runs for a specific
period of time, evaluating its impact
based on added volume of sales would
be easy.

Preparing the Promotional Plan

1. Decide on what promotional tools
to use.
2. Decide on which media channels to
use.
3. Identify when the promotional tool
will be released and in which
channel.

Kotler et al. (2002) discussed that

timing decisions should take three
factors into consideration: Audience
turnover is the rate at which the
target audience changes between two
periods, Behavior frequency is the
number of times during the year that
the target market makes the decision
to purchase,Forgetting rate is the
rate at which a message is forgotten or
behavior change become non-evident.
The higher the forgetting rate, the
more advertising should be applied.
4. Evaluate
the
media
results.Measuring the results of media
messages is a difficult task especially
since there are many variables that
have to be taken into consideration.