PROMOTION IS AN IMPORTANT ELEMENT IN MARKING MIX OF MOST FIRMS

CHAPTER ONE

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION

According to and Kirk Patrick (1982). promotion is an important element in marking mix of most firms and it is not important in others for soft drink manufactures, whose products, price and distribution channels are very similar  to those of competitors seller of can juices and sweet flavored drinks in includes the members of great many of differentiating their products in the minds of the consumers.

Many industries lay emphasis and attention on promotion than other marketing mix to create effective awareness and it enhance purchase because, promotion gives the description of product to the end users and target market.

However, in the promotional activities, the industry get chance to communicate effectively with potential customer to beat the drum its products.

The promotions are used to disseminating information or communicating with the target audience. They include various forms of advertising, packaging, sales presentation and demonstration, point if purchase displays, sales (literature, films) and incentive tools (coupons contest, trading stamps, premium) and publicity programs. Historically, industries first made separate functions out of personal selling later out of advertising them, out of sales promo tools and ultimately out publicity. The four major promotions.

1. STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMS

The soft drink environment is bedeviled numerous structural and promotional problems from past decades, these problems includes the following;

• Manufactures did not take great cognizance of sale promotion.
• Manufactures use other promotion tools; advertising personal selling e.t.c instead of whir sales promotion is required.
• Sales promotion was being used during and adverse economy. Other problems involved are that bottlers in various townships fail to conduct proper marketing research on the consumer. Gift to be used during sales promotion are those, which the consumers would grave for .

Also the cost of conducting sales promotion should not be too much to avoid running at a loss

Many people do not know what sales promotion means to entail. Others cannot even differentiate one promo tool from another. Bottlers have failed to create in the mind if customers the impression that they are getting something for nothing, also the purpose of sales promotion, when conducting it, is not well communicated to people in certain towns.

1. OBJECTIVES OF STUDY

There have been assertions that sales promotion, as an element of promotional mix, has been helping soft drinks bottler effectively. This study tends to correct this impression. The objectives of this research include the following

1. To know if sales promotion really motivate customer to buy (more) of soft drinks
2. To know the response of customer and their behaviours to sales promotion.
3. To examine the impact of sales promotion on customer patronage of soft drinks produce.
4. To identity whether the customers will continue to buy the soft drinks when sales promotion activities stop

1.3    RESEARCH QUESTIONS

          The motive behind the industry (soft drinks) is continued used of sales promotion provide the major issues of discussion which supply answers to such questions.

1. Do the manufactures realize the impact or effects of sales promotion on their business?
2. Do they examine and evaluate, if sales promotion fails to make expected impact?
3. Will customer buy much of soft drink during sales promotion?