In this article we will discuss about:- 1. Marketing Communication – Meaning and Definition 2. Process of Marketing Communication 3. Importance 4. Objectives 5. Marketing Communication and Three Ps 6. Barriers.
Marketing Communication – Meaning and Definition:
Marketing communication is an important part of marketing now a days. This is because, even the best of the product, which is priced attractively and made available at different places has no value, if the company does not communicate about it to the present and potential customer. Manufacturing a product and making it available in the market does not put an end to the company’s task. It is equally important that company make it known to the customer that the product is available in the market.
It should stress upon the special and distinctive feature of the product. At the same time it should try to get the feedback from the customer. This can be done only through effective communication which is a two way flow of information between the company and the consumer. Free flow of information both ways i.e. from company to consumer and back helps in better performance of the business activities and satisfaction to the customers.
Traditionally, it was the promotion mix consisting of personal selling, advertising, sales promotion and publicity, which considered as instrument of communication with the consumer. However, this approach has undergone significant change over the years. In modern times, the other elements of marketing-mix like product, place and price are also considered as instrument of marketing communication, i.e. a firm can communicate with consumer only through promotion-mix but also through its product, place and price.
Good quality product, distinctive features of the product, attractive pictures and graphics within the messages and slogans, attractive showroom store facilities, efficient services by the salesman etc. all speak volumes about the business and thus communication take place. Through efficient feedback mechanism, company gets feedback from the consumer. The word ‘communication’ is designed from the Latin word, ‘Communis’ meaning common.
Thus, basic meaning of communication is that the receiver of message understands and interprets the message in the same sense in which the sender has communicated the message. Flow of information from the sender to receiver and back amongst certain disturbances is called communication. This communication may be oral or written communication, public or private communication or communication with the help of symbols, words or figures. Communication has been defined in different ways by different authors.
According to Newman, Summer and Warren, “Communication is the exchange of facts, ideas, opinions or emotions by two or more persons”.
According to Kaith Davis, “Communication is the process of passing information and understanding from the person to another”.
Peter Little defines Communication as, “Communication is the process by which information is transmitted between individual and/or organization so that an understanding response results”.
Thus, communication is the process of exchanging ideas, views and other information between two or more persons. This information should be accurately responded in the receivers mind, i.e. the receiver should get the same ideas which were transmitted by the seller.
Further, the sender should get accurate feedback from the receiver. When this is done it is a two way communication. Advertisement, on the other hand is one-way communication where information is provided from one side only. Feedback is an essential aspect of the communication.
Process of Marketing Communication:
The transmission of sender’s ideas to the receivers and the receiver’s feedback or reaction to the sender constitute the communication process. It consists of different elements viz. sender, encoding, message, media, decoding, receiver, feedback and noise.
Sender is one who sends the message through some means or channels like advertising, telephone etc. He is a person who is willing to communicate. It is very important that senders knows the people to whom he wants to reach and manner in which they usually respond. He should select the most effective media of reaching the audiences, with which the target people are comfortable.
Encoding is the process of translating the message in a medium or language which is suitable for transaction. It is important that message is properly encoded by use of words, ideas or views, before they are actually transmitted.
Most important part of the communication process. It is the subject matter which the sender wants to transmit to the receiver. It may be either verbal or non-verbal.
iv. Media:
Selection of appropriate media for sending the message is very significant. Sender should go for most suitable media for the target audience. It should be one with which the receiver is comfortable. Different channels are there like Radio, Television, Newspaper, Magazines, and Internet etc. which can be used for sending the message.
v. Decoding:
This is the stage where receiver receives the message and interprets it. The decoding of the received message depends upon the knowledge and experience of the receiver. It is important that the receiver receives the message in the same way as intended by the seller. More is the sender’s experience similar to those of receiver, better will be the decoding, and message will be more effective.
vi. Receiver:
Receiver is the person who receives the message. The communication process aims at affecting the receiver. Receiver receives the message and decodes it on the basis of his experience. At the same time, care is taken to frame the message on the basis of the receivers’ economic, demographic and geographic features.
vii. Feedback:
Feedback is the response given by the receiver to the sender after understanding the message. This feedback is the result of communication process initiated by the seller. The response may be in different forms such as nod, an expression of interest or anger, or smile or acceptance. If the sender is satisfied that the message is properly received and interpreted by the receiver, the communication process ends, but if it is not so, sender may alter the message to suit the requirement of receiver.
viii. Noise:
Noise is an obstacle which affects the communication process. It distorts the message of communication. This disturbance may be due to the interference of different types, fault in sending the message or receiving the message. These noises reduce the effectiveness of the communication process.
Importance of Marketing Communication:
Promotion is mainly concerned with communication and therefore it is also marketing communication. The marketing process consumes about 70% time of the total marketing activities. Marketing research and promotion are dependent on communication. Thus, communication has an important place in marketing.
The importance of communication in marketing can be seen from following points:
(1) Greater Distance between Buyer and Seller:
Importance of Communication helps in reducing the distance Communication between buyer and seller. An effective communication reduces the gap between the distances between two and develops a better understanding. Communication thus, helps in better performance of marketing activities.
(2) Development of Indirect Distribution System:
Indirect distribution is a one where firm employs marketing intermediaries to sell the goods. Various intermediaries are there who help in moving the goods from producer to consumer. Communication helps in transferring information from producer to wholesaler to retailer and finally to consumer.
(3) Competition:
Markets are highly competitive these days, as there are more number of competitors and degree of competition is intense. Every firm faces competition in the same industry as well as from other industries, i.e. a firm has to face the intra-industry (within the industry) as well as inter-industry (across the industry) competition. To meet this competition, firm has to formulate effective communication mix by which they can persuade the consumer as well as remind and motivate them to buy a particular product or service.
(4) Helps in Raising Standard of Living:
Marketing of goods and services is a crucial task whereby producer has to inform the customers about the availability of the product and then induce them and motivate them to buy the product. Thus, marketers create awareness about the utility and benefits of the product. He justifies the use of the product for the fulfilment of consumer’s need and wants and getting desired satisfaction. This is done by effective communication mix. Thus, communication helps in raising the standard of living of the people.
(5) Maintain Sales and Growth of the Firm:
Effective communication helps in building up new customer and maintaining old customers. Thus, it helps in expanding the market size of the firm and increasing the sales. This ensures better growth of the firm.
Objectives of Marketing Communication:
Communication is an essential part of every organization. The main purpose of all communication in the organization is the general welfare of the organization. For this welfare, there is a need for effective communication at every stage.
Right from the stage of planning to the execution stage, effective communication is an essential requirement. The various activities of business viz. the feasibility of the project finances required, marketing conditions, promotional activities, man-power planning all are based on the two way communication between the manager and the employees.
In general, communication is used for following objectives:
One of the basic objectives of communication is to provide accurate and complete information. Providing or receiving information about a particular fact is essential objective of communication. Both manager and employees need complete accurate and precise information in order to plan the objective or translate planning into action. This information may relate to external or internal activities.
2. To Give Advises:
Another important objective of communication is to give advices. Advice is subjective in nature and is given to a person to influence his opinion or his behaviour. As against advice, information is natural in nature and may be used by a person as he likes.
3. To Give Orders:
Order is an authoritative communication. It is a directive given to somebody mostly subordinates to do something or not to do something. Downward flow of information is dominated by orders.
4. Suggestions:
Suggestion is a mild form of communication. It may flow horizontally or vertically. While advice comes from expert’s only suggestion may come from lower staff also. Executives should welcome suggestion with an open mind.
5. Persuasion:
Persuasion is an important objective of communication. In marketing particularly it holds a significant place. Buyers in general have to be persuaded to buy the good. Effective communication thus becomes important.
6. Education:
Education involves both teaching and learning process. Its main purpose is to improve skills of a person. Education may be aimed at the executives, employees or outside people. It is thus, a conscious process of communication.
7. Warning:
Warning is a forceful means of communication. Frequently used in an organization when rules are violated by employees. Lacks of regularity, negligence, gossiping, mishandling equipment etc. are some of the act which call for warnings. Warning may be general warning or warning to specific persons.
8. Raising Morale:
Morale is the mental health of a person. High morale of the employees, raise their productivity. Communication helps in bringing people together, raising their morale and working in cooperation with each other.
Motivation has a great impact on the behaviour of a person. It is a process of influencing a person internally. It is a psychological process. Employers have the responsibility of motivating their employees so that they do their work willingly. Communication is useful in this case.
Marketing Communication and Three Ps:
Traditionally, marketing experts were of view that it is the promotion-mix consisting of advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and publicity, which is the only instrument available for communication with the consumer. However, modern times have seen significant changes.
Market are complex and different than those in the past, consumer needs and wants and their behaviour pattern have changed and in totality the conditions of marketing are much more dynamic than the condition in the past. Now apart from the promotion-mix, other elements like product, price and place are also considered as components of marketing communication. These elements are used to communicate with the consumers and motivate them to buy the products.
Product as an element of marketing communication has a personality of its own. It carries specific message about itself and communicates it to the consumer. No longer, product is considered as a non-living object. Today, it has certain specific attributes which appeals to the consumer, it has colour, shape, size, package, brand name, label etc. which convey some meaning to the customer.
Consumer also attaches meaning and significance to the product. Product as already said has certain elements which function as communicators.
Physical features of the Product:
The physical feature of the product like the material, colour, design, shape, finishing etc. communicate a lot about the product and thus persuades the consumer to buy it. This communication may be the visual communication, tactile communication or performance communication. When the communication is through sight, it is visual communication, when it by touch it is tactile communication, and when the product is actually functioning it is performance communication.
Any of these or combination of these communication are used depending upon the nature of the product. For high price consumer durable items performance communication is essential like cars, expensive toys, computers, television etc. Many times the very sight of the product communicates, that is why window display is very popular.
Gone are the days when packaging of goods was done to protect the goods from damage and pilferage. Packaging i.e. packing plus promotion has assumed significant importance. It is the package that provides the first appeal to the customer.
Attractive packages, excite the consumer to buy the product. Use of the colours of different types also communicates a lot. Different colours signify different meaning while some colours are associated with prosperity, other are associated with love and romance.
There are colours for different festivals and colours for peace. The colour or the combination of colours used by a firm communicate a lot about the product and influence people in their purchase. The size and design of the package also communicates. If the size is comfortable and design convenient to handle, it will impress upon the consumer otherwise, even the best quality product may fail.
Brand name provides an identity to the products and helps in distinguishing the product from the competitor’s product. As a part of the product, brand name has great communication value. Good brand names provide positive meaning to the product and convey a message. A successful brand strategy can easily create product differentiation between two products, even though there is no significant difference between the two.
2. Place:
Place includes the store image, location of the store, display in the store, sales promotion devices, the salesman in the store, extra benefit provided, its image in the locality etc. The place decision communicates a lot about the product which are sold there. The extent of merchandise store deals in also communicates the value of the product.
Greater variety and quality of the goods of a store, communicates a feeling of abundance. The dealing of the sales personnel in the store also plays an important role in marketing communication. Thus, we can say that a good retail store is a powerful instrument of communication.
Price also plays a major communicative role. In most situations, consumer view price as an index of quality of the product. High price of the product signify high quality of the product and vice versa. Price plays an important role in consumer decision making power.
Many time prices become a symbol of prestige for the customers. People conscious about their status; go for high price product to show their status. Similarly price is used as a measure of product excellency when consumer wants technically superior product. Thus, price is not only an economic factor, but also a major communicative tool.
Barriers to Communication:
Communication is not considered to be complete if it is not well received by the receiver. Sometimes, the transfer of the information from one person to another is hindered because of various obstacles which entirely prevent communication, partially distort it or give altogether incorrect meaning.
These hindrances or obstacles, which creates communication breakdown are known as communication barriers. There are various barriers which arise in the communication, though they may be grouped broadly into semantic barriers, organisational barriers and emotional barriers.
The barriers which arise due to misinterpretation of symbols (such as words, gestures, pictures, etc.) are known as semantic barriers.
The major semantic barriers are as follows:
i. Symbols carrying Different Meaning – We use a variety of symbols which may have different meanings for everyone. One may interpret a symbol in one way and the other may interpret the same symbol in different way. Mismatch in the meaning of symbol between the sender and receiver leads to the communication barrier.
ii. Wrong Translation – There are various sources of information for manager. He communicates with his superiors, peers and subordinates. He then translates these communications in the form of information to various destinations. He must translate as per the requirements, for his superiors, peers and subordinates. Any wrong translation may lead to the semantic barrier in communication.
iii. Unexplained Assumptions – Sometimes the communication carries various unexplained assumptions with them, which remains unclarified to the receiver. Though the message may be clear, the underlying assumptions create barriers in the communication.
iv. Specialists’ Unique Language – Specialists develop their own unique language and accent. They possesses a different peculiar and technical language, understood in their special groups only. A person outside this group may not comprehend their language. This creates a communication barrier.
2. Organisational Barriers:
Organisational barriers are those obstacles which arise in the organisational structure among various participants. There is a continuous flow of information within an organisation for the attainment of organisation’s objectives. The obstacles which block the communication within the organisation are known as organisational barriers.
The following are the major organizational barriers:
i. Organisational Policy and Regulations – Every organisation has their own set of policy, rules and regulations regarding communication. Every participant of the organisation is expected to follow these policies and rules. If these rules are not supportive to the smooth flow of communication in various directions, then they create communication breakdown.
ii. Designation & Status – The participants of the organisation are categorised as superiors, peers or subordinates as per the designations. Each category has its status embedded to it. This categorisation creates hierarchy, which may delay or completely block the smooth flow of communication.
iii. Complex Structure – The organisation having complex structure with lots of managerial or hierarchical levels, delays the communication. As the level and complexity increases, the message may distort or gets totally misinterpreted.
iv. Communication Facilities – The organisations have various facilities in order to maintain the continuous and smooth flow of communication. These may be regular meetings, gatherings, conferences, suggestion or complain box, etc. Lack of these facilities, pops up the barriers to the communication.
3. Emotional Barriers:
Emotional barriers are the prominent barriers in the way of communication. The mismatch in the emotional status may lead to this barrier. The effective communication depends upon the emotional and psychological state of mind of both parties involved.
Following are the few emotional barriers:
i. Inattention – If the person to whom the message is conveyed is inattentive or has preoccupied mind, then he will not comprehend the message. This leads to communication breakdown.
ii. Poor Retention – Poor retention is yet another breakdown in communication. The employees tend to forget the information and thus they communicate distorted information.
iii. Distortion in Transmission – As the communication flow through various levels in the organisation, it tends to get distorted at each level. This is generally high in the case of oral communication.
iv. Distrust – The distrust among the parties involved in communication leads to communication failure. No matter the information be true, lack of trust makes the communication meaningless.
v. Premature Evaluation – Sometimes, the receiver tends to evaluate the message before it is fully conveyed. This premature evaluation may lead to faulty interpretation of the communication.