THE RELEVANCE OF SALES PROMOTION TO BUSINESS ORGANIZATIONS

CHAPTER ONE
1.1     INTRODUCTION 
The success of any business organization depends largely on consumer patronage. For any product or services of an organization to be suitable, it need to be communicated to the consumer. Not wit the product or services, are communicated to consumer, their existence cannot be  recognized, hence patronage may not be  realized.

Organization promote their good and service to the market and to the  users of those product and service. They make  use of  a  variety of promotional method, such as advertising  personal selling publicity, of sales promotional  such promotional tool may be use by any types of organization, whether commercial or non profit making, to communicate to, and persuade a target recipient or potential consumers that  they  should avail them suit to the product or service on  offer.

Furthermore, A study of marketing communication, is therefore relevant to different types of organization, promotional activities are  undertaking by commercial companies, trade association, government bodies, educational institutions, health advisory councils, political parties charities etc. it is an important area of  study for the  marketer, because  of the large financial investment (expenditure) made in promotional activities. The advertising industry, in particular is a large and important sector in any western economy.

This industry is also showing signs of rapid growth in the lesser developed economies and in some socialist countries.

Modern marketing calls for modern firms to develop a good product, pricing it attractively and making it readily accessible to target consumer, this companies must design and create awareness about the existence, futures and forms how there will benefit the target market.

Sale promotion is one of the most important promotion tools in marketing of good and services, mutating communicate mix consist of the subject of marketing tools, that are primarily communicational in nature. They  are tools normally classify under  promotion, which is one of  the controllable variable (which can called the promo tools) the promotional variables  includes various  forms of advertising, packaging, sale presentation, sale aids, (cataloques, trading stams premiums,  free sample coupons) and publicity programme.

Consumer is regarded  as a  king in marketing concept so  marketing activities today based on how best to satisfy  the consumer the marketing effort  of any company should  base on how best to  ensure that after  development of a product presentation or an acceptable price, choice  of a better promotional strategy  which will involves much sales promotion to urge  the  consumer  faster to the product. The sales promotion is an inducement  for a consumer to buy.

Beside it, it is not mostly in a developing country like Nigeria.  For a manufacturer to merely produce and   that consumer will be aware of such product. The firm has to engage in promotional activities. And over the year some notable authors have regarded sales promotion as having played such role as:

• Stimulating a new user of a product.
• Encouraging more frequent use of a product
• Posting sales in a particular geographical area of region
• Encouraging the use of other goods.
• Appealing to special  segment of market
• Attracting bargain hunting, non brand conscious buyer
• Encourage seasonal sale or stimulating  off-peaks period sale security self space of a  particular product
• Encouraging  movement  of slow selling line
• Off-setting price competition
• Assigning sale force presentation of their product because maturation and encouragement has been create.
•  It enhances implus buying (implanted buying)
• Encouraging products and services improvement and development of new product or goods and services.

1.2     OBJECTIVES OF THE ESSAY
The main objective of this essay is met  part of the  requirement of the award of National Diploma in  Business studies of Kaduna Polytechnic. The study is aimed also of achieving the following specific objecting. 

1.       To pin   point the role and importance  of sales promotion in the marketing of goods and services.
2.       To examine the techniques of sales promotion
3.       To highlight the procedure of controlling and evaluating the sales promotional activities.
4.       To identify the advantages and disadvantages of sales promotions. 
5.       To provide suggestions and recommendations to business organization on how to effectively apply sales promotion  technique  for other products and services.

1.3     RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY
One of the rationale behind this study of this particular topic is to  expose ore exhibit the  usefulness or the significant of sales promotion in a marketing organization. Another reason or rationale for the study is because must marketing organization does not places or lay emphasis on sales promotion.

Also another rationale of the study is to educate marketing organization on important or benefit of sales promotion on marketing organization reason being that most marketing organization does not pay serious  attention  to sales promotion.

1.4     SCOPE OF THE ESSAY
The main focus of this essay is on the relevance of sales promotion to business organizations. This is achieved by examining the various definition of sales promotion as provided by schools, its importance, the techniques employed as well as some of the advantages and  disadvantages.

1.5     DEFINITION OF TERMS
Promotion: these are the activities the company undertakes to make the product easily accessible and available to target consumer.

Marketing: Is define as “human activities directed at satisfying  need and  want through exchange process”.

Consumers: are  those people who pay or uses good or service to satisfy personal or house  hold wait  rather than for sold for uses in business.
Sales promotion: may be described as collections of incentives periodically to stimulate sales for consumer purchased of good and services.

Advertising: - is an non personal means of communicating to the target audience usually sponsor by the  marketers.

Public relationship: conscious effort to improve and maintain an organization relationships with such public as employees customers share holders local communities, made unions.

Personally selling: are those people  who convince their  target audience about the product.

Promotional mix: they are  set of tools used by manufacture sales promotion, publicity.

Marketing mix: is the combination of detailed strategies tactics, operation, programmes techniques, and activities to which resources may be allocated such that the companies marketing objectives are achieved.                       

Marketing communication: conveying of information from the markets to one target market with the objective if creating a awareness of the company product or services.