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channel for selling on their surplus merchandise。 UBid currently
carries over 200；000 items for auction/sale each day。 You have to bee
a certified merchant to sell on the site； which cuts down on fraud。 The
fees are no sale； no fee； and then from 12。5％ down to 2。5％ on sales of
over 1；000。
You could consider starting your own online auction house。 The case study
example below is a good one； with an interesting twist。 To lend a bit of
extra credibility； the products being sold can be seen in the showroom。
Pay…what…you…like pricing
This strategy is based on the auction concept but buyers set their own
price。 The twist is that there is no limit on supply； so everyone can have
one at the price they want to pay。 Radiohead； the band； released its seventh
Founded in 2006 by Allison Earl Woessner； Auction Atrium （
auctionatrium） is an auction pany for fine art； antiques and
collectables in the ￡30 to ￡3；000 price bracket。 Auctions run for 7–10 days
and bidders can e and inspect lots downstairs in the pany’s
Notting Hill showroom。 Julian Costley； former CEO of E*Trade； joined
the pany as a non…executive director in September 2007 and the
business is gearing up for expansion。
Marketing 101
album In Rainbows in October 2007 as a download on its website where
fans could pay what they wished； from nothing to ￡99。99。 Estimates by
the online survey group Score indicate that of the 1。2 million visitors
to Radiohead’s website； three out of five downloaders paid nothing and
the payers averaged ￡3 per album； so allowing for the freeloaders the
band realized ￡1。11 per album。 The band reckons that was more than they
would have made in a traditional label deal。 In fact the version of the album
released in this way was not the definitive one； that was released three
months later in CD format； debuting at No 1 in the United States and the
UK。
A number of restaurateurs have experimented with this pricing strategy
with some success； but as yet it is in its infancy。 Still； eBay is only a ‘baby’ in
the business model world； so watch this space； as they say in the marketing
world。
Promotion and advertising
The answers to these five questions underpin all advertising and promotional
strategies：
。 What do you want to happen？
。 If that happens； how much is it worth？
。 What message will make it happen？
。 What media will work best？
。 How will you measure the effectiveness of your effort and expense？
What do you want to happen？
Do you want prospective customers to visit your website； phone； write to
you or e…mail you； return a card； or send an order in the post？ Do you expect
them to have an immediate need to which you want them to respond now；
or is it that you want them to remember you at some future date when they
have a need for whatever it is you are selling？
The more you are able to identify a specific response in terms of orders；
visits； phone calls or requests for literature； the be。。er your promotional
effort will be tailored to achieve your objective； and the more clearly you
will be able to assess the effectiveness of your promotion and its cost versus
its yield。
How much is that worth to you？
Once you know what you want a particular promotional activity to achieve；
it bees a li。。le easier to estimate its cost。 Suppose a ￡1；000 advertisement
is expected to generate 100 enquiries for your product。 If experience tells
you that on average 10 per cent of enquiries result in orders； and your profit
102 The Thirty…Day MBA
margin is ￡200 per product； then you can expect an extra ￡2；000 profit。 That
‘benefit’ is much greater than the ￡1；000 cost of the advertisement； so it
seems a worthwhile investment。 Then； with your target in mind； decide
how much to spend on advertising each month； revising that figure in the
light of experience。
Deciding the message
Your promotional message must be built around facts about the pany
and about the product。 The stress here is on the word ‘fact’； and while
there may be many types of fact surrounding you and your products； your
customers are interested in only two： the facts that influence their buying
decisions； and the ways in which your business and its products stand out
from the petition。
These facts must be translated into benefits。 （See also ‘Features； benefits
and proofs’ in this chapter。） There is sometimes an assumption that everyone
buys only for obvious； logical reasons； when we all know of innumerable
examples showing this is not so。 Do people buy new clothes only when
the old ones are worn out？ Do bosses have desks that are bigger than their
subordinates’ because they have more papers to put on them？
The message should follow the AIDA formula： get A。。ention； capture
Interest； create Desire and encourage Action。 Looking at each in turn：
。 Ge。。ing a。。ention requires a hook。 Colour； humour and design are tools
used to focus people on your offer and away from the masses of distracting
clu。。er that occupy minds。
。 Interest is achieved by involving people in some aspect of the product；
perhaps by posing a question such as one diet pany does with its
challenge ‘would you like to loose 2 kg in 2 weeks？’。
。 Desire is about showing people the end result they could achieve by
having or using your product。 Every speedboat advertisement has a
beautiful bikini…clad girl posing on the bow； the inference being that if
you owned the boat you would be sure to get the girl too。
。 Action means provoking a painless way for people to start the buying
process。 Free trial； money…back guarantee； offer only lasts this week
and so forth are examples of the strategies used to achieve this result。
UACCA – Unawareness； Awareness； prehension； Conviction； Action
is another acronym used in this context。
Choosing the media
Your market research （see below） should produce a clear understanding
of who your potential customer group are； which in turn will provide
pointers as to how to reach them。 But even when you know whom you
want to reach with your advertising message it’s not always plain sailing。
Marketing 103
The Fishing Times； for example； will be effective at reaching fishermen but
less so at reaching their partners who might be persuaded to buy them
fishing tackle for Christmas or birthdays。 Also； the Fishing Times will be jam
packed with petitors。 It might just conceivably be worth considering
a web ad on a page giving tide tables to avoid going head to head with
petitors； or ge。。ing into a gi。。 catalogue to grab that market’s a。。ention。
If a consumer already knows what they want to buy and are just looking
for a supplier then； according to statistics； around 60 per cent will turn to
print Yellow Pages （or similar）； 12 per cent will use a search engine； 11 per
cent will use telephone directory enquiries； and 7 per cent online Yellow
Pages。 Only 3 per cent will turn to a friend。 But if you are trying to persuade
consumers to think about buying a product or service at a particular time
then a leaflet or flyer may be a be。。er option。 Once again it’s back to your
objectives in advertising。 The more explicit they are the easier it will be to
choose media。
Above or below the line
Advertising media are usually clustered under two headings； above the line
and below the line。 It has to be said that the line is being increasingly
indistinct but it is still a term that is part of the lexicon in se。。ing the
advertising budget。
Above the line
Above the line （ATL） involves using conventional impersonal mass media
to promote products and services； talking at the consumer。 Major abovethe…
line techniques include：
。 TV； cinema and radio advertising： The vast array of local newspapers；
TV channels and digital radio stations can make this a more targeted
advertising strategy than has been the case。
。 Print advertising in newspapers； magazines； directories and classified
ads： Print of all forms has the merit of having a long life； so it can be
used for handling more plex messages than； say； radio or TV。
。 Internet banner ads act as a point of entry for a more detailed advert。
。 Search engines： Search engine advertising es in two main forms。
PPC （pay per click） is where you buy options on certain key words so
that someone searching for a product will see your ‘advertisement’ to
the side of the natural search results。 Google； for example； offers a deal
where you pay only when someone clicks on your ad and you can set
a daily budget stating how much you are prepared to spend； with 5 a
day as the starting price。
。 Podcasts； where internet users can download sound and video free； are
now an important part of the E…advertising armoury。
。 Posters and billboards。
104 The Thirty…Day MBA
Below the line
Below the line （BTL） talks to the consumer in a more personal way using
such media as：
。 Direct mail – leaflets； flyers； brochures： Response rates are notoriously
low； o。。en less than 1 per cent resulting in sale； but direct mail has the
merit of being a proven method of reaching specific targeted market
segments。
。 Direct e…mail and viral marketing： The la。。er is the process of creating
something so hot that the recipients will pass it on to friends and colleagues；
creating extra demand as it rolls out。 Jokes； games； pictures；
quizzes and surveys are examples。
。 Sales promotions； including point of sales material： Activities carried
out in this area include free samples； try before you buy； discounts；
coupons； incentives and rebates； contests； and special events such as
fairs and exhibitions。
。 PR （public relations）： This is about presenting yourself and your
business in a favourable light to your various ‘publics’ – at li。。le or no
cost。 It is also a more influential method of munication than general
advertising – people believe editorials。 There may also be times when
you have to deal with the press – anything from when you are trying to
get a。。ention for a new product to handling an adverse situation； say if
your product has to be recalled for quality reasons； or worse。
。 Le。。erheads； stationery and business cards are o。。en overlooked in the
ba。。le for customer a。。ention； but are in fact o。。en the first and perhaps
only way in which a business’s image is projected。
。 Blogs； where the opinions and experiences of particular groups of
people are shared using online munities such as MySpace； for
example； are an extension of this idea。 Neilson NetRatings reported in
2008 that over 2 billion munity sites are viewed every month in the
UK alone。
Push or pull
Like above or below the line； push and pull are different advertising strategies
used for achieving different results。 Pull advertising is geared to
drawing visitors into your net if they are actively looking for your type of
product or service。 Search engines； listings in on… and off…line directories；
Yellow Pages and shopping portals are examples here。
Push advertising tries to get the word out to groups of potential customers
in the hope that some of them will be considering making a purchase
at about that time。 Magazines； newspapers； TV； banner ads and direct mail
both on… and off…line are examples here。
As with above and below the line； the distinctions are fast being
blurred； but the message used in your advertising will be different。 With
Marketing 105
pull there is the assumption that people want to buy； and they just need
convincing that they should buy from you。 Push calls for a different
message convincing them of their need and desire in the first place。
Measuring results
A glance at the advertising analysis in Table 3。3 will show how to tackle the
problem。 It shows the advertising results for a small business course run
in London。 At first glance the Sunday paper produced the most enquiries。
Although it cost the most； ￡3；400； the cost per enquiry was only slightly
more than for the other media used。 But the objective of this advertising was
not simply to create interest； it was intended to sell places on the course。 In
fact； only 10 of the 75 enquiries were converted into orders – an advertising
cost of ￡340 per head。 On this basis the Sunday paper was between 2。5 and
3。5 times more expensive than any other medium。
Table 3。3 Measuring advertising effectiveness
Media used Cost per
advert
￡
Number of
enquiries
Cost per
enquiry
￡
Number of
customers
Advertising
cost per
customer ￡
Sunday paper 3；400 75 45 10 340
Daily paper 2；340 55 43 17 138
Posters 1；250 30 42 10 125
Local weekly
paper
400 10 40 4 100
Judy Lever； co…founder of Blooming Marvellous； the upmarket maternitywear
pany； believes strongly not only in evaluating the results of
advertising； but in monitoring a particular media capacity to reach her
customers：
We start off with one…sixteenth of a page ads in the specialist press； then once
the medium has proved itself we progress gradually to half a page； which
experience shows to be our optimum size。 On average there are 700；000
pregnancies a year； but the circulation of specialist magazines is only around
the 300；000 mark。 We have yet to di