Promotion case: Skoda Octavia.
Skoda uses a different mix of promotional tools than AirManagement uses for the promotion of Jamie Cullum. The differences can be explained with the fact that the Skoda Octavia is a material product, something the customer can touch and see. Jamie Cullum is an artist and there are no specific products that can be promoted. First the artist must be promoted before AirManagement can advertise about concerts and music albums.
Advertising is a tool which Skoda can use to speak to its target audience and should draw attention to the characteristics of the car which can appeal to the wants o the potential customer. Commercials on the television are a good example of this way of promoting.
If a product does not have any USP´s the company can promote it by brand image. Of course the car of Skoda has these Unique Selling Points, but even then the brand image can be crucial. Not so long ago, Skoda had a worse image, people had the opinion that cars of Skoda were for poor people. By advertising Skoda can improve their brand image and supply reasons for the potential customer to buy this car.
The Octavia is a family car, so Skoda will advertise to the needs of people who have those needs. Skoda advertises for example with the new design and new technologies which must have improved the car. With these USP´s and attractive option, Skoda creates reasons for the customer to buy this particular car. The Octavia provides a more luxury interior and has more smart solutions to improve the safety. Other unique selling points they advertise with the functional trunk with a double floor which makes loading easier. The new Octavia is available with a 7-stage automatic gearbox which makes changing gear easier and quicker. Next to that the new car of Skoda is environmental friendly and is available with an energy label A.
To promote the new occasions, Skoda uses the tool publicity. This is any activity aimed at the media in order to generate news or information about the new car or the brand itself.
This tool brings the brand closer to the potential customers by providing information through the media. Every car manufacturer offers test-drives so the potential customer can judge the car on it own, and to personal wants. The media is also used to let the people know about their environmental friendly cars. The image of the brand is so exposed and this is a good way of promoting the new car, the Octavia.
The brand Skoda is the sponsor of several events. They, for example, are the official main sponsor of the IIHF World Championships since 1993. Besides this event they also sponsor a few cultural activities and they are related to the Tour de France. This relates to the past, when Skoda also build bikes. Sponsoring events is a great way of promoting your products and the brand. A lot of people will watch those sport events on television and so everyone will see the brand name Skoda related to a popular and important event.
A form of direct marketing is providing e-mail services to the customer. However they won’t send direct mail letters with random information as promotion, they certainly provide an e-mail service for their customer and who is interested.
The car brand did a few things to promote the sales of the new Octavia. The 3D content on the internet gives customers the ability to look at the car from all different directions. This has required special technology. This is a special investment in unique promotional tools. The different occasions Skoda offers is also a form of sales promotion. The delivery date and the opportunity the make a test drive are all services to make the purchase more attractive for the customer.
Also personal selling has a part in the promotional mix Skoda uses to promote the Octavia. Although you mostly do not identify personal selling immediately, it is a common used tool for many market.The sales team that operates on the background aims to inform customers about the car, demonstrate if necessary and provide after-sales service. Just like all cars, the Octavia provides a guarantee for a few years. The sales-team of Skoda must ensure that even after the sale the customer is kept satisfied so they will buy a Skoda again, and give positive mouth-to-mouth feedback, which can also be seen as a kind of promotion.
Exhibitons can be organised by Skoda, or any car manufacturer in order to promote their cars. If they want the exhibtion to be successful, Skoda must ensure that they attract the right people and in a sufficient number. By presenting the cars on a exhibtion, the people can have a sight on them in reality. The car brand comes closer to the potential customer, or invite them to make a test-drive.
Good examples of exhibtion that are appropriate fo Skoda are the Auto RAI and the car show in Frankfurt.
Also personal selling has a part in the promotional mix Skoda uses to promote the Octavia. Although you mostly do not identify personal selling immediately, it is a common used tool for many market.The sales team that operates on the background aims to inform customers about the car, demonstrate if necessary and provide after-sales service. Just like all cars, the Octavia provides a guarantee for a few years. The sales-team of Skoda must ensure that even after the sale the customer is kept satisfied so they will buy a Skoda again, and give positive mouth-to-mouth feedback, which can also be seen as a kind of promotion.
Exhibitons can be organised by Skoda, or any car manufacturer in order to promote their cars. If they want the exhibtion to be successful, Skoda must ensure that they attract the right people and in a sufficient number. By presenting the cars on a exhibtion, the people can have a sight on them in reality. The car brand comes closer to the potential customer, or invite them to make a test-drive.
Good examples of exhibtion that are appropriate fo Skoda are the Auto RAI and the car show in Frankfurt.
Companies can make the decision of establishing a corporate image and carry out activities to sell the organisation itself. It is what I already mentioned in the section above about the cheap image Skoda used to have. Nowadays they want to provide themselves as a manufacturer of environment friendly vehicles. The so called ‘green’ cars are the current trend in the market and it will be in the near future. The image Skoda wants to set with the Octavia for instance is that the people who purchase it, drive economic and environmental friendly. Promotion case: Jamie Cullum
Only advertise is not enough if you want a first unknown artist transformed into a Grammy nominated superstar, Jamie Cullum is the example in this case. The enterprise AirManagement take a very pro-active part in the promotion of Jamie Cullum. For the publicity of him as an artist, but also for the merchandise they make a lot of use of the phenomenon called social-media. Through social tools like Facebook and Twitter AirManagement and Jamie Cullum can come closer to the fans and the consumers. It seemed to be that the internet and the portals they provide are one of the most important tools available for the music industry. Since the ‘brand’ Jamie Cullum is not a material product that can be touched for example, there are some special issues the management has to consider. People will sometimes buy his merchandise for emotional reason, and also the image of the artist is crucial. Therefore the internet is an important tool for Jamie Cullum because it allows him to reach a wider audience than is often possible. Besides, with the internet as a social medium, the artist can keep the fanbases more up to date in order to keep in touch with his fans and the other way around. Giving the fans the opportunity the follow their idol on Twitter and MySpace makes the artist connected to them on personal level. This is a great and efficient way of using publicity and the public relations. 
Sponsorship isn’t only important for the car industry; the music industry has to handle this fact too. Businesses or brands can choose to give their name to Jamie Cullum and link the brand to him to gain publicity. The benefit Jamie Cullum is also promotion. Giving concerts will be an advantage for both parties. It gives not only publicity to the artist, but also to the sponsoring companies. If you compare it to the Skoda case, it is the exact opposite. Skoda sponsors an events or artist with money in exchange for publicity, and Jamie Cullum is sponsored by companies and provide them with promotion. It means that AirManagement must not only focus on the customers and fans, but also to businesses so they can achieve a world-known successful artist. Giving such concerts and going on a national or international tour is a form of exhibition, which is also a promotion tool in the promotional mix. All those different tools made it possible that Jamie Cullum is now a superstar with a Grammy nomination and that he has sold over four million albums.
The corporate image of Jamie Cullum, or any other artist is very important if the management wants to promote him. They have to know which people listen to his music and what kind of people they are. The age, interests and much more plays a part in this. Jamie Cullum calls his music jazz with a little influence of rock and pop. In general, those artists do not have the image of being a rebel or so, but it is ‘old-fashioned’ music (jazz) in a modern cover.
