Browsing by Author "Tesfamariam, Tsegazeab Bereketeab"

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    The use of marketing communication tools in less developed countries with specific reference to the Eritrean manufacturing industry
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2005-12) Tesfamariam, Tsegazeab Bereketeab; Smith, Marlize; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences. Dept. of Business Management
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : Marketing communications, the "promotions" component of the marketing mix, is a systematic relationship between a business and its market. Its importance in the over all business success has increased dramatically in recent decades. In today's cluttered and complex market place, marketing communications allows products/brands to stand out and help consumers appreciate their comparative advantages. Marketers have various communication tools at their disposal including advertising, sales promotions, personal selling, direct marketing, public relations, sponsorship, exhibitions, point-of-sale, and the Internet to achieve their specific objectives. These communication tools are further grouped into broad media types. The conventional media advertising, which involve 'renting' space on television, newspaper, poster, radio etc are referred to as 'above-the-line advertising,' whereas all non-media promotions, including personal selling, sales promotion, direct marketing, public relations, and sponsorship are commonly termed as 'below-the-line promotions.' The proper use and mix of these elements is fundamental for marketers to ensure that they obtain the most for their communication budgets. Though there is no optimum mixture of expenditures between the two broad categories, the appropriate mixture involves spending enough on promotions to ensure sufficient sales volume in the short-term while simultaneously spending enough on advertising to ensure the development of new brand and preservation of a product/brand's equity position in the long-run. Furthermore, each element of the communication mix should be integrated with other tools of the communication mix so that better results are achieved for a unified message consistently reinforced. The increasing importance of marketing communications should benefit all firms around the world, no studies have been undertaken to analyse their applications in least developed countries. The purpose of this study is therefore, to investigate the overall awareness, use and integration of marketing communication tools by manufacturing firms in a least developed sub-Saharan country, Eritrea. Accordingly, empirical data from 41 randomly selected firms has been analysed. The finding showed that, although it seems marketers in this emerging nation are aware of the role of marketing communications, a tendency for relatively less emphasis on marketing communications amongst most manufacturing firms was observed. The most commonly used marketing communication tools include sales promotions and personal selling, according to their importance, both from below-the-line, followed by TV advertising. Manufacturing firms in Eritrea tend to spend less on marketing communication relative to their annual tum over. Most importantly, the total marketing communications expenditure is dominantly allocated to below-the-line promotional activities. This result indicates that more emphasis is placed on short-term success to the expense of long-term brand development, brand and company image building or preservation. Furthermore, most manufacturing firms treat the various communication elements as virtually separate activities, rather than integrated tools that work together to achieve a common goal. Finally, the study concluded by commenting to individual firms to carefully consider the power that marketing communications offers, and avoid being blind-sided by any of the tools. Government officials in Eritrea need to consider enhancing the current momentum of marketing in general and marketing communications in specific in the country.