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, ~~:::wholesaler who speciali~es .in stocking ~p super~a~kets "~1,,;perishable Ite~s such as toiletries and proprietary ~edIcmes . . ;~r~.~sponse marketing through off-the-page press advertisements,
. ,•'Jt~(mail and catalogues has become a very sophisticated form of ,,I;.,,,,,,,.~",'
lations is an aspect of p~blic relations and marketing support "'r;"';"'ch1ho manufacturer or supplier can afford to neglect, yet such .' .1i;;'•~.~h .. as been the cause of a number of product failures. Dealers are ~ ,.••.ll~Jy"to sell a new product in which they have no confidence, no c .. ,'lr~~~t10W beguiling the trade terms 0: massive the.launch advertising .
ifP~Y;.•,. :.i.n .... ave their own customer relations to con~Ider. ~re-sellII1g or '~~i:i~al:k1f;educahon must not be overlooked, especially with consumer
s and hi-tech goods.. .
i1.pfacturers of FMCGs, the small unit goods commonly found in ~1.~$~arkets, have a majo~ distribution problem in maintaining cusf'-,~iQw~r•;•demand and combating the tendency for supermarket chams
,'.1iR~;$~insbury's and Tesco to delist national brands in favour of own 'Wf.i~di. These stores now stock 50 per cent of popular lines under their . ''':'J1Wrt~4abels.
sumers and users '.': .• :~;:
'':~ .;Qfilsumers may be described as the final customers, users who make •1;~.:;ut~bf the product whether it be a component for a product or an .'.}rriWedient used by a hotel chef. Users, industrial and commercial, ,{.I:ql$e under the heading of 'business-to-business', but it is more :,sfrtsible to refer to buyers of, say, garden insecticides or fertilizers as
• c' 'sei-s rather than consumers.
Some products (and services) are never known to the final consumer,
• ~I}f:the pub~ic relations operation is allied to the 'back-selling' operation '~QBencouragll1g a manufacturer to adopt or contmue to use a product. :: .:tK~ public relations effort will be aimed a1 the designer, formulator or .i~pecifier. But although an architect may be the essential specifier he ". ;':,Jlwd be influenced by the wishes of a client who may have a preference .;~ -.0'1' brick, tile, timber; metal or glass. The 'Brick is Beautiful' campaign • .-l~ched various customers and users.
'Pinal customers are not necessarily those addressed by advertising. • !hey could be young people who will be eventual customers; or junior ""'. ~sustomers such as those for whom the Abbey National Building Society ',{ilisues its twice-yearly journal. There can also be numerous minority • ,.,/' oups, uneconomical from an advertising point of view, but approach_ .;"",:~ble by public relations. Moreover, the consumer public can be broken ~down into numerous demographic subdivisions of sex, age, marital
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status, geographical location and so on which makes it possi~1 them to be reached by more specialized or local media. ~
Another comparison with advertising is that an advertisin? ca~~~ may use different mass media from those used for public reJfltb~ purposes. For example the a~vertising m~y be in the Radio Time,£t,l TV Times, but the press stones may be m local weekly newsp,ijl~ national daily newspapers, special interest or women's magazin~l;-i which there is no advertising, so directing the public relations)~ mation at certain sections of the consumer public. In fact, the;~ai Times ~nd TV Tim~s woul.d not print any pUbl.ic relations materhitl
Again, the public relations effort may be aimed at educatmgrie'W potential customers, or at breaking down the prejudices of peopl~1 normally regarded as b~ing within the. target audience for adverti~i~] The motorcycle market IS rather like this. The same applies to thinltll
diverse as new forms of investment to new tourist locations. .;,IIJ
8 Opinion leaders or formers
These can be any people who, whether well or ill informed, .. m~
express opinions and influence people because of their appa~~ authority. They may well be ignorant, hostile or prejudiced but certctirf}1 not apathetic. Or they could be knowledgeable, well disposed o~~~ least tolerant. Their attitudes can be dangerous or helpful, accordingm the extent of their knowledge and understanding. Opinion lea