Abstract:

Market research successfully developed tools to measure the effectiveness of below-the-line activities. These not only record reliably sales performance before, during and after promotions, but increasingly take into account "reason-why-data". Also it is now possible to provide virtually complete coverage of all retail outlets and not just a sample in selected towns, thus providing better insight into consumer reactions. More recently, POS-scanning systems give more frequent and faster access to store-data which greatly enhances the usefulness of results. A case history introduces the findings of such modern research and analyses on a week-by-week basis three months of promotional activity of major brands in a confectionary market. As a special feature, the study includes rarely available facts regarding the impact of promotions on gross-profits and margins of participating retailers. The second case history introduces a "Model for Price-Elasticity and Promotions", recently developed by A. C. Nielsen. It measures the marketing productivity by combining various levels of price-reduction with other below-the-line activities and assists marketing executives in conducting more successful promotions.