CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 HISTORICAL
BACKGROUND OF THE CASE STUDY
In every fact of business, be it profit or
nonprofit oriented, the owner of such business concern must focus on techniques
to create awareness for its products, services and ideas. For a system of
transaction to take place, marketing thus call for more than developing a
product, pricing and making it readily accessible to the target market. As
firms make good product, they must inform consumer of the products and
carefully position these in the consumer’s mind. And to do this, they must use
a mass promotion tool called promotional mix.
In the modern economy with dispersed large
population, interpersonal communication especially between producing units and
their customers is no longer tenable. Hence promotional mix help to stimulate
and sustain the vigor and momentum of economic activities through the
enhancement of the consumption behavior of the citizens. Also the image of a
company is enhanced through the establishment of reputation for trustworthiness
of progressive and social responsibility brought about by promotional mix in
the minds of both actual and potential customers. But the extent promotional
mix is packaged and the awareness created will make the difference both
positively and negatively on the intention of gofidr of such business.
Promotional mix plays a great role in a nation’s development as the reaction to
any customer towards any product or service is enhanced by advertising. The key
point of every organization is to sell its product and this can only be done
successfully through an advertising campaign.
Promotional mix beyond any drought started as
early as 1861 through town criers, local sign post and through local song
instruments. (Onyebunagu 1983: 27). Promotional mix involves four elements, the
source, massage, channel and receiver. The source is represented by the
advertiser who produces on advertisement which is the message through mass
media (communication channel) then to the target audience which is the
receiver. The vital part of communication known as facebook is measured in
terms of sales realized. Promotional mix intervenes in nearly all aspects of
economic and cultural lives. It highlights and stimulates certain vitality in
production and trade. Promotional mix give industries, companies like Nigeria
airways faster access to the market for the introduction of new products and
services and reinforce consumer awareness for the existing products. It also
tries to transmit feelings, commitments and convictism as well as to transmit
them persuasively. For promotional mix to meet it goal it most have a purpose.
Promotional mix has been defined as any paid
form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods, or services by
an identified sponsor. (Kotler &Armstrong 1989 p434). Ar. Identified
sponsor could be forms, companies, airlines, non- profit and individuals who
are in a way identified in the promotional mix massage. With reference to the
definition above, promotional mix therefore could be regarded as a Mino to our
society. As stated by Hobson 1988, promotional mix is not only a means of
informing mass market, but a promotional medium in which government and other
organizations can channel their ideas and the Airline induct promotional and
seasonal fares etc. Promotional mix helps to keep the customers abreast of the
services the Airline offers at any point in time. If the Airline falls to
promotional mix, the public would not be aware of its services and this could
give its competitors the advantage of misleading or taking over its customers.
The Airline uses TV, Magazines, Newspaper and
Radio for the bulk of its advertisement. Besides in other advertising
programmes, the advertiser has to predict through certain principles of budget
depending on the means of communication considered which must be well designed
and tailored to meet their consumption. Because of the fact new Airlines are
being established everyday and the ones already existing are trying one way or
the other to outpace the other importance of promotional mix which are
awareness creation of its products and consumer persuasion towards the product
becomes imperative. ARIK AIRLINE Ltd. Being a national carrier and competing
with other foreign airline should use promotional mix as a strategy to
differentiate its service from others.