ABSTRACT
Promotional strategies is a process deal with the technique used by organization in inform, persuade and educate the public through the promotional mix.
Moreover promotional strategies does not only promote tangible products but also it promotes ideas, services, personalities etc. it also presents want, satisfying attribute of a product or service to the consumers.
The research work titled “the effect of promotional strategies in the marketing of bank service” a case study of UBA PLC, was carried out with the objective of determining the effect of promotional strategy in the quality of service and also to find out how promotions has assisted the bank in its achievement in the service industry to find out if the increase in customer patronage was as a result of promotional strategy, to find out if promotions persuade and reminds customer of UBA PLC services and lastly to find out if promotions keep customer aware of the product and service of UBA PLC.
In achieving the above objective some related literature were reviewed on the effect of promotional strategy on the marketing of bank services
In this research work the major instrument used is questionnaire administered on two population ie management and customer of the bank this was supplemented with personal interview.
According to the questionnaire collected and interview conducted relevant data were analyzed and hypothesis tested. The analyzed data brought out the following; that promotion create positive image for the bank, that most people in Enugu metropolis are aware of UBA Plc, increase profitability and customer patronage.
Based on the funding the following recommendation were made: UBA should carry out promotion regularly since it increase sales, patronage, profitability, builds brand image and other benefits.
Also the bank should utilize the marketing variable, strategies and concept. In summary UBA Plc have to use all the marketing principles for continued survival and sustenance in business.
1.1BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Promotional strategy is an important arm of the total marketing system. The need to promote a product, service or idea cannot be over emphasized, this can be informed by the fact that a successful marketing out fit cannot be put in place without making mention of the promotional strategy used in achieving their objective.
The understanding of promotional strategy is closely tied to the understanding of the basic concept of marketing.
Promotional strategies involve the act of informing, persuading and educating through the promotion mix, which include advertising, personal selling and sales promotion. Promotions can also be carried out through public relations. These three elements of promotional strategy, persuading, informing and educating are related. In the sense that, to persuade is to inform and for these two to be effectives they have to be properly communicated. Promotion is in a way persuasive in nature more so to our socio economic system.
Neil (1982:10 – 5) of Harvard University puts it this way “the use of influence in commercial relation is one of the attributes of a free society, first as persuasive and counter persuasive are exercised freely in many walks of life, in our force society, in our home, in the press, in the class room on the pulpit, in the courts, in the political forum for information”. Going by this system approach, a company should handle all the promotional strategies as a sub – system within the entire marketing system, which include the 4ps in marketing; the product, the price, the place and the promotion. The sub system of the promotional strategy includes advertising personal selling, sales promotion, publicity and public relations.
Advertising as defined by Adirika etal (1996; p 106), is that advertisement is a paid form of non personal presentation and promotion of goods, ideas or service conducted through paid media under open or identified sponsorship.
Personal selling as defined by P.N Edoga in her book “principles and practice of selling that it is a process of determining the needs and want of a prospective buyers and presenting a product, service or idea in such a way that the buyer is motivated to make a favorable decision.
The American marketing association define sales promotion as “those marketing activities, other than personal selling, advertising, and publicity that stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness such as display, shows and exposition, demonstration. And various non recurrent selling efforts not in the ordinary routine.
Public relations is a promotional activity which aims to communicate a favourable image of a product or service. It promotes good will massages from the organizational publics to the consumer, publicity on the other hand is tool on public relations. It is commercial through the mass media. All the above mentioned activity creates awareness, achieve convictions, build preference, encourage action more to the audience. Promotional strategy is used to introduce new product or service, sustain an established one, create floor traffic for secure sales leads, demarket a service and promote public cause.
As regards marketing, it is the development of good product, pricing it attractively and marketing it readily available to the target audience with the support of its promion efficiently and effectively. According to Stanton (1975), market is a total system of business activities designed to plan, price, promote and distribute want satisfying products and services to present and potential customers.
Mc Carthy and Perreault (10th ED) said that marketing is a social process that directs an economic flow of goods and services from producers to customers / consumer in a way that effectively matches supply and demand accomplishes the objective of the society according to Kotler (1995) marketing is seen as a social and managerial process by which individuals and groups obtain what they need and want through, creating, offering and exchanging product of value with others.
In discussing marketing of services one has to first discuss service according to Busch and Houston (1985) service or ancillary services are subject to change because the greater the undifferentiated nature of the object of exchange the greater the importance. Again the more sophisticated the technology of a core product the greater importance of the service to the marketing of service. Service also ranges from those related to physical product attached an example is hotel accommodation in hotel rooms and pure services surgical operation or consultancy services.
According to Staton (1995) service is defined in a broad and narrow perspective. In narrow perspective service is a separate identifiable intangible activities which provides want satisfactory when marketed to consumer and other individuals users and which are not necessarily tied to the sale of a product or another services. In a broad perspective service is all activities, benefits or satisfaction which are offered for sale or are provided in connection with the sale of goods. Service comes in different form for instance entertainment, hair dressing, hotel services transportation etc
Service are classified into intangibility no matter how good the product, how reliable the service or how sensible the conceived idea, its existence will be unknown unless there is a concerted effort to make the needed information available. The information should communicate in a manner persuasive enough to induce the kind of acceptance, reaction or response desired the effectiveness of any promotional massage depends upon the skill, versatility and talent of the designers.
Services are not owned, stored nor live long. They are perishable as they are consumed at the point of production. It also varies in quality and quantity where the production is labour intensive, for its nature also service cannot be separated form its provider except when they relate to repaired goods and such service is directed to the body and mind. This makes comparism difficult. Also the shorter the life of a service the more incomparable it becomes.
Marketing of service is intangible which implies that service are untouchable but are felt or experienced. Based on this intangibility service can be tangibilised by recommendation probably made by already existing customers, emphasis on service benefit, developing of brand names by using brand marks, logo to depict the kind of service and using a well known person in celebrity in order to manage the evidence of service rendition.
At this juncture, marketing Mix has to be discussed as they related to this write up this include product, place, price and promotion that is 4ps in marketing it is a major concept in marketing.
Kotler (1995) defined it as the particular blend of controllable marketing variable that the form uses to achieve its objective in the target, market. Product planning and development gives the management direction on how to design its activities to enable it meet up its set objectives and at the same time increase its sales by developing new or improved product/ service. in distribution management select and manage the trade channel through which the product will reach the right quantity and quality and at constant monitoring and considering of location season and psychology of the customer is put into account, filing like payment period, credit terms, discount etc.
The process of matching product or service or idea with consumer need s is the main focuses at the marketing activities. A marketer should be quick at capitalizing on newly identified needs, marketing activities does not however end with the matching of product, service or ideas, consumer, should be persuaded that he match is a good one.
As Kincaid (1985:20-30) has it “of course, the marketing process does not end with the initial matching of the product must be made available to consumer and appear more desirable than competing alternative or substitutes” this is the major function of marketing. Getting to know of this existence of a product, service or idea