Question

The five basic components of promotion include advertising, sales promotions, social media, publicity, and personal selling. All five components of the retailer’s promotion mix need to be managed from a total systems perspective. All non-essential retail businesses are closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown. At some point (hopefully in the near future) we will return to normal and these businesses will reopen. While these businesses will be receiving financial support from the government, many are going to be in a tight situation, and fighting for every dollar when the doors finally open. So, they will need to rely on sales promotion, publicity, social media and personal selling to succeed. Those that don’t get out of the gate strong may not survive. Choose one of the following retailers: Hand and Stone Massage; Modell’s; Caesars casino; or Outback Steakhouse. Describe the best way your retailer choice can use the four promotional components (sales promotion, publicity, social media and personal selling) to be successful when the lockdown is over.

Answer 1

Caesars Casino

Sales Promotions:

The Casino can provide price incentives for the people visiting the casino. For eg., they can provide 1-night free stay on bookings of more than 2 nights, or can provide access to lunch/dinner buffets for guests staying at the hotel.

Publicity:

The casino needs to promote a positive image of themselves in the market by talking about the work that they did during the pandemic. How they made a difference in the lives of the needy in trying times. They can promote that a percentage of the income goes to a non-profit organization to help the poor and homeless.

Social Media:

Social media can be used as an effective promotional technique. The Casino needs to choose the correct platform depending on the target customers who would view those articles. Some promotional videos or an event calendar can be put on the Social Media page where people can access those articles.

Personal Selling:

The Casino would definitely have some patrons who visit the place on a regular basis. Caesars can contact them individually via phone or email and inform them about a running discount and incentives. They can also ask for referrals and contact them separately.