Question

Source based question 

Source: Economic Times, January 31, 2020 

‘Memes have emerged as a lucrative profession for its creators.

Last week, when Zomato acquired UberEats, competitors took no time to engage with users through this new-age content marketing tool, which had become an instant hit when it began life on social media a few years ago.

However, generating memes on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook is now starting to become an integral part of marketing budgets for brands that want to stay relevant and topical online. These brands are using popular meme pages such as Laughing Colours, Confused Atma and Sarcastic Indian across social media

A consumer brand spends Rs 1,000-50,000 on a meme. A page with a million likes charges Rs 1,000-Rs 1,500 for visibility on Facebook and around Rs 3,000 for Instagram, creators said. And, depending on the category of influencers, TikTok charges between Rs 5,000 and Rs 3 lakh.

Earlier, meme pages used to make money mainly through Google advertisements, videos or cross promotions. Today, they rack up anywhere between Rs 10 lakh and Rs 4-6 crore in yearly turnover. 

Some brands that have been active with meme marketing include OnePlus, Truecaller, Dream11, LG and Big Bazaar, apart from big players in the ecommerce and soft-drinks space.

Brands use memes for promotions, taking a dig at competition, and for product launches. The demand for memes as a marketing tool increases ahead of festive seasons and occasions like the Cricket World Cup or Indian Premier League matches. Usually, a brand engages with meme creators for two-three memes a week.’

In context of the above article, answer the following questions: 

1. Identify and explain the component of marketing mix enumerated in the above article.

2. Explain in detail the elements of the component of marketing mix identified in (1) above.

Answer 1

1. Promotion - This refers to all the activities undertaken to make the product or service known to the user and trade. This can include advertising, word of mouth, press reports, incentives, commissions and awards to the trade. 

2. Promotion mix- Advertising, Personal selling, Sales promotion, Public relations 

Advertising - Advertising is a form of communication designed to persuade potential customers to choose the product or service over that of a competitor. Successful advertising involves making the products or services positively known by that section of the public most likely to purchase them. 

Personal selling - It means selling products personally. It involves oral presentation of a message in the form of conversation with one or more prospective customers for the purpose of making sales. Companies appoint salespeople to contact prospective buyers and create awareness about the company’s product. Thus, a sales person plays three different roles: a. Persuasive role b. Service role c. Informative role 

Sales promotion - Sales promotion relates to short term incentives or activities that encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service 

Public relations - It is about building good relations with the stakeholders (public) of the business by obtaining favourable publicity, building a good corporate image and handling or heading off unfavourable rumors, stories and events. By building good relationships with the stakeholders, particularly customers, a company can generate positive word of mouth and referrals from satisfied customers.