Advertising vs. Sales Promotion

Advertising Defined

Advertising positions a product or service against that of competitors to convey a brand message to consumers and to enhance its value in the consumer’s eyes. A television commercial for a brand new automobile emphasizing the car’s new features and styling is an example of advertising.

Sales Promotion Defined

Sales promotions include a variety of strategies designed to offer purchasers an extra incentive to buy, usually in the short-term. Examples of sales promotions include cents-off coupons, two-for-the-price-of-one sales and double coupons at the grocery store, all for a limited period of time,

Key Differences

The key difference between advertising and sales promotion is the nature of the appeal to the consumer. Advertising is emotional in nature and the objective is to create an enduring brand image. Perfumes, makeup and jewelery need imaginative advertising to create the allure needed to sell these products. Sales promotions, on the other hand, are unemotional in their approach. A cents-off coupon for cereal appeals to the consumer’s rational mind and is a sales promotion. The consumer weighs the price of one cereal brand versus others.

Speed of Results

Brand equity and identity typically develop over the longer term. Many advertising exposures are required for the consumer to feel the emotional pull a product might offer. Advertising develops this relationship over time. Sales promotions are after shorter-term gains in market share and the main message to the consumer is not necessarily brand-oriented. Rather it is an appeal to act immediately to purchase the product.

Directness

Advertising uses indirect and subtle methods to create a brand image while sales promotions are much more direct. Advertising for a cell phone service might emphasize the coverage area and the many styles of phones available. A cell phone sales promotion might emphasize a free phone for signing a two-year contract if sign-up is within the next month.

Advertising vs. Sales Promotion