Question: Response 1:

To: Michelle

Subject: Traditional vs. Digital Promotional Tools

Hi Michelle,

Below is a summary of the advantages and disadvantages of the differing promotional tools and how they relate to our target segment and branding strategy:

Digital: Digital as you mentioned has many advantages over traditional. Digital outlets such as internet ads, socials media, and blogs are a fraction of the cost and reach a much larger audience. These same forms can also be placed to target specific consumers, for example if we know our consumers will be using our devices for social media, we purchase internet ad space on Facebook, Twitter, and Snapchat so our marketing will reach them directly. Digital media also allows for instant and 24/7 access as well, if someone is talking about something you may not have heard about, you can always find it online. With today's digital trends drawing the attention of a few can cause a viral trend, through hashtags, and every person who is interested then will draw in all their followers, and their followers, and hopefully repeats to reach millions. The downside of digital is its targeted ability as well, if we put our focus on social media, if you are not a person who uses social media much or at all, you may never see our advertisements at all. (Touro, 2018)

Traditional: Traditional promotional tools have lost a lot of traction but still have many advantages. Traditional advertisements, such as taking ad space in the Sunday paper, a billboard, radio, or tv commercial are still very viable. Imagine driving to work, you have the radio on and hear about our product that you may have otherwise had no idea about, then drive by our billboard with our slogan. Think about a tv commercial aired during the Super Bowl. In TV history, the broadcast with most views, still belongs to Super Bowl XLIX with 114.4 million views. (Bibel, 2014) That one purchased piece of air time can capture numerous customers that otherwise would have been passed over. The disadvantages of traditional, are of course cost, Super Bowl commercials don't come cheap, and radio broadcasts and billboards only reach a limited audience. (Touro, 2018)

Recommended: At the end, with our marketing budget, it is best to recommend a mixed approach. Personally, I recommend about a 65% digital and 35% traditional approach. We want our focus to be on our target market, which points us in the direction that using digital promotion is better. Yet at the same time, we do not want to isolate or disregard potential customers if we want to maximize our profitability.

Response 2: Promotional Tools - Digital vs. Traditional

For a successful launch of our new product, MM Global Buds, we need to take a look at how we are going to market to our potential customers. We have identified our target market as individuals, families, and business men/women that travel to foreign countries with a different language. This will cover a wide range of demographics so it will be important to have a long reach. Also, with the roll out in SE Asia to increase our global presence, we will need to make sure that our marketing approach will aid a successful launch overseas.

Advertising in today's landscape has shifted in recent years to digital media. Around the world, 16-24 year olds are shown to be online over 7 hours a day. TV is this segment is losing steam to YouTube, Netflix, and other online applications (Entrepreneur, 2016). More and more people are spending time on the internet which is making traditional media slowly disappear. This does not mean that it is dead (more on that later). There are many ways we can advertise digitally. This includes: internet advertising and social media like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn to name a few. These have many benefits and only a few detractors. The great thing I love about digital media is we can easily track our return on investment, since every click can be tracked. We can figure out what sites are bringing in the most consumers to our site. As stated above, there are many more users in this realm which will increase our reach and give us possibly more bang for our buck. I does not come without its risks though. This type of advertising can be costly and will not hit all of our target audience (Optimize Social Media, 2016).

Traditional media which is made up of mainly TV, radio, newspaper, and magazines, is another option to consider. Consumers are still using these as they have been a part of media for ages. Whereas in digital media a user can quickly get rid of an ad in most cases, traditional media is in your face more and it is a real thing and can leave a greater impression on the subconscious (Optimize Social Media, 2016). However, it is difficult to track. You can only really know the circulation numbers and not the total number of people actually viewed it. This makes tracking, where our best source is, incredibly difficult. Also, traditional media is still a main source of impact in our SE Asia market which we plan to roll out the Global Earbuds mid-year.

I suggest a two-pronged approach to reach our demographic of individuals, families, and business men & women who travel abroad from their host countries. In the United States, I recommend a mix of 75/25, 75% digital media and 25% traditional media. However, prior to our launch in SE Asia I recommend a 50/50 mix to reach our target market overseas. This will ensure maximum coverage in both market and ensure a successful launch both domestically and globally.