Discuss the various reasons marketers have been shifting their marketing dollars to sales promotion from media advertising. Discuss the pros and cons of this reallocation of marketers' advertising and promotion budgets.

Marketers are shifting their marketing budgets to support sales promotion from media advertising in an effort to get greater impact on brand recognition at the upper ends of their sales funnels, and more effectively influence lead generation in the lower areas of their sales funnels. Sales promotion is seen increasingly as having a more immediate impact on lead generation, lead fulfillment and the entire pipeline of sales activity. Media advertising on the other hand is not as easily tracked directly to sales activity and often is seen as "air cover" to drive up awareness of a given brand. Where media advertising is strategic and long-term in scope, in fact it has to be long-term to have an appreciable impact on brand awareness, sales promotions are increasingly becoming more measurable and quantifiable in their impact on sales strategies. The pros of this allocation of marketing dollars to sales promotion include better measurement of the ROI of the program, more efficient use of marketing dollars to support sales efforts, more targeted and focused programs with specific dates they run between, and higher levels of impact on sales. The cons of this are that often without media advertising brands will become less well-known and the advertiser will have to battle for greater mindshare during sales cycles as a result of not being known. Additionally, not spending on media advertising can also impact, during times of economic uncertainty, the perceived viability of a company. During a recession then it is critical for companies to continually advertising to provide potential...

Discuss some of the ethical implications (if any) in using this tool.
A video news release (VNR) is designed to appear as an independently produced news report, and are often distributed and promotion to television newsrooms. A VNR has the look and sound of an independent newscast yet is specifically produced to promote a product or service. The use of VNRs has exponentially increased globally in the last fifteen years. An example of how VNRs are used is in the launch of Jennifer Lopez's new perfume, where the VNR focused on her efforts to assist underprivileged Hispanic children, and how her media influence as becoming an asset in that effort, including the launch of her new cologne which would further support her position as a leading role model for Hispanic children. The U.S. Government also uses VNRs generated by the White House specifically on the topics of health and welfare, taxation, and the Iraq war.

The ethical implications of using this tool are clear; many times the public is thinking they are watching an unbiased news cast when in fact they are seeing a VNR. In an election year in the U.S. For example VNRs will be plentiful and often damaging to one candidates' position relative to another, appearing to be unbiased. VNRs for products and service are actually paid endorsements yet also appear unbiased. The ethics of tricking the public into thinking that the apparent recommendations of journalists applies to a product require the advertisers to also post their VNRs on their websites and be forthcoming about their use in order to not mislead or lie to the public.