How Pelactiv uses marketing
What's been your most successful marketing activity to date?
Our business is heavily focused on Beauty Salons so commercial marketing is not always a positive option for us.  Having said that, we have always had great success with Good Health & Medicine magazine and the advertising and editorials we have run with them.  On one occasion we ran a campaign where we gave every reader a free hand cream for a returned voucher.  This received a major response and a huge number of consumers requested information about our products and stockists.

Do you use any marketing research tools/websites?
Absolutely.  We have to keep abreast of the constant changes in product trends, consumer demands, what’s new and developing in our field; we use online research as our main tool.  More importantly, our new website will also be able to monitor interest in our business. 

What affect do images have on the impact of a marketing campaign?
In the beauty industry image is everything. Using a “face” to brand the image can sometimes prove to be a very risky option but incredibly, the “face of Pelactiv” that we used to re-launch the product nine years ago is still used today.  Editors love her, our stockists love her, we love her!

What is the best marketing campaign you've seen in the last three months (form any field)?
I would have to say the radio campaign that Bing Lee has been running. It is so bad that it has to be successful! Every time I hear the voice of the “Bing Lee person” droning on I just want to turn the radio off.  However, the combination of the jingle and their sales pitch seems so bad that it’s actually great – does that make sense?!  Everybody can identify Bing Lee - who they are and what they represent; value for money and willingness to negotiate.  And look at the money they save on paying for a spokesperson – very clever!

Why did you choose PR to incorporate in your marketing mix?
In this industry it is absolutely essential.  To have that connection with editors and beauty industry specialists you need to be constantly making them aware of who you are, what your products do, what they represent.  Brand recognition is so important.  Being considered one of the major players is essential, especially as European and American products are so prominent.  PR is beneficial for promoting brand awareness, thereby encouraging consumers to think about your product as the product of choice when purchasing.

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