1.0 Introduction
1.1 Background of the Study
Good communication/publicity is strictly a marketing tool or element identified with promotion and is used to complement the efforts of other elements of the promotion.
Publicity reflects market oriented public relations and this can be referred to as a tool of public relations and, communication involves sharing or exchange of thoughts, feelings, experiences and other between and among people in order to achieve intended objectives.
The impact of Good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks is something to reckon with as Nigerian Bottling Company Plc is a multinational firm, which has its branches or plants all over the nation
The plant in Owerri is located along Owerri-Onitsha road and the aim of this company is to provide and produce quality soft drinks to the society at large. With the aid of good publicity, Nigerian Bottling Company Plc can convince and persuade their customers to by their products.
Publicity can be designed to just inform the market about the existence of a product and this is called information publicity. Newness and uniqueness in a product can simplicity the publicity process.
Researchers have discovered that the audience evaluates not only messages but also the source of the message in terms of trustworthiness and credibility.
Different audience perceived the same words differently. The problems of trustworthiness and credibility f message form the subject matter of this research as these affect the impact of good communication/publicity message will have on target customer or audience.
The research study among other tings examines the ability and preference for a brand of soft drinks against that of competitors. It motivates consumers to desire a brand and persuade them to buy.
Basically, good communication calls for more than developing a good product, pricing it attractively and making the product readily accessible to the target market. There must be good communication of information about the product features, existence and availability and how it will benefit the market.
1.1 Statement of Problem
The case study would not have been necessary without a problem, the present economic situation of Nigeria and its attendant low per capital income coupled with proliferation of bottling industries, has increased competition. The consumer is being more rational in making purchase so as to maximize utility and at the same time, achieve maximum profit. This makes most companies shy away from publicity expenses and those that go into it want to know its impact on their sales.
1.2 Objective of Study
The objective of this work is to find out the impact of good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks in Nigerian Bottling Company Plc, Owerri. The objective of this work aims at identifying the limitations and problems of publicity in the marketing of soft drinks which includes to:
- Find out the attraction of good publicity activities to consumers
- Find out whether a good publicity activity encouraged the consumers to patronize the company.
- Know which promotional tools are attractive to the consumers.
- Know if good publicity helps the consumer to decide on the brand of soft drinks they buy.
- Find out if good communication/publicity also changed the mind of consumers to purchase a product the dislike.
- Find out the impact of good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks.
1.3 Research Questions
To identify the impact of good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks, the following questions were asked:
- Are consumers attracted to particular soft drinks by the good communication/publicity activities?
- Which promotional tools attract the consumers?
- Would the consumers say that a good communication/publicity activity of the company encouraged them to patronize the company?
- Does good communication/publicity help the consumers decide the brand of soft drinks to buy?
- Can good communication/publicity change the consumers mind in order to purchase a product they dislike?
1.4 Significance of Study
This project is directed towards promoting, maintaining and sustaining the use of good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks in Nigerian bottling company Plc, Owerri. Also, this work is aimed at involving in the minds of the company that there is r4eal impact which good communication/publicity creates in the marketing of their products.
1.5 Scope of Study
The scope of study is centered on Nigerian Bottling Company Plc, Owerri in Imo state Nigeria. This work focuses much attention on the impact of good communication/publicity in the marketing of soft drinks in Imo state.
1.6 Assumption of Study
Broadly speaking, this work intends to highlight all other trend of assumption and prospect the good communication/publicity of soft drinks and its important roles.
This work is meant to serve two purposes, firstly, to the student researcher and secondly to the firm, due to the importance of publicity.
1.7 Limitation of Study
In the course of this work which is to investigate the impact of good communication/publicity activities in the marketing of soft drinks in Imo state, a lot of limitations and constraints were experienced. These include:
a) Time factor:
time constituted a problem for the researcher. The researcher was not able to meet up in attending lectures and at the same time going to the organization of study for data gathering. There was not enough time of covering more vast areas involved in the research study.
b) Lack of information:
The workers in the study firm were unwilling to give adequate data and those that were willing to give the required data were not honest as they wrong data as a way to boost their ego.
c) Inadequate materials:
this constitutes a problem to this researcher study as books, journals and newspaper were not adequately provided in the library. Some of the materials seen were out dates and out of use for referencing.
d) Financial constraints:
The researcher was not able to afford a transportation fair on several occasions to the area of study and this slowed his pace to gather enough materials and information for the work.
