Q.Beenu had a bookstore in Sabad called 'Book-mark'. For years, the bookstore was doing reasonably well but with the rise of digital books and online retailers, her sales had declined. Beenu's daughter, who had just completed her MBA with a specialisation in marketing decided to launch a marketing campaign to revive the bookstore. The campaign's focus was on the joy of reading books in physical form, the joy of turning pages and the warm atmosphere of the bookstore. She organised story writing and other competitions every weekend. The information of these was given to the parents and children through television, radio, children's magazines, etc. Attractive prizes were offered to the winners. This increased the footfall of the children and their parents and the bookstore soon became popular. The tool of communication used by Beenu's daughter to revive the bookstore was: (A) Advertising (B) Personal selling (C) Sales promotion (D) Public relations
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Start your 14-day free trial to unlock the full solution →The campaign used multiple promotional tools together, but the specific tool of communication that delivered the information about competitions and prizes to parents and children through TV, radio, and magazines is Advertising. The correct option is (A).
The Concept: What is a “Tool of Communication” in Marketing?
In marketing, a “tool of communication” refers to the specific method used to send a message from the business to its target audience. The four main tools in the promotion mix are:
- Advertising – Any paid, non-personal communication through mass media (TV, radio, newspapers, magazines, billboards, online ads). The business controls the message and pays for the space/time.
- Personal selling – Direct, face-to-face or one-on-one interaction between a salesperson and a customer.
- Sales promotion – Short-term incentives or activities designed to stimulate immediate purchase or action (discounts, contests, free samples, coupons, prizes). The focus is on inducing a behaviour.
- Public relations – Building a positive image and goodwill through unpaid or earned media (press releases, events, sponsorships, community activities). The business does not directly pay for the coverage.
The question asks: “The tool of communication used by Beenu's daughter to revive the bookstore was:” — meaning, which one of these four was the primary method she used to get the message across?
Step-by-Step Reasoning
1. Identify what the campaign actually did.
The campaign had two parts:
- Organising story writing and other competitions every weekend.
- Giving information about these competitions to parents and children through television, radio, children's magazines, etc.
- Attractive prizes were offered to the winners.
2. Separate the “tool of communication” from the “incentive”.
The prizes and competitions are a sales promotion element — they are short-term incentives to attract footfall. But the question specifically asks about the tool of communication used to spread the information. The information was delivered via TV, radio, and magazines. That is advertising — paid, non-personal, mass media communication.
3. Why not the other options?
- Personal selling – No salesperson went door-to-door or had one-on-one conversations with each parent. The message was broadcast to many at once.
- Sales promotion – The competitions and prizes are indeed sales promotion, but the communication of that promotion was done through advertising. The question asks for the tool of communication, not the promotional activity itself. …
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