THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PROMOTIONAL STRATEGIES EMPLOYED BY AGRO- ALLIED INDUSTRIES IN NIGERIA

(A CASE STUDY OF OLYMPIC MAIZE MILLING AGRO ALLIED INDUSTRIES LIMITED AWKA)

This research work traced the effectiveness of  promotional strategies employed by  Agro- allied Industries in Nigeria in the promotion of their products like meshing,  casavita, yam flour, maize flour, animal feeds and vitarice. The researcher selected Olympic maize milling Agro-Allied industries Ltd. Awka as case study. He  made an adept study into the various promotional   elements and available media with their strategies.

          Different structured questions were administered to respondents after reviewing similar literatures. These questionnaire were administered to both consumers and the management of Olympic Maize Milling Agro _ Allied Industries.

          The research also conducted oral interview with the manager of the company from where I get much of the information  not covered in the questionnaire.

The test of two hypotheses was based on the researcher’s project topic, which tested with “a  chi square approach”.  The analysis of our data revealed that most consumer of Agro- Allied product (Olympic) Mesolina, Olympic cassvita, Maize flour, animal feed etc became nature of the product through advertising and hence the most  effective promotional strategies being through the radio  advertising from which was followed by television with its strategically advertising from immediately  after national broadcast in the evening.

The same was discovered that the most  effective media of promoting the products were radio and television which consumers rated highest and higher respectively.  More so, the management also confirmed this through the research’s analysis.

The significant strategies in the promotional tools used by the management as the researcher discovered in her interview with the marketing manager and some customers are the jingles in the radio, that runs thus, the more you buy it and cook for food, the more satisfaction you get, which consumers said they found to be time. The one used in the advertisement is also effective and significant because of the way they cook it after preparing the Olympic mesolina, set it on the   table & the  family sit round the table and not their heads in affirmation and requested his to be everyday food.

Finally, we recommend what we consider appropriate measures that would enhance a more posit effectiveness on the promotional strategies to employ  in the marketing of Agro-Allied products and other similar establishment that will aid the effectiveness like the product research and development, employing the services of promotional experts and strategies and maintain good cooperate citizens through community activities.

TABLE OF CONTENT

TITLE PAGE                                                                 II

APPROVAL PAGE                                                       III

DEDICATION                                                               IV

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS                                           V

ABSTRACT                                                                  VII

TABLE OF CONTENT                                                 X

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM                             18

1.2            OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY                                     20

1.3            SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY                     21     

1.4            SCOPE OF THE STUDY                                    23

1.5            LIMITATION OF THE STUDY                          24

1.6            HYPOTHESIS FORMULATION                        25

1.7            EXPLANATION OF KEY TERMS                     25

CHAPTER TWO

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE                      28

2.1            THE ROLE OF PROMOTIONAL ACTIVITIES IN THE ECONOMIC                                                   30

2.2            PROMOTIONAL STRATEGY                                     32

2.3            ANALYSIS OF VARIOUS PROMOTIONAL  VARIABLES34

2.4            PROMOTIONAL OBJECTIVE IN AGRO – ALLIED  INDUSTRY                                                        40

2.5            PROMOTIONAL PLAN AND PLANNING        42

2.6            MEDIA SELECTION                                         

CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

3.1            SOURCES OF DATA                                         46

3.2            QUESTION DESIGN AND METHOD               47

3.3            DETERMINATION OF    SAMPLE SIZE           48

CHAPTER FOUR

4.1            PRESENTATION, A                                           51

4.2            ANALYSIS                                                         

4.3            INTERPRETATION OF DATA

4.4            TESTING OF HYPOTHESIS                              64

CHAPTER FIVE

SUMMARY OF FINDING

5.1            RECOMMENDATION                                                 75

5.2            CONCLUSIONS                                                  79

BIBLIOGRAPHY                                                                   80

APPENDIX A                                                               84

CHAPTER ONE

1.0            INTRODUCTION

1.1     BACK GROUND

In the  60s the economy of Nigeria was characterized agroIndustries and production of Agricultural goods which were Exported in  its raw form  or in a semi- processed form to the out side world. The products before they were exported needed storage and protection from decay or deterioration, and that meant more cost to the agricultural products.

          The urgent  to get more value from agricultural product  and this stop importation of import substitution goods enhanced the development emphasis of agro  allied industries in various areas of the countries.  The agro- allied industries are those industries that use agricultural product as their raw material inputs to reproduce other consumer and industrial finished goods.  They are called agro- allied industries because  their component raw material good inputs contain 70.80%  agricultural produce.

The federal government encouraged  the growth of agro- allied products to lesser the importation of raw material or import substitutional goods. The agro-allied industries that needed to be examine here are tabulated below

Industries (Agro- allied 

Agro- product used

Brewing Industries

Wheat sorghum, malt and Barley oranges

Wine industries

Grapes and lemon

Meat processing industries

Poetry sheep and beef

Biscuit industries

Maize wheat and Guinea

Milling industries

Corn

Milling industries

Maize, wheat, cassava, yam and Rice

 Promotional strategies are therefore plan activities to induce customer’s acceptance of any product offering or service.   It involves the use of appropriate communication massage through point, media electronic media, bill board vehicle advertising and others.  Strategies refer to various devices and methodologies applied in accomplishing promotion objectives.

          The preliminary  investigation carried out shows that the promotional strategies mainly carries out by these Agro –Allied industries are advertising, sales promotion, personal selling and public relations.  It further shows these strategies are used  due to the presence of massage carries, which obtain wide audience coverage aid again covers wide geographical area. These carriers of point media (news paper, magazine and business Journs) electroinc media (T.V radio, films and video tapes). These media are used to influence, persuade and attract the consumer to  make a favourable purchase in order to increase sales and profit position  of given firm. 

          Advertising is used by Agro- Allied Industries to present a new product and stimulate the patronage of the existing ones.  These agro allied companies  depends on advertising to move their goods through the channels to distribution (from manufacturer to wholesalers to the local retailers)  to develop consumer loyalty to their brands and dealers and to reduce the affect of competition. They need volume to keep their  factories operating  efficiently.

          Advertising without proper distribution of the product is wasteful, when products are vastly distribution of the product and proper media used to advertise the product, the affect can  be flexible. The main media used by  Agro –Allied companies in the industry to advertise their product are newspaper,  magazines, network T.V sport radio and out doors.  With the preliminary study carried out, four of six agro  companies in the industry proved advertising to be effective in that, they achieve 85% -95% of  the expected revenue in after their advertisement though Olympic Agro- Allied industry achieved a peng off in their sales volume it was understood that they may not know the percentage that occurred to advertising as they explained. the positive effect of Olympic advertising made it to still be in business as they use local and national newspaper, radio and TV.  The quick patronization by consumer, which the advertising influenced, made the retail and wholesaler to stock more at Olympic company’s products which gave the company sufficient, return on volume sales to repay the cost of the product and the Advertising.

          This strategy is used to encourage dealer to stock new item of build up longer stock of an established product. This is by making special after to the trade so that gaps existing in the patchy distribution of a product are flud while extra dealers and gained areas that  are poorly represented.

WAYS IN WHICH AGRO-ALLIED USES SALES PROMOTION STRATEGIES

          CONSUMER  PROMOTION

Sales promotion directed at consumers which include product launch through reduced selling prices, samples, gift and extra breaking consumer loyally and attracts trial of a new product, encourage more usage and the purchases of large sized units by regular buyers.  Olympic maize milling Agro-Allied industry is using this strategy extensive and it contributed to its consumer loyalty. 

          TRADE PROMOTION

          The Agro- Allied industry uses trade promotion to secure the co-operation of wholesalers and retailers.  For example, Olympic maize milling industries in the sale of corn and cassava flour, this manufacturers offer a buying allowance during a stated period of time.  This offer encourage dealers to big a quality  to carry a new item that they might not ordinarily buy indeed these companies made the dealers to use the buying allowance for  immediate profit.

          On this, Agro- Industries gives special incentive to wholesalers and retailers sales people so that they  display their product prominently and particularly this by issuing a designed trolley carrier containing a good number of mesoline and vita race which the retailer keep at strategic place in their big store.  The affect is that consumer purchase then first before other

          PERSONAL SELLING

          The promotional strategy is used by Agro-Allied companies when their products used as raw materials to other companies requires demonstration for instance the explain to Biscuit industries the degree to which their granulated corn flour should reach and be suitable for biscuit making. They also use this strategy to provide post –purchase reinforcement to avoid cognitive dissonance companies being  dissatisfied after purchasing their input from the Agro- Allied Industries.  Arome form uses this where it will supply chicken to breeders and send sales force to check breeding space, housing and drugs given to chickens.  They also persuade, motivate and get the order.

          As noted, these Agro-Allied industries (beer brewing, wine marketing industry, meat processing industry, livestock industry, biscuit industry and milling industry /employ these strategies in the distribution f their product, and since these product are a bit perishable, they must ensure early distribution and dispersonal of such product. This means that the strategies of such product. This means that the strategies for promoting  them must be effective and sustainable.

          As Dr. little (1971) rightly maintained, if the objective of advertising (among the promotional elements) is to help sell a product, help the sales force reach hidden  buyers, improve market position on create market preference.  It means that where these are achieved, the promotion is effective but where are not achieved it is ineffective.  These is the evidence that in certain promotional strategies, advertising  acting as a partner to the personal selling can generate  sales more economical and effective than salesman himself.

          Some of the promotional strategies taken by these  Agro- Allied industries varies according to the products being promoted; some of the are:

1)                Embarking on all radio and TV advertising 

2)                Participating in all local and national exhibitions

3)                Buy space in at least 3 local newspaper

4)                Using prime time to get housewives.

5)                Showing the advert on local television immediately after national news

6)                Maintaining corporate citizenship in the community

7)                Maintaining after sales service where necessary .

The main follow up to these strategies taken  by Olympic maize milling Agro-Allied Industries is that they are matching them with wide distribution of their products. Or this, consumer just hear or see the advert go to any nearby shop and see the product.

Before the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, the source of living and earning of Nigeria were agriculture.  About 80% of Nigeria were engaged in agricultural through marketing, Nigeria earned foreign exchange by exporting farm products in the natural and semi- processed form products in the natural and semi- processed  form abroad. Agricultural marketing encompasses all these activities that dried the flow of agricultural product form the producer to the ultimate consumers and industrial buyers or users at a profit thereby keeping the farmers in continuos operation and at the same time ensuring the promotional movement of these farm product.  This act of marketing Nigeria agricultural products was undertaking by marketing and commodity board (now dissolved).

These exported product were in their natural and

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