AN EVALUATION OF SALES PROMOTION IN INCREASEING THE LEVELS OF NETWORK PATRONAGE IN THE TELECOMMUNICATION INDUSTRY. (A CASE STUDY OF MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATION NETWORK NIGERIA LIMITED ABA)

ABSTRACT
The study examined sales promotion as a persuasive activity hence is the direct and indirect communication used by firms to influence present and potential customers fro the purpose of making sales. This study was in the main time, exploratory and descriptive. Data were collected on source specific objective adopted for the resources. Data collection method employed primary sources eg personal interviews and questionnaire and secondary data example books, newspaper and so on. These data were analyzed with some simple statistical looks such as percentage tables and significant level. The study also considered whether ‘advertising medium message to the target audience among others. It was known that the philosophy of the company mobile Telecommunication Network Nigeria limited Aba promotion is not different from what other marketing companies have been practicing. Sales promotion has great influence in the buying behaviour of customers. Most industries in Nigeria have riot yet embraced full promotional consciousness. Effective sales promotion could help companies to survive the stifle competition in business, operation.

INTRODUCTION
One of the best things that has happened to this country is the introduction of mobile Telecommunication system in the nation information industry. Before the advert of Chief Obasanjo regime in 1999. Telephone service was inform of analogue form. This analogue system most times has not yield the good objective which a sound telephone system should render.

Since the incention/introduction, of the method of communication, life was enhanced through its services. Nigeria is now linked with the, global community making interaction between the people to be more cordial in spite of the distance because of the fact that all business men went to maximize profit, it is believed that embarking on sales promotion which entails showcasing all the services one has in stock will attract more customers which will in term increase the returns or gains which a company like MTN is expected to make.
It is my behalf that. this work wilt enhance understanding which will help to increase the services of al the service provider in general and MTN in particular.

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
People often confuse sales promotion with broader term, “promotion” but sates promotion is one of the promotional toots.
Promotion consist of advertising, personal selling direct marketing, all term to communication, the advantage of the firm’s goods and services to it’s customer. Promotion is one of the four “Ps” of product marketing and has to do with all the activities carried out by the organization communication with the public about their product. A target audience can be in any stage are awareness, knowledge, liking, preference, conviction and purchase. This is called the hierarchy of effect. Because they represent stages a buyers goes through in moving towards a purchase and each describes a possible objective or effect of promotion. The goal of promotion is to get the prospect to the final or purchase stage, but in most cases, that may not be possible until the person has moved through the earlier stages. Thus a promotion effort may have appeared to be modest but essential objective such as creating knowledge about a product’s advantage. The term promotion originated a Latin word “promotioners” meaning to move forward, to advance from the view point of business practices, promotion is the marketing communication activity that attempt to inform, remind and persuade individual., to accept, resell, recommend or use a product, idea or institution.
Sales promotion on the other hand is a semi personal form of communication which is short term in nature and aim at achieving more sales and building of better image of the company.

The America Marketing Association (2000) define sales promotion as those marketing activities other than personal selling, advertising and publicity designed to stimulate consumer purchasing and dealer effectiveness, such as snows, denotations and various non recurrent selling effort not in the ordinary routine.
Kolter (2002) defined sales promotion as activities which are of short term in nature designed not stimulate the interest of perfect market Sales promotion can also be seen as those marketing efforts that are supplementary in nature and seeks to induce buying decision. Sales promotion activities may also aim at inducing customers to act immediately without further delay by offering price relate, time constraint, contest, premium etc. it is also defines as short term inducement of value offered to arouse interest of buying goods and services. It is a promotional tool which unlike the other element to have a temporary effect on the buyer. The major consumers promotion tools free samples, premium (gift) capon, trading stamps free trails, deals rebate, product demonstrations point of purchasing displays prizes (contest, game, sweep stakes) etc. the study x-ravel the reason which firms embark on sales promotions exercise with short period. It is strong to be better in the market than a non promoted product. This is because the consumers are meant to he aware of such product through such means.
One of the constraints that affected the study was inadequate funding of the research exercise enough money was not available to ensure smooth collection of data.

Network service providers are those firms that provide telecommunication service to its consumers examples include mobile telecommunication limited.(MTN), globacom Nigeria limited Zain Nigeria limited. (MTN) Aba, there are about 120 staff that is presently working there and the name of the managing director is chief v. Odili. Mobile telecommunication network Nigeria is a part of mobile telecommunication network (MTN) group Africa’s’ leading cellular telecommunication company. On may 16 2001 MTN become the first global in Nigeria. Therefore, the company launched full commercial operation beginning with Lagos, Abuja, Port-Harcourt. MTN paid two hundred and eight five million dollars to enable her acquire for GSM licenses in Nigeria in January 20th 2001. Therefore, on 18th May 2002, Mobile telecommunication network Nigeria limited launched commercial operation in Aba, Owerri, Umuahia etc on 10th November 2003 MTN commissioned a corporate office at Aba located at Umungasi, Aba-Owerri road Aba Abia state. To date in excess of us $ 1.8 Billion has been invested building mobile telecommunication infrastructure in Nigeria.
Since being launched, MTN has steadily deployed it’s services across Nigeria. It now provide service in 223 cities and 10,000 villages and communities and growing members of high ways across the country spanning the 36 states of Nigeria and the federal capital territory Abuja. Many of more villages and communities are being connected to the world of telecommunication for the time ever.

The company’s digital microwave transmission backbone the 3400 kilometer, yellow plan was commissioned by president Olusegun Obasanjo on 10 Dec 2003 and is reputed to be the most extensive digital microwaves transmission intrastate in all Africa. MTN Nigeria is also recently expended its network Nigeria is also recently expanded its network capacity to include a new numbering range with the prefix 0806, 070 and recently 081, making MYN the first GSRN network in Nigeria to have adopted an additional numbering system having exhausted its historical subscribed numbering range of 0803.