Final answer:
Rick's online contest at Hasbro is an example of sales promotion, aiming to encourage engagement and immediate sales through a temporary incentive that also generates buzz marketing around the new toy.
Step-by-step explanation:
The online contest designed by Rick for Hasbro, where fans submit their own ideas for a new toy design and the idea that gains the most votes is turned into a toy with the winner receiving a percentage of the sales, is an example of sales promotion.
Sales promotion is a marketing strategy where temporary incentives are offered to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service. This type of promotion can help generate immediate sales and also create buzz marketing by engaging the consumer base to actively participate and spread the word about the product and contest.
Public relations (PR) typically involve managing the spread of information between an organization and the public, while personal selling involves one-on-one interaction with customers to persuade them to buy a product. Advertising is paid promotion through various media platforms to reach a wide audience, which is different from the direct engagement of a contest.
The type of promotion in this online contest is sales promotion. Sales promotion activities are designed to stimulate immediate customer action through incentives or rewards. In this case, the contest encourages fans to submit toy ideas, and the winner receives a reward of 2 percent of the toy's sales proceeds.