Market changes and emerging promotional tools Tremendous changes have occurred in global markets in recent years. This is mainly due to the fact that there is a change in consumer mindset, consumption patterns, demographic changes and organizational attitude brought by technological advancement. This has led to a change in marketing strategies and practices across the world. Marketers and companies are pushed to frequently rethink their strategies and adopt new theoretical and practical approaches to address specific marketing changes and also to think beyond the scope of traditional marketing theories (Constantinides, E, 2006). Most of the changes have been influenced by the advent of the Internet and the easy accessibility of users to this means of communication. The Internet has grown to become a highly accepted source of information and consumers can now benefit from the expanded range of timely and relevant product-related information accessible via the Internet, as rightly pointed out by Quelch and Klein (1996, cited in Soumava 2001). In these changed circumstances, the prevalence of social media tools such as YouTube, podcasts, Wikipedia, blogs etc. has pushed companies to adopt them as an effective and powerful marketing and promotional tool and is changing the face of conventional media. Fernando believes that social media offers phenomenal opportunities for marketers with fewer pitfalls. Today, Social Media refers to an intersection of software, marketing, media and entertainment. (Fernando, 2007).'Promotional mix': an overview'Promotional mix' is the term used to describe a set of tools that companies use to communicate the benefits of their products or services... in the middle of paper. ....the ability to play a huge role in this shift in ideologies and the shift in the rules of traditional media. As Gillin mentioned, the future of social media in terms of marketing and as an alternative to traditional media looks bright, but it remains to be seen how sustainable this idea is. It is clear, however, that numerous companies will try their hand at this in the near future. (Gillin, 2007) References:1. Constantinides, E The marketing mix revisited: towards 21st century marketing'.Journal of Marketing Management; April 2006, vol. 22 Issue 3/4, p407-438, 32p2. Bandyopadhyay, Soumava, “Competitiveness Review”; 2001, vol. 11 Issue 2, p16, 9p3. Promotional Mix Guide, www.cim.co.uk, The Chartered Institute of Management 20044. Gillin, Paul. "Podcasting and blogging create a significant boost." from B to B; 04/23/2007, vol. 92 Number 5, p.32-34, 3p, 5 graphics