Marketing Communications

392 CHAPTER 12 BRAND ACTIVATION

Th is type of analysis will also reveal potential ‘sawtooth’ eff ects, which follow the ‘post-

promotion dip’ which is oft en the result of some types of promotions. Basket-fi lling promotions

may induce consumers to buy large quantities of the product on promotion, aft er which they

have enough stock for a number of weeks or months, and sales drop sharply in the post-

promotion period. Th is phenomenon is illustrated in Figure 12.6. Obviously, if the only net

result of promotion campaigns is that the post-promotion dip entirely compensates for the

extra sales during the promotional period, the only thing that has happened is that the com-

pany has given up part of its profi t margin. Th e success of a promotion campaign can be

Figure 12.5 Monitoring the effectiveness of sales promotions campaigns: the launch of a new

detergent

Figure 12.6 The sawtooth effect of sales promotions campaigns

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