Basic Marketing: A Global Managerial Approach

Perreault−McCarthy: Basic
Marketing: A
Global−Managerial
Approach, 14/e

14. Promotion −
    Introduction to Integrated
    Marketing
    Communications

Text © The McGraw−Hill

Companies, 2002

Promotion_Introduction to Integrated Marketing Communications 409

smile.” The ads communicate to customers, but also remind employees that the ser-

vice they provide is crucial to customer satisfaction.

Regardless of what promotion a firm uses to get help from channel members or

employees in pushing a product, most producers focus a significant amount of pro-

motion on customers at the end of the channel. This helps to stimulate demand

and pull the product through the channel of distribution. Pullingmeans getting cus-

tomers to ask middlemen for the product.

Pulling and pushing are usually used in combination. See Exhibit 14-8. However,

if middlemen won’t work with a producer—perhaps because they’re already carrying

a competing brand—a producer may try to use a pulling approach by itself. This

involves highly aggressive and expensive promotion to final consumers or users—

perhaps using coupons or samples—temporarily bypassing middlemen. If the

promotion works, the middlemen are forced to carry the product to satisfy customer

requests. However, this approach is risky. An expensive promotion effort is wasted

if customers lose interest before reluctant middlemen make the product available.

At minimum, middlemen should be told about the planned pulling effort—so they

can be ready if the promotion succeeds.

Who handles promotion to final customers at the end of the channel varies in

different channel systems—depending on the mix of pushing and pulling. Further,

the promotion blend typically varies depending on whether customers are final con-

sumers or business users.^13

The large number of consumers almost forces producers of consumer products and

retailers to emphasize advertising and sales promotion. Sales promotion—such as

coupons, contests, or free samples—builds consumer interest and short-term sales

of a product. Effective mass selling may build enough brand familiarity so that lit-

tle personal selling is needed—as in self-service and discount operations.^14

Some retailers—specialty shops in particular—rely heavily on well-informed

salespeople. Technical products (like camcorders or computers) and personal ser-

vices (like health care and estate planning) may also require personal selling. Direct

selling firms like Amway also rely on personal selling. But aggressive personal sell-

ing to final consumers usually is found in expensive channel systems, such as those

for fashionable clothing, furniture, consumer electronics, and automobiles.

Promotion

to business

customers

Promotion

to final

consumers

Wholesalers’

promotion

push

Retailers’

promotion

push

Wholesalers'

promotion

push

Final

consumers

request (pull)

product

Business

customers

request (pull)

product

Promotion to channel members

Producer’s promotion blend

Personal selling, sales promotion, advertising,

and publicity

Exhibit 14-8

Promotion May Encourage

Pushing in the Channel,

Pulling by Customers,

or Both

Pulling policy—

customer demand pulls

the product through

the channel

Promotion to final

consumers