378 CHAPTER 12 BRAND ACTIVATIONPromotions can be used to increase market size, as such, by stimulating the use of an
entire product category. Promotions of this type are particularly suitable for market leaders
who benefi t most from a growing market or from a market without seasonal fl uctuations.
Examples are last-minute off erings, or selling ice cream during winter. Another way of
inducing this ‘vertical eff ect’ of market growth is to increase sales with existing consumers.
Consumer ‘basket-fi lling’ (e.g. by giving discounts when large volumes are purchased) not
only increases sales, but also serves as a buff er against competitors’ actions. As long as the
consumer has suffi cient stock of the product, he or she may be less inclined to try a
competitor’s promotional off erings.
Finally, promotions can serve as reinforcers of other communications tools. An advertis-
ing campaign can have a greater impact if a promotion is included. Th e response to a direct
mailing campaign may be much more eff ective if the mail is linked to a promotional off er.
Th is symbiotic eff ect is oft en counted on in mail order catalogue selling.You are walking through your supermarket on an ordinary weekday. In the wine department, there is a flat-screen
TV telling you that during the weekend there will be a 30% discount on your favourite wine. You take your mobile
phone, use it to locate the flat-screen via Bluetooth, which, in turn, sends a code to your phone. The next weekend
you buy the bottles of wine, show the code on your phone at the checkout, and get the discount. You are satisfied
because you don’t need to clip coupons from your newspaper or supermarket brochure. And the supermarket is
happy because you returned over the weekend, probably spending more money than just on the wine, and you may
have told your friends who may normally go to a different supermarket. You can even forward the electronic coupon
to them.
The new technology is called BluPull and was developed with partners such as Panasonic, JVC, Coca-Cola, Volvo
and Carlsberg. The application also allows for video to be downloaded. For instance, you can record a promotional
film on how to operate a piece of equipment, shown in a do-it-yourself store, on your mobile phone, and upload it
to your computer to have a closer look at it at home. The system is useful not only for consumers and shops, but
also for advertisers. The latter can keep track of the number of consumers who downloaded the promotion or the
video, which enables them to assess the return on investment of their promotions even better.^11BUSINESS INSIGHT
Bluetooth changes the world of promotionsTh e eff ect of marketing eff orts is increasingly dependent on the co-operation of the dis-
tribution channel. To that end, trade promotions are used to persuade channel members to
include the product in their mix, to give it appropriate shelf space and to assist in promoting
the product to the end-consumer. One of the most important objectives of trade promotions
is to gain the support of the distribution channel, both wholesaler and retailer, when launch-
ing a new product. In order for an end-consumer to be able to buy the product, it has to be
on the shelves in suffi cient quantities and in a suffi ciently large number of retail stores. Since
the number of new products is increasing steadily, the trade channel has to choose which
ones to carry in its assortment and to promote. In that case, trade promotions precede con-
sumer promotions, and successful trade promotion is a prerequisite for an eff ective new
product launch. In that respect, trade promotion is also ‘trial’ promotion in the sense that the
distribution channel has to be persuaded to include the new product in its assortment.
Furthermore, the success of a new product oft en depends on the number of retail outlets in
which the product is on the shelf. Th erefore, trade promotions are oft en aimed at intensifying
distribution in terms of the number of outlets in which the product is available.M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 378M12_PELS3221_05_SE_C12.indd 378 5/6/13 2:58 PM5/6/13 2:58 PM