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Push strategy
A promotion strategy that calls for using
the sales force and trade promotion to
push the product through channels.
The producer promotes the product to
channel members who in turn promote it
to final consumers.
Pull strategy
A promotion strategy that calls for
spending a lot on consumer advertising
and promotion to induce final consumers
to buy the product, creating a demand
vacuum that “pulls” the product through
the channel.
|CHAPTER 14 Engaging Customers and Communicating Customer Value 463
Personal Selling. Personal selling is the most effective tool at certain stages of the buy-
ing process, particularly in building up buyers’ preferences, convictions, and actions. It
involves personal interaction between two or more people, so each person can observe the
other’s needs and characteristics and make quick adjustments. Personal selling also allows
all kinds of customer relationships to spring up, ranging from matter-of-fact selling rela-
tionships to personal friendships. An effective salesperson keeps the customer’s interests
at heart to build a long-term relationship by solving a customer’s problems. Finally, with
personal selling, the buyer usually feels a greater need to listen and respond, even if the
response is a polite “No thank-you.”
These unique qualities come at a cost, however. A sales force requires a longer-term com-
mitment than does advertising—although advertising can be turned up or down, the size of a
sales force is harder to change. Personal selling is also the company’s most expensive promo-
tion tool, costing companies on average $600 or more per sales call, depending on the indus-
try.17 U.S. firms spend up to three times as much on personal selling as they do on advertising.
Sales Promotion. Sales promotion includes a wide assortment of tools—coupons, contests,
discounts, premiums, and others—all of which have many unique qualities. They attract con-
sumer attention, engage consumers, offer strong incentives to purchase, and can be used to
dramatize product offers and boost sagging sales. Sales promotions invite and reward quick
response. Whereas advertising says, “Buy our product,” sales promotion says, “Buy it now.”
Sales promotion effects can be short lived, however, and often are not as effective as advertis-
ing or personal selling in building long-run brand preference and customer relationships.
Public Relations. Public relations is very believable—news stories, features, sponsor-
ships, and events seem more real and believable to readers than ads do. PR can also reach
many prospects who avoid salespeople and advertisements—the message gets to buyers as
“news and events” rather than as a sales-directed communication. And, as with advertis-
ing, public relations can dramatize a company or product. Marketers tend to underuse pub-
lic relations or use it as an afterthought. Yet a well-thought-out public relations campaign
used with other promotion mix elements can be very effective and economical.
Direct and Digital Marketing. The many forms of direct and digital marketing—from
direct mail, catalogs, and telephone marketing to online, mobile, and social media—all share
some distinctive characteristics. Direct marketing is more targeted: It’s usually directed to a
specific customer or customer community. Direct marketing is immediate and personalized:
Messages can be prepared quickly—even in real time—and tailored to appeal to specific con-
sumers or brand groups. Finally, direct marketing is interactive: It allows a dialogue between
the marketing team and the consumer, and messages can be altered depending on the consum-
er’s response. Thus, direct and digital marketing are well suited to highly targeted marketing
efforts, creating customer engagement, and building one-to-one customer relationships.
Promotion Mix Strategies
Marketers can choose from two basic promotion mix strategies: push promotion or pull
promotion. Figure 14.4 contrasts the two strategies. The relative emphasis given to
the specific promotion tools differs for push and pull strategies. A push strategy involves
“pushing” the product through marketing channels to final consumers. The producer
directs its marketing activities (primarily personal selling and trade promotion) toward
channel members to induce them to carry the product and promote it to final consumers.
For example, John Deere does very little promoting of its lawn mowers, garden tractors,
and other residential consumer products to final consumers. Instead, John Deere’s sales
force works with Lowe’s, Home Depot, independent dealers, and other channel members,
who in turn push John Deere products to final consumers.
Using a pull strategy, the producer directs its marketing activities (primarily advertis-
ing, consumer promotion, and direct and digital media) toward final consumers to induce
them to buy the product. For example, Unilever promotes its Axe grooming products
directly to its young male target market using TV and print ads, its Web and social media
brand sites, and other channels. If the pull strategy is effective, consumers will then demand
the brand from retailers, such as CVS, Walgreens, or Walmart, which will in turn demand it
from Unilever. Thus, under a pull strategy, consumer demand “pulls” the product through
the channels.