Following are the two main marketing promotion strategies:
Push Strategy: When market intermediaries of the distribution channel are targeted to design the promotional programme, it is called push strategy. In this strategy, market intermediaries are encouraged to buy or stock the organisational products, promote them and ultimately sell them to target customers as given in figure 6.2. Here, different incentive schemes are offered to the market intermediaries wholesalers and retailers) for pushing the product in the market. Through this Strategy, distributors are encouraged to offer the products to the wholesalers, who then persuade the retailers to buy these products, and finally encourage the target customers to buy it.
Figure 6.2: Push Strategy
In push strategy, promotional techniques like sales promotions, personal selling, trade shows and contests for salespersons are used. push Strategy is best applied under conditions, when:
- The brand clutter or brand identity is weak,
- Product differentiation is not available,
- Access to advertising media is not possible,
- The budget for promotion is low,
- There is availability of wages, i.e., low cost of employing salespersons as compared to advertising.
- Brand loyalty is low,
- Marketing channels are short and direct,
- Products are industrial in nature,
- Appreciating product benefits is difficult, and
- Institutional sales are present.
Push strategy is frequently used (to move products through the distribution channel) by the firms having IOW budgets for promotion. Moreover, it is hard for the customers to make a difference between the competing brands due to brand commoditisation, which makes push strategy more operative.
Pull Strategy: In the pull strategy customers are encouraged to purchase the product from the retailers through promotional programmes, as shown in figure 63. Due to this strategy, customers demand the promoted product from retailers. Consequently, retailers demand the given product from the wholesalers, who, in turn, demand the product from distributors, and finally, distributors order the product from organisations.
Figure 6.3: Pull strategy
Pull strategy is best applied under the conditions, when:
- Brand identity is strong,
- Category Of the product is high-involvement product,
- There is perceived product differentiation,
- Brand loyalty is high,
- Promotional budgets are high, and
- Retail includes self-service, i.e., supermarket culture.
In pull strategy promotional tools like advertising and sales promotion campaigns (such as gift vouchers, samples, discounts, etc.). are used which are targeted at potential customers. Moreover, long-term brand loyalty can be developed among customers through pull strategy. A suitable mix of push and pull strategies may also be used in case of a situation resembling any of the above mentioned factors and situations.
