Week 15 of 17MGT-253Women University Multan

Week 15: Advertising, Sales Promotion, Push/Pull & Personal Selling

This week operationalizes promotion tools that students often meet first in real jobs: ads, promotions, and selling.

Advertising planning

Major decisions: objectives (inform, persuade, remind) → budget → message decisions → media decisions → evaluation (communication and sales effects). Creative brief discipline keeps claims honest and on-strategy.

Sales promotion

Short-term incentives: consumer promotions (samples, coupons, deals, premiums, contests), trade promotions (discounts, allowances, free goods), and business promotions. Promotion can spike sales but overuse trains customers to wait and can bruise brand equity — use with clear purpose and end dates.

Push vs pull strategies

• Push — Producer directs marketing activities at channel members to induce them to carry and promote the product (trade promotions, personal selling to retailers).
• Pull — Producer directs activities at final consumers to induce them to buy, pulling the product through channels (heavy consumer advertising, consumer promotions).

Most firms use a blend; the mix depends on product type, channel power, and stage in the PLC.

Personal selling

Personal selling is often the most effective tool at certain stages — building preference, conviction, and action — especially in complex B2B or high-involvement settings. Modern selling emphasizes relationship management, problem solving, and ethics (no high-pressure tricks that destroy lifetime value).

Key terms

Push strategy

Using the sales force and trade promotion to push the product through channels.

Pull strategy

Spending on consumer advertising and promotion to build demand that pulls products through channels.

Advertising objective

Specific communication task to be accomplished with a specific target, during a specific period.

Trade promotion

Sales promotion aimed at retailers and wholesalers.