Push and Pull Marketing - Essay Example

? Push and Pull Marketing AFFILIATION: Question: Why Push marketing communications is more important than Pull in Business to business marketing? Answer: In marketing world, communication of an organization with its end consumers is mandatory and it needs to be well-integrated with its product or service offering so that consumers can develop an association between them. The mediums of communication that are used by marketers range from simple direct marketing activities to expensive advertisements of Television; the communication method should be decided keeping in mind the target market so that desired results can be achieved. Since consumers’ attention is the main aim of communication mediums, communication strategy can be either pull strategy or push strategy. Both approaches are distinct from each other and every organization has to ensure that it plans and executes that strategy which will work for its offering (Hegel III & Brown, 2008). The main difference between push and pull marketing is that pull marketing induces end consumers to create demand, while in push marketing, marketers entice trade buyers to purchase and carry out the products that allows them to reap profit potential benefits (Steglin, 2012). Push Marketing Strategy In push strategy, the primary aim of marketers is to design marketing strategy in a way that will push products onto the consumers. It basically means offering attractive incentives to employees and sales representatives for pushing the product on specific points or places where there are more chances of customers buying products impulsively. In other words, in business to business marketing, it means using marketing mediums to get attention of businesses to buy the supplier’s materials and products and sell it to end consumer. The main forms of communication mediums used are price inducements, promotions, trade shows, trade promotions, sponsorships and many more that will get the attention of retailers, wholesalers and other businesses to purchase the company’s products or services (Segal, 2012). For instance, push marketing strategy is commonly found among energy drinks companies as they try to get the attention of end consumers by organizing various events such as trade shows and promotional incentives. British Petroleum uses push strategy by attracting its customers who are the processors of their products that supply refined products to the end consumers. The company offers various perks, price breaks and discount offers so that it can get the attention of its business consumers. Unilever uses push strategy for its distributors, wholesalers and retailers so that it can get good placement for its products in their stores. Pull Marketing Strategy In pull marketing strategy, marketers try to inspire consumers to demand the company’s products or services. In this technique, a lot of money is spent as the tools used to grab customers’ attention are very expensive. The marketers need to incorporate strategies that will help in creating relations with target market and getting them engaged with their offerings. Some of the commonly used marketing mediums for pull strategy are word of mouth, sponsorships, product placement and advertisement in newspapers, on radio and Television (Segal, 2012). For instance, Apple uses pull strategy to attract its target market; it relies heavily on placement of products, Public Relations efforts and advertisements that are innovative and attractive which will help in creating more demand for its products. The company’s advertisements about its computers end with quotes like “available at specific places” or “Buy now”. Almost all the advertisements of the company has message that pulls consumers towards it as information about product with complete details are provided. Red Bull also focuses on pull strategy as it sponsors various events round the year such as Formula 1, soap box derby and concerts. With all these communication mediums in place, Red Bull has created its image of being relatable to its target market which is young people who are energetic, adventurous, fun loving and enthusiastic all the time. Importance of Push Marketing in Business to Business When it comes to business to business marketing strategy, push strategy is more appropriate than pull strategy as there is need of both doing advertisement and a lot of personal selling is involved. The most effective and ideal choice for every business to business organizations is trade shows and trade promotions as there are immense number of opportunities to businesses that are related to industry and they attend such events to strike a good deal that will be beneficial for their organization. In business to business marketing, push strategy is more applicable than pull strategy because of the characteristics of this strategy such as the products are of those categories that have low loyalty of brand; availability of substitutes in market is huge; more chances of new products getting launched; most of the time customers have knowledge about products and are aware of market trends and customers need to be convinced to buy products by offering promotions and price incentives. According to Steglin (2012), businesses that use aggressive approach in rewarding and supporting intermediaries of marketing channel are able to get more coverage of market in the form of distributors, retailers and wholesalers. In order to increase the demand of B2B products, companies will have to do aggressive marketing and the most effective mediums that can be used are TV commercials, email marketing and cold calling. Although there are numerous other customer and product areas that can be used in push marketing strategy but aforementioned mediums are most suitable options. Email marketing which is vital part of Internet marketing helps in pushing products to the customers that help in increasing their demands; in this medium, emails are sent to customers to introduce them to new products launched by company, testimonials are solicitized so that customers are encouraged to spread the word and social networking sites are used to share customers’ experiences with their family and friends. When information about B2B products is shared among people, it creates demand in the market and customers start demanding products of the businesses. Therefore, it is important for every B2B business to use push strategy in this form so that customers are attracted to products and demand is created in the market. Customers who prefer to do a lot of social activities are important for such businesses as they help in creating demand and ensuring that businesses can prosper in the field. Push marketing strategy is most effective for business to business marketing because its customers are more demanding. The companies have responsibility of making the right decision as they are purchasing on behalf of their companies; they take less risks and focus more on the quality of products being supplied to them; they have expertise in identifying the good and bad offerings and they get involved in buying the product to ensure it is compatible with their specifications. Hence, push marketing strategy is more important in Business to Business marketing than pull marketing strategy. References Hagel III, J. and Brown, J.S., 2008. From Push To Pull: Emerging Models For Mobilizing Resources. Journal of Service Science – Third Quarter 2008, 1(1), pp.93-110. Segal, B., 2012. Channel mindshare – add Pull to your Push marketing. [Online] Available at: http://www.franklynn.com/img/c/f181443/channel-mindshareadd-pull-to-your-push-marketing.pdf [Accessed 1 September 2012] Steglin, F.E., 2012. Marketing – Demand Push or Demand Pull or Both? The Need for Creating New Plant Awareness. [Online] Available at: http://www.canr.org/pastprojects/2001019.pdf [Accessed 1 September 2012] Read More