Marketing Strategies
What is a strategy?
 The method selected to carry out
a carefully devised plan of action
 TO ACHIEVE A SPECIFIC GOAL
Marketing Plan
 Consists of the company’s marketing
goals and the marketing mix formula
for achieving them
Examples of goals
 To introduce a new product or
service
 To gain interest in a cause
 To promote an idea
 Specific ways that they will meet
these goals are called TACTICS
Marketing Strategy
 Outlines how the company will carry
out the marketing plan
 2 main kinds:
1. Brand Strategy
2. Distribution Strategy
Brand Strategies
 Primary goal is to communicate the
value of a product or service (P/S) to
the consumer
 VALUE: the difference between the
perceived cost of the product and
the perceived satisfaction gained
from the product
Value Equation
 TOTAL BENEFITS – TOTAL COSTS
 If the cost outweighs the benefits,
the consumer won’t buy it.
 Brand strategies develop and
communicate the benefits of the
brand, minimize the costs, and
encourage the consumer to set up a
positive value equation
EXAMPLE: TRIP TO
BARBADOS
Brand Strategy cont..
 Marketers strive to either:
1. add benefits to the product (new
flavours, green-friendly) or
2.reduce the costs (lower prices, more
convenient distribution)
Activity – G/S
 BMW X5
 Toys ‘R Us
 Cell Phone
 Costco
 MacLean’s
Magazine
 Theatre ticket
 GQ Magazine
 iPod
Distribution Strategy
 Focuses on the best way to
deliver a P/S to the target market.
 3 ways:
 Push
 Pull
 Combination
Push
 Consumers buy P/S every day
that haven’t been on their minds.
 Generic products, non-branded
products or unknown brands
 Bought because a bargain, a gift
or on impulse
Push
 Push Strategy: sells the product
to retailers, importers or
wholesales, and not to end use
consumers
Push Reasoning
 If the product is out there where
consumers can see it, they will
buy it
 Companies rely on the retailer to
display the product and sell it to
the customers who come into the
store.
 Push strategy requires the
marketer to focus all of the
promotional activities on the
distributor
 Need buying incentives:
promotional discounts, prizes, display
fixtures, product-knowledge seminars
Example
 How many of you have candles in
your home?
 What brand?
Candle-lite Candles
Glade Candles
Concord Candles
Scentsations
Candles
Yankee Candles
Canadian Candles
Waxman Candles
Upper Canada
Candles
Colonial Candles
Doozy Candles
Party-lite Candles
Pull Strategy
 What people usually think of when
they think of marketing
 Attempts to increase consumer
demand directly, rather than rely
on retailers to sell the product
Pull
 Manufacturers try to convince
consumers that they need their
product, and that they should look
for it by name when they go
shopping.
Pull
 Requires major advertising and
promotional effort.
 Many believe this strategy is the
most important or most useful
marketing strategy.
Combination
 The pull strategy is difficult to use
alone
 Requires distribution partners
(usually retailers) to fulfill the
demand created by the
manufacturer.
 The push strategy needs no
partnership with the consumer
Combination
 The pull strategy needs to
combine with the push strategy to
optimize effectiveness
Homework
Prepare an inventory of several
different items in one room of your
home. Which of these items was
purchased because of a
marketer’s pull strategy? Which
items are in the room because of a
push strategy?