Direct Marketing. Retailing. Wholesaling.

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1. What is the difference between a push marketing strategy and a pull marketing strategy? Explain how each of these strategies work.
Push marketing strategy involves taking the products to the customer through intermediaries. It involves various channels to take the products to the customers. The producer/ manufacturer promote products to wholesaler, wholesaler promotes to the retailer and retailer promotes to the customer. For example, mobile companies such as Nokia, Motorola promotes their product through retailers.
Pull strategy involves making the customer motivated and curious to seek out the products. It involves motivating customers to demand the product from retailers; Customer asks the product from the retailer, retailer from wholesaler and wholesaler from the company. For example heavy advertising and promotions are done by companies in order to make customers aware and curious about their product. This curiosity make the customers go to retailer or visit the company website to get the product.

2. Describe channel conflict and provide an example.
Channel conflict is a situation where channel partners disagree, compete against one another or with the producer's sale department for the business. Business can suffer due to these conflicts. For example if coca cola decides to increase the sale of its cans by offering discounts on its product. However retailer knows that it wouldn't affect his soda sales, it might only cause switching of some customers from one soda brand to another soda brand. Therefore he will disagree with the coca cola's decision and he might like to pocket discount coca cola offers.
Another example is that if some company decides to sell its products through internet (online), it will result in channel conflicts as retailer would think that his profit and margin will be decreased due to the introduction of new channel for the business i.e. online sales.

3. What is a direct marketing channel? Please provide an example.
Direct marketing channel is a method of selling end products directly to the end consumer, without involving any channels or intermediaries for the distribution of the products. Amazon (Amazon.com) business is a classic example of direct marketing, where the company directly sells ...