7.5 - Promotion and Place

Promotion in marketing refers to how a business communicates with actual or potential customers to raise awareness, encourage purchases, and build a strong brand image. It goes beyond just advertising to include tools like personal selling, direct mail, sales promotion, public relations, sponsorship, and trade fairs. The combination of these techniques is called the promotion mix, and the promotion budget determines how much is spent and how it's allocated across these methods.

Promotional objectives typically aim to:

  • Increase awareness of new or existing products

  • Encourage repeat or new purchases

  • Highlight a product’s unique features or improvements

  • Build or reinforce brand identity

  • Reassure customers after negative publicity

  • Shape public perception of the business

  • Encourage retailers to stock and promote the product

Above-the-line promotion involves paid media advertising (e.g., TV, radio, newspapers) to reach a broad audience. Within advertising, two key styles exist:

  1. Informative advertising – shares factual product details like price and features

  2. Persuasive advertising – aims to build a strong emotional or brand image

In practice, the line between the two is often blurred—effective advertising usually combines both.

Key factors in choosing advertising media include:

  • Cost: How expensive the medium is and whether it fits the budget

  • Target audience: Media must align with the age, interests, and habits of the intended consumers

  • Message type: Whether the product needs detailed info (best suited to print) or visual appeal (better suited to TV/digital)

  • Marketing mix alignment: The promotion must support the overall marketing strategy

  • Legal and ethical constraints: Laws may restrict certain types of advertising (e.g., tobacco or children’s ads)

Lastly, advertising spending often reflects the trade cycle: businesses tend to invest more in promotion during economic booms and reduce spending during recessions.



Promotion (Below-the-Line) and the Promotion Mix

Below-the-line promotion refers to promotional activities that don’t involve direct payment for advertising space. Instead of large media campaigns, these methods rely on short-term incentives designed to encourage immediate purchases or increase product visibility. These techniques are often more targeted and personal, making them especially useful for encouraging trial purchases or reinforcing brand loyalty.

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is a major form of below-the-line promotion. It includes a wide range of short-term offers or incentives, such as:

  • Price deals: Temporary discounts (e.g., “10% off this week only”) to stimulate quick purchases.

  • Loyalty programs: Customers earn points or rewards for repeat purchases (e.g., frequent flyer miles).

  • Money-off coupons: Vouchers that offer savings on future purchases.

  • Point-of-sale displays: Attention-grabbing visual elements in stores, like signs or bins of products in the middle of aisles.

  • Buy One Get One Free (BOGOF): A popular method to increase volume sold.

  • Games and competitions: Often printed on packaging to engage consumers and encourage brand interaction.

  • Sponsorship and public relations: While these aren’t traditional sales promotions, they help shape the brand image and support marketing efforts.

Sales promotions can target either:

  • Consumers directly – to generate demand (pull strategy), or

  • Retailers/intermediaries – to encourage them to stock and promote the product (push strategy).

The main goal of sales promotion is not necessarily to build long-term brand loyalty (though it can help) but to boost short-term sales or launch a product into the market more quickly.


The Promotion Mix

The promotion mix is the overall combination of promotional tools a business uses to communicate with its target market. These tools typically include:

  • Advertising (above-the-line)

  • Sales promotion

  • Public relations

  • Personal selling

  • Direct marketing

No single method is usually enough on its own, so businesses create a balanced mix. A good promotional mix should be:

  1. Aligned with the brand image

  2. Suited to the target audience

  3. Designed to communicate key messages

  4. Realistic for the available budget

  5. Measurable and adaptable based on results

The promotion mix also changes with the product life cycle. For example:

  • In the introduction stage, informative advertising and sampling may be used.

  • In maturity, brand reinforcement and loyalty rewards become more important.


Place (Distribution) in the Marketing Mix

Place refers to how a product moves from the producer to the final consumer – in other words, the distribution strategy. This includes the selection of distribution channels, such as selling directly to customers (online or in-store), or through intermediaries like wholesalers and retailers.

Channels of Distribution

A channel of distribution is the path a product takes to reach the consumer. There are several common forms:

  1. Direct selling: Producer → Consumer

    • Full control over the process

    • Often used for high-value or niche products (e.g., custom furniture, online businesses)

  2. Single intermediary: Producer → Retailer → Consumer

    • Common for supermarkets and chain stores

    • Retailers handle logistics and customer service

  3. Two intermediaries: Producer → Wholesaler → Retailer → Consumer

    • Suitable for mass-produced, low-cost goods (e.g., packaged foods, soft drinks)

    • Wholesalers buy in bulk, sell to many smaller retailers

Choosing a Channel Strategy

Businesses consider several strategic questions when choosing how to distribute their products:

  • Should we sell directly or use intermediaries?

  • How many levels of distribution should there be?

  • Where should the product be available – online, in physical stores, or both?

  • How does this method fit with our brand image and marketing objectives?

  • What will distribution cost, and how does it affect pricing and profit margins?

Factors Influencing Distribution Decisions

  1. Type of product: Technical or industrial goods are usually sold more directly; consumer goods often use retailers.

  2. Target market geography: A widely spread market may need more intermediaries.

  3. Service expectations: Products requiring installation or after-sales service (e.g., cars) are not well-suited to online-only distribution.

  4. Product complexity and value: High-value or complex products may require expert staff and a personal touch.

  5. Customer base size: For niche or specialized markets, direct sales may work best. For mass markets (e.g., sports shoes), intermediaries are more efficient.

Recent Trends in Distribution

  • E-commerce growth: Direct online selling is more common, especially in services (e.g., banking, insurance).

  • Vertical integration: Retail giants like supermarkets now handle wholesaling functions internally.

  • Multi-channel approaches: Businesses often combine direct and indirect methods – e.g., selling ice cream through vans and grocery stores.

  • Bundled services: Travel and hospitality industries now often sell full packages (e.g., flights + hotel + car hire) as a single product.



Supply Chain Management (SCM) involves coordinating all the businesses and activities that help deliver a product from the original supplier to the final consumer. It ensures that the right products are available at the right time, in the right place, and at the lowest cost.

SCM focuses on integrating supply and demand across the supply chain to improve efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Key functions of SCM include:

  • Keeping suppliers informed of changing needs

  • Organizing transport for materials and finished goods

  • Reducing the number of suppliers to simplify operations

  • Planning production based on customer demand

  • Ensuring timely delivery to retailers or distributors

SCM helps businesses reduce waste, lower costs, and deliver products reliably to meet consumer expectations.

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