ABSTRACT
Promotion is strategically aimed at driving short-term sales or brand usage. A competitor may be about to introduce a new version of its product, so it would make sense to encourage an accelerated purchase of your brand using an incentive in order to ‘pull’ potential triers of your competitor's new product out of the market. Incentive promotions are divided into two broad categories: immediate reward promotions and delayed reward promotions. Immediate reward promotions are offers that provide something immediate, such as price reductions, bonus packs, free gifts with a purchase, etc. The brand, of course, is only interested in its own sales. So, while trade promotion must be seen as a cost of doing business, strategically it must be considered within overall IMC planning. Allowances to the trade can take many forms – everything from direct price reductions on invoices to free goods.
