Push Tactics = Crack
March 10, 2008
The more I think about PUSH and PULL tactics, the more PUSH looks like Crack. As in Rock, Bones, Cloud 9, Crunch n’ Munch, Devil Smoke, Kryptonite.
Think about it, PUSH tactics are really addictive and give you a short-term buzz with a ton of side effects.
- A well executed PUSH program results in a sales spike. (the high)
- The success of a PUSH program spreads through the company fast. (the pushers)
- A successful PUSH program lead to it being adopted as a “best practice.” (psychological addiction)
- The more PUSH programming that is implemented, the less ROI it delivers, but you need it to deliver numbers. (physical addiction)
- Too many PUSH programs train consumers to expect price reductions. (admitting the problem)
- Strategy shifts to building consumer loyalty. (rehab)
I am the Director of Marketing at Flying Dog Brewery. This is my personal blog and these are my personal opinions.
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This is a very useful analogy. It really makes me think of a book I’m reading now, “The Fifth Discipline,” which is about systems thinking — the author teaches concepts like reinforcing feedback, which is pretty much what you describe (except instead of ending in a change, it will often end in more PUSH programs leading to failure). Anyway, might be a read you’d be interested in. I’m only partially through it, and it’s proved very insightful so far.
Amen!