Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Pre-launch promotion 
The Internet can be an ideal vehicle for ‘teaser’ ads prior to new product launches (see, for 
example, the Avengers: Endgame film). Before launching its new Crest Whitener toothpaste 
into the US market, P&G set up a pre-retail launch website that attracted 1.2 million visi-
tors and actually sold 140,000 units (worth over $6 million retail). The company estimated 
that the initiative created around 500,000 buyers before the launch advertising and retail 
distribution had begun ( Marketing Business , July/August 2001).
Advertising audience measurement 
In order to standardise the ways in which measurements of advertising reach and effective-
ness are made, the UK advertising industry has established a Joint Industry Committee for 
Web Standards (JICWEBS). The committee has now agreed definitions of ‘users’, ‘page 
impressions’, ‘visits’ and ‘sessions’.
11.4 
Distribution strategies 
Distribution strategy focuses on how products and services will be physically delivered to 
the customer. The distribution network used or created will depend on a number of factors, 
including whether the final customers are consumers or other businesses. 
11.4.1 Channels of distribution 
The main choice facing most marketers is whether to sell through intermediaries or direct to 
customers. Intermediaries, such as wholesalers and retailers, can have a number of advan-
tages. The most significant advantage is that they have direct relationships with customers 
that may be helpful. 
In consumer grocery markets, for example, retailers such as Waitrose, Sainsbury’s, Aldi, 
Leclerc, Walmart, etc. have loyal customers who regularly shop in their stores. Products 
sold through the stores gain credibility in the eyes of the customer because of where they 
are sold. The disadvantage, however, is that the retailer has many competing products on 

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