MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS HO CHI MINH CITY

FACULTY OF INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS – MARKETING
—————ca&bd—————

FINAL ESSAY

Subject: Basic Marketing

Lecturer: Associate Professor Ph.D Trần Mai
Đông
Student: Trần Hoàng Anh Thư
Lock – Grade: K48 – MRC02
MSSV: 31221024447

Topic: Proposing a push and pull strategy for a

business
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION……………………………………………...3
CONTENTS…………………………………………….....4
I. THEORY…………………………………………………………....4
1. PULL MARKETING STRATEGY………………………………………..4

2. PUSH MARKETING STRATEGY………………………………………..4

3. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PUSH AND PULL MARKETING

STRATEGY………………………………………………………………....5

II. BUSINESS SELECTED : SIÊU THÀNH PRODUCTION-

TRADING–INVESTMENT CO.,LTD…………………………...7

1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF THE BUSINESS…………………….7

2. REALITY OF PUSH AND PULL STRATEGIES OF THE

BUSINESS…………………………………………………………………..9

2.1 Pull strategies……………………………………………………………9

2.2 Push strategies…………………………………………………………...9

III. PROPOSING PUSH AND PULL STRATEGY FOR THE

BUSINESS……………………………………………………….10

1. PULL STRATEGY……………………………………………………….10

2. PUSH STRATEGY……………………………………………………….10

CONCLUSION………………………………………………..14

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REFERENCES………………………………………………..15
APPENDIX……………………………………………………16
INTRODUCTION

Today, most businesses in the market, are no stranger to marketing activities to

attract customers. For established businesses, in order to maintain their position,
they must regularly implement marketing strategies such as advertising,
communication, sales, etc. to maintain their position. As for businesses that have
just entered the market or are struggling to find a foothold, they cannot avoid
boosting their marketing activities.
Therefore, it can be seen that in order to increase sales as well as find a foothold in
the market, businesses must focus on promoting marketing strategies. In
particular, pull and push are two extremely crucial marketing strategies that any
business should have and must know how to combine the two, not ignore either
one. This essay will analyze more deeply the two strategies above as well as
propose strategies to apply in practice for the business.

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 CONTENTS

I.THEORY
1. PULL MARKETING STRATEGY
This is a strategy to entice retail customers or consumers to buy their products by
using marketing tools that directly create demand such as:
 Advertising on mass media (press, television, Internet, radio, brochure...).
 Organizing events, inaugurating or starting a project with the witness of
senior leaders, launching new products, having the appearance of Famous
artists participate in product introduction,...
 Public relations aims to create good relationships with media agencies so
that they can objectively introduce products/services to customers and
consumers.
Through the above marketing tools, the goal of the manufacturer or service
provider is how to influence, attract, create need, stimulate the desire to have
products, services in the mind of the customer. And when there is a need,
customers will look to intermediaries (agents, distributors) to buy that product or
service.
2. PUSH MARKETING STRATEGY
This is a strategy that focuses on "pushing" goods from manufacturers or service
providers to intermediaries, focusing on wholesale distribution, intermediaries or
sellers.
When the goods at the warehouses of the intermediate levels are full, they will
find a way to push the goods to the next intermediate level or to the consumer.
Because these intermediaries always want to sell a lot of goods to benefit as much
as possible and quickly free up warehouses, they will always be motivated to find
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ways to bring products to consumers. To do this, businesses/agents must build
quality and professional human resources in all stages, from production, sales,
customer care, management…

3. DIFFERENCES BETWEEN PUSH AND PULL MARKETING

STRATEGY
In pull marketing, the tactics are deployed towards pulling your customers to
patronize your products and services, while in push marketing, the tactics
deployed is to push your products and services to these customers.
Pull marketing involves a wider approach and is capital intensive because you
have to ensure the awareness about your brand gets as far as possible, while push
marketing, on the other hand, involves a minimal approach and less cost. Once the
customer comes into your store or enquires about the products or services, you
make it available to them.
Another difference between push and pull marketing strategies are that the pull
marketing strategy is geared towards long-term goals and continuous patronage,
while the push marketing strategy is geared towards short-term and immediate
patronage of the goods and services.

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The company uses either a push or a pull technique, depending on the goal. The
efficacy of an organization's sales and marketing initiatives can often be increased
by combining both pull and push techniques.
Businesses should utilize the push approach when they wish to notify clients and
consumers who are unaware of the company's products or services about the
products and services that the organization is launching. This is a crucial technique
to boost communication with new or potential customer, past customers and
present customers to increase sales effectiveness. The push method is ideal for
companies that do wholesale business since the expenses associated with

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marketing are often fairly cheap, but the costs associated with paying for agents
and human resources are significantly greater.
Use pull strategy in case you want to attract customers, consumers are in the stage
of learning, researching and searching for information about the company's
products and services.The retail sector or direct-to-consumer services would be the
greatest fit for this strategy. There are not many employees and the marketing
expenditures for this strategy are frequently rather costly, making it best suited for
small-sized businesses.
II. BUSINESS SELECTED : SIÊU THÀNH
PRODUCTION – TRADING – INVESTMENT CO., LTD
1. GENERAL INTRODUCTION OF THE BUSINESS

Photo of Sieu Thanh Production-Trading-Investment Co., Ltd

Website : https://www.nhuasieuthanh.com/vn/
Siêu Thành Production-Trading-Investiment Co., Ltd. was established in 2003, is
increasing day by day, building the trust of customers' partners in the plumbing
fittings manufacturing industry.
Sieu Thanh specializes in manufacturing all kinds of accessories for water supply
and drainage made of uPVC, PP-R plastic that meet quality standards. The
Institute for Standard and Quality Development Studies inspects and issues
certificates with the standard: TCVN 8491-3:2011 (ISO 1452-3:2009) certifying
PVC-U plastic pipe fittings for water supply and drainage system, quality

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management system ISO 9001: 2015 for the field of manufacturing and trading
plastic pipe fittings.
The company has a team of skilled workers and automatic equipment imported
from Japan and Taiwan to produce high quality products to fully meet the needs of
customers. Currently, the company specializes in providing a wide range of
accessories for the pipe industry such as: PVC valve fittings, UPVC fittings, PP-R
fittings, …

* Some of the company's products:

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* Reasons for choosing this business:
The business has not taken full advantage of the push and pull strategies in
marketing and selling products, so it has a lot of potential to exploit.
2. REALITY OF PUSH AND PULL STRATEGIES OF THE
BUSINESS
2.1 Pull strategies
Due to the characteristics of the product as well as its use, most of the business's
product line does not organize retail to the end customer, but that does not mean
that the business neglects the pull strategy, in order to increase the brand
awareness of customers to the business.
Business is quite focused on advertising through their website, which is
considered as one of the most effective and low-cost communication channels of
this business today.
In addition, businesses also integrate a form of sales through the website, but due
to the policy and product characteristics, the website is only a place to connect
customers with the business, as well as a form to help the business increase
awareness and promote more about their brand to customers.
2.2 Push strategies
Regarding the push strategy, the business has not really invested much, the
distribution channel is not wide, there are not many large distributors, agents or

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retailers. When looking to buy products, it is mainly through the business's
website. This leads to the disadvantage that the product will be delivered to
customers slowly and takes more time, moreover, not everyone knows the website
of the business to be able to purchase on it.
With the type of products that business sell, usually, people just want to buy
plastic products in general, but don't pay much attention to specific brands like
other items like clothes, cosmetics,... So if without numerous distributors or agents
to facilitate trade, the products will be difficult to reach to customers. In addition,
other businesses will compete and rob customers if their distributors or agents
utilize all means to reach customers and sell more products.

III. PROPOSING PUSH AND PULL STRATEGY FOR

THE BUSINESS
1. PULL STRATEGY
With the specificity as well as the use of the product, it is not necessary for the
business to invest too much in a pull strategy, so my pull strategies are :
The business still maintains the current form of advertising, but instead of just on
the website of the business, it can also be expanded on social platforms such as
Facebook, TikTok, ... to increase awareness of trademark. The advertising images
do not need to be too special or outstanding, but should only focus on highlighting
the functions of the product and the reasons why customers should choose their
products over other businesses.
Should organize event to meet and take care of old customers as well as
introduce and promote products to potential new customers. It should be held only
once at the end of the year to consider it as a customer appreciation occasion for
the whole year and save costs.
Besides, businesses can spend a small part of their profits each year to implement
some projects that contribute to environmental protection, or support and sponsor
non-profit organizations is also a way to build and promote a good image for the
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business in the eyes of the public, contributing to improving brand value, helping
to attract more customers. And although the main purpose is to do business, it
should not be abused. Today, not only should we care about profits, but we need
to aim for sustainable development, so the above action will show the social
responsibility of the business, helping the business to survive and develop in the
long run.
2. PUSH STRATEGY
Push strategy plays a very important role in bringing products to users and
promoting the consumption of products of the business, and with such product
characteristics, business need to pay more attention to its push strategy. So my
proposals for push strategy are:
First of all, to sell to target customers, the business needs to organize a wide
distribution network, which is an indispensable strategy.

Level 1

Customer,
Retailer Consumer
Producer
Distributor, Level 2
agent

Then to encourage its distributors to sell, the business can implement many
preferential policies for distributors, stores selling products as follows:
 Selling price
The selling price of Siêu Thành plastic's products to stores selling products is
based on the business's published price list and is regulated as follows:
• Trade discount
- PVC and UPVC pipe fittings: 32% discount directly on the VAT invoice
according to the price list (including 30% discount on the base sale price
and 2% shipping).

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 - PP-R Pipes fittings and others: 28% discount directly on the VAT Invoice
according to the price list (including 26% discount on the base sale price
and 2% shipping).
• Payment discount
Stores selling products that pay in advance or upon receipt of goods and at the
time of payment without debt, are inherited to a payment discount of 4%/Payment
amount.
 Principles of applying the base sale discount rate
• The base sale discount rate is applied to all VAT Invoices issued by the
Company to the store selling the product.
• The discount rate on the VAT invoice issued to the 3rd party will be
according to the registration of the store selling the product, but not greater
than the base sale discount rate. The VAT invoice in this case is called a
brokerage invoice.
 Delivery, shipping
Product sales stores receive goods at DPC's warehouse.
* DPC is an business warehouse. There are many different warehouses for both
production and logistics (logistics will be implemented in 2023), accessories will
be managed by DPC warehouse, invoices are also issued by DPC warehouse.
 Monthly sales bonus
• At the end of the month, the two parties compare and agree on the monthly
sales data of the store selling the product. If the store's monthly sales reach
over 150 million VND, they will inherit an additional 6% trade
discount/monthly sales.
• In case the monthly sales of the store does not reach 150 million VND, by
December 31 every year, the two parties will compare and agree on the
store's 12-month sales data. If the sales of the store selling products reach an
average of at least 150 million VND per month, and the store generates

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 sales every month, they will be entitled to a 6% trade discount/12-month
sales.
 Broker invoice
• The VAT invoice issued by DPC to the 3rd Party is registered and required
by the store selling the product, the VAT Invoice in this case is called the
brokerage invoice.
• The maximum discount rate on brokerage invoices shall not exceed the
trade discount rate specified in the Trade discount section above.
 Payment
• Payment in advance or upon receipt of goods.
• In case the store sells products with deferred payment: If there is a letter of
payment guarantee from the bank, then agree to let the store pay late for the
purchase.
• Total amount of late payment: Within the value of the payment guarantee
letter;
• Deferred payment term: Up to 6 months.
In addition, to encourage distributors to increase sales, businesses can implement a
policy of sending goods at distributors, which is also considered one of the
effective push strategies today. On the one hand, it helps to reduce inventory at the
company, increase warehouses, reduce storage and warehousing costs for
businesses, reduce storage costs,... on the other hand, it helps to stimulate
distributors to have more sales motivation and if the goods are available in the
warehouse, the distributor will increase the ability to meet customer needs.

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 CONCLUSION
In general, a business that wants to be successful and growing cannot take the
push and pull strategies lightly. Depending on the type and size of the business as
well as the characteristics and properties of the products, appropriate push and pull
strategies should be considered, as well as need to carefully consider how to
combine them or which type of strategy to prioritize, to avoid wasting business
resources, time and money.
With Siêu Thành, it can be seen that if the business wants to grow and go further,
the company needs to simultaneously use two pull and push strategies in parallel.
However, due to the characteristics of the product as well as the staff of the
business, it is advisable to pay more attention and invest in its push strategy to
help stimulate the sale and consumption of products as well as meet the demand of
customers, consumers in a better way.

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 REFERENCES

Kotler, P.G.A. (2023) Principles of Marketing, Global Edition. 17th edition.

PEARSON.
Formulating Push Marketing Strategies: A Method and Application by
Michael Levy, John Webster and Roger A. Kerin.
Journal of Marketing, Vol. 47, No. 1 (Winter, 1983), pp. 25-34 (10 pages).
Published By: Sage Publications, Inc.
Kotler, Philip, 2003. Marketing Management, The Millenium Edition, New
Jersey : PrenceHall, Inc.
500apps. (n.d.). Push and Pull Marketing: The Difference. Pushninja.
https://pushninja.com/push-and-pull-marketing
Chaffey, D. (2021, May 17). Push and pull distribution strategy [promotional
model template]. Smart Insights. https://www.smartinsights.com/marketing-
planning/marketing-models/push-pull-product-distribution-model/
Push and Pull Marketing explained with Helpful Examples. (n.d.).
https://www.consuunt.com/push-and-pull-marketing/

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Lawkey.vn. (2020, April 20). Hoá đơn giá trị gia tăng là gì ? Đặc điểm của hoá
đơn GTGT. Luật Và Kế Toán LawKey. https://lawkey.vn/hoa-don-gia-tri-
gia-tang/
Kim D. V. D. N. S. (n.d.). Phân biệt chiết khấu thương mại và chiết khấu
thanh toán. Dịch Vụ Doanh Nghiệp Song Kim.
https://ketoansongkim.vn/phan-biet-chiet-khau-thuong-mai-va-chiet-khau-
thanh-toan.html
Ánh P. T. N. (2022, October 16). Bảo lãnh thanh toán là gì? Bảo lãnh thanh
toán ngân hàng? Luật Dương Gia. https://luatduonggia.vn/bao-lanh-thanh-
toan-la-gi-bao-lanh-thanh-toan-ngan-hang/

APPENDIX

Appendix 1 : Illustrative images of website and some product price lists of the
business

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Appendix 2 : Trade discount

Contents Trade discount

Definition The amount the seller gives a discount to the
buyer when buying goods in a certain volume
according to the agreement.
Invoice Deduct directly from the unit price or show the
discount amount on the invoice or issue a
reduced-adjusted discount invoice to the buyer.
Impact on revenue/ cost - Seller: Reduces recognized revenue.
- Buyer: directly deducted from the value of
purchased goods.
Impact on business tax Reduce VAT and CIT due to direct deduction
from revenue.

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 Function Accelerate inventory, especially items with short
shelf life and quickly obsolete.

Appendix 3 : Payment discount

Contents Trade discount

Definition Direct deduction from the payment value when
the buyer pays the money before the agreed
period.
Invoice Not deducted from invoice value.
Impact on revenue/ cost - Seller: Does not reduce recognized revenue,
recognized as a financial expense.
- Buyer: Not deducted from the value of
purchased goods, recognized as a financial
income.
Impact on business tax As a cost of the seller/revenue of financial
activities of the buyer, it has an impact
corresponding to the reduction/increase of CIT.
Function Contribute to quick debt recovery, increase
business capital turnover.

Appendix 4 : Value Added Tax and Value Added Invoice

*Value Added Tax ( VAT )
VAT is an indirect tax levied on the added value of goods and services arising in
the process from production, circulation to consumption and paid into the state
budget. Tax amount paid according to the level of consumption of goods and

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services, including input VAT (when buying goods and services) and output VAT
(when selling goods and services to customers).
Payment of value added tax :
– If the input VAT is greater than the output VAT: the enterprise will be deducted
or refunded by the State with the difference.
– If the input VAT is less than the output VAT: the enterprise will pay tax to the
State equal to the difference.
*Value Added Invoice
Value-added invoice (VAT invoice) is understood as a type of invoice for
organizations declaring and calculating value-added tax by the deduction method
in the following activities:
- Selling goods and providing services in the country;
– International transportation activities;
- Export into the non-tariff zone and the cases are considered as exports;
– Exporting and providing services to foreign countries
Value-added invoice is a document made by a seller, recording information on
selling goods or providing services to the buyer or using services in accordance
with law. This classification follows the form issued by the Ministry of Finance
and guided for implementation, applicable to organizations and individuals
declaring and calculating tax by the deduction method.

Appendix 5 : Payment guarantee and bank payment guarantee

*Payment guarantee
Payment guarantee is a form of guarantee, which guarantees the solvency of the
guaranteed party. Therefore, this can be considered as a written commitment
issued by the guarantor to perform payment obligations on behalf of the
guaranteed party. They commit to the payee to increase the opportunity and ability
for the guarantee recipient in the obligation to perform. In case the guarantor fails

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to properly and fully perform the payment obligation when it is due, the party The
guarantee will be made instead.
Inside:
Subjects with related rights and obligations include:
- The guaranteed:
This is the responsible party, the payment obligation is specified in the contract.
They are guaranteed to perform obligations, as well as ensure related interests.
The guaranteed party is the person requesting the opening of the payment
guarantee. In civil relations, usually the guarantor plays the role of service hirer,
purchaser, etc.
- The guarantee:
The party entitled to receive payment from the guaranteed party. In other words,
this is the person who is entitled to the payment specified in the contract. They are
secured against the payment through the other party's obligations.
In civil relations, it is usually the service provider, the seller, etc.
- Guarantor:
As a third party, the financial representative and commitment to perform
obligations on behalf of the guaranteed party. These are usually banks or credit
institutions licensed to operate by state banks. Commitments help create trust,
capacity as well as prestige for the parties to continue to perform the contract.
*Bank payment guarantee
Bank guarantee is made by the service that the bank provides. In essence, this is a
form of credit, whereby:
- The guarantor is the bank that commits to the guarantor to perform financial
obligations on behalf of the guaranteed party. As a result, when the obligee fails to
perform or fails to fully perform the obligations committed to the guarantor, the
bank will commit to perform on its behalf.
- The guaranteed party incurs an obligation to the guarantor to accept the debt and
repay the financial obligations afterwards.

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