Running head: San Pellegrino: Promotion Marketing Plan Analysis 1

San Pellegrino: Promotion Marketing Plan Analysis

William Zeng

MKTG 2430-08

Professor Megan Mills

April 12 2022
San Pellegrino: Promotion Marketing Plan Analysis 2

San Pellegrino: Promotion Marketing Plan Analysis

The Difference between Push and Pull Promotion Mix Strategies

Promotion is a marketing initiative through which a company engages clients and

persuasively communicates its value proposition. Promotion not only helps the company attract

consumers but also retain them and establish solid customer relationships. There are various

promotional tools that a company can leverage, which include advertising, public relations, sales

promotion, direct and digital marketing, and personal selling (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022). For

a company to achieve success, it ought to carefully balance the promotion tools into a

harmonized promotion mix. A firm can select either of the two main promotion mix strategies:

push promotion or pull promotion.

A push promotion strategy seeks to push the product through marketing channels to the

final consumers. While leveraging this strategy, the producers focus their publicizing

undertakings on channel intermediaries, encouraging them to endorse the product to the end-

users (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022). Therefore, the company's promotion activities push the

product to channel intermediaries, who subsequently push it to the final consumers. In contrast, a

pull promotion strategy is whereby producers direct their marketing undertakings towards the

end-users to induce or stimulate them to make purchases (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022).

Effective pull promotion strategies include social media marketing, TV and newspaper

advertisements, and e-marketing. An effective pull promotion strategy triggers consumer

demand, thus leading consumers to purchase the product from outlets where it is sold.
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In this respect, San Pellegrino mineral water is better off promoted through pull

strategies. While both promotional strategies effectively increase product awareness and generate

sales, a pull promotion strategy has specific advantages over a push strategy. First, while

leveraging push strategies, the company can appeal to a broader audience at a highly affordable

marketing cost. Unlike a push strategy, a pull strategy helps a company increase trades and

proceeds affordably,i.e., without an expensive marketing budget (Radd Interactive, 2020). A

single TV or social media advertisement can reach millions of customers, educating them about

the properties, qualities, and benefits of consuming the healthy sugar-free San Pellegrino natural

mineral water at a meager or no cost at all (it is possible to advertise on social media free of

charge). In contrast, push marketing strategies such as direct marketing, personal selling, display

ads, and billboards are pretty expensive, especially when used by a company that has gone global

(Carmicheal, 2019).

Secondly, San Pellegrino mineral water is a sparkling water brand positioned as a healthy

alternative to sugary drinks and sodas. The company seeks to build a global loyal customer base

of health-conscious consumers. As such, a pull promotion strategy will effectively propel the

company towards achieving this objective because it seeks to establish strong customer

relationships and loyalty (CFI, 2018). Unlike when using push promotion strategies, a firm can

establish direct contact with clients and build consumer loyalty through pull promotion strategies

such as social media marketing (CFI, 2018). Push promotion strategies are ineffective at building

a loyal customer base since the marketer only focuses on securing a one-time sale. Therefore,

while using pull promotion strategies, San Pellegrino mineral water will quickly build a global

loyal customer base of health-conscious consumers.

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Third, pull marketing strategies can be leveraged by a company to collect meaningful

consumer feedback, which can be used to improve the product. For example, a company like

SanPellegrino can request its consumers via email or social media to raise their critical concerns,

issues, or recommendations. Additionally, the company can run polls to rate customers'

perceptions about a particular feature or quality. With this information, the company can fine-

tune the quality of its product according to consumer preferences and tastes. Though such

customer reviews can be collected through push promotion strategies, i.e., through retailers and

wholesalers such as the Amazon or Walmart website, a company can only conduct focused

research through its own initiatives and not via third parties.

For instance, data provided by Similarweb (2022) indicates that the top searches for San

Pellegrino are conducted over social networks, primarily twitter.com and Pinterest.com, while

third-party retailer and wholesaler sites such as amazon.com ranked significantly low. The same

research sought to find out how digital marketing channels generate traffic to sanpellegrino.com.

The results indicate that 80% of traffic is generated through online searches, while direct

marketing and referrals generated less than 15% (Similarweb, 2022). This data reveals that pull

promotion primarily through social media effectively reaches a broader market enabling the

company to achieve specific objectives such as collecting essential feedback, generating demand,

and addressing consumer issues and concerns. Undoubtedly, a pull marketing strategy is the best

alternative for San Pellegrino mineral water.

Major Promotional Tools for San Pellegrino Mineral Water

Advertising
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Advertising denotes any form of paid nonpersonal exhibition and promotion of services,

ideas, and goods by a specified sponsor. This promotional tool is highly effective because it

reaches multitudes of physically dispersed consumers at a highly affordable cost per exposure.

According to Armstrong and Kotler (2022), the 2018 Super Bowl garnered over 103 million

viewers. This means that a TV advert during the Super Bowl reached over 103 million people

plus the extra millions of people watching via YouTube and social media sites. Now, had

SanPellegrino advertised its mineral water during the Super Bowl, hundreds of millions of

potential customers would have interacted with it, thus raising brand awareness and attracting

more consumers. Additionally, advertising builds a long-term image for a product and also has

the potential for triggering quick sales in huge volumes (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022).

Within the last year, SanPellegrino has spent slightly under $100 million on its

advertising budget (MediaRadar, 2022). This amount was paid on digital, print, and national

television advertisements (MediaRadar, 2022). SanPellegrino’s advertisements range from TV

commercials to short films played on TV and other digital sites such as YouTube. According to

iSpot.tv, Inc. (2022), SanPellegrino has had 2909 TV adverts aired over the last 30 years. As

such, the company attained a rank of #532 in terms of ad spending and #381 in airing rank

compared to all other advertisers (iSpot.tv, Inc., 2022). Moreover, in 2013, SanPellegrino

released a short movie titled Live in Italian, depicting a protagonist whose passion for an Italian

taste, San Pellegrino mineral water, leads to a memorable dining experience with his guests

(SanPellegrino, 2022). In 2022, SanPellegrino has ramped up its advertising ad enlisted Stanley

Tucci, a famous American actor, as the face of “All-Things Italian,” its new ad campaign

(Caballero, 2022). This follows the company's 2010 ramping up of its "Live in Italian”
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advertising campaign in over 100 countries (Everything-Pr.com, 2022). Conclusively,

SanPellegrino takes advertising seriously, and nothing will stop the company from tapping the

massive potential of advertising.

Public Relations

Public relations entail establishing excellent relationships with a company's public, i.e.,

managing the company's image in its various public domains, including its corporate image.

Public relations encompasses news releases, events, sponsorships, and features, which seem

more authentic to the target audience than other forms of marketing (Armstrong and Kotler,

2022). As a promotional tool, public relations relay the promotional messages as "news and

events" instead of sales-directed messaging (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022). What is more, public

relations dramatize a company or a product effectively and efficiently while reaching a vast

customer base and would-be customers simultaneously. SanPellegrino has not been left behind

when it comes to public relations and product promotion. For instance, newsroom released an

article titled “SanPellegrino Brings Italian Lifestyle to the UK with Location & Weather

Triggered DOOH Campaign,” a public relations news article communicating to all Brits that

SanPellegrino has opened outlets in the UK (Marketing Communication News, 2022).

Another news article titled "Citrus PR lands S. Pellegrino's co-branding project" was

published by campaignasia, a news publisher covering the Asian continent (Lee, 2011). How else

best could SanPellegrino inform Singaporeans of its ramped-up activities in the country? Lastly,
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another news article titled, “S.Pellegrino Donates to James Beard Foundation To

#Supportrestaurants (SanPellegrino, 2022)". This news article is in reference to an event

undertaken by the company to support restaurants across the globe during these trying Covid-19

times. This event/story amounts to a typical public relations initiative that puts the company's

corporate image in good light. Who would not want to purchase products from a company that

supports others when they are in need? Most SanPellegrino consumers are business customers

such as restaurants and other eateries. As such, supporting restaurants during a financial

downturn is a goodwill gesture that is in turn paid back in loyalty and more purchases. Therefore,

public relations is a vital aspect of SanPellegrino’s product promotion strategy.

Personal Selling

Personal selling denotes the interaction between customers and the firm’s sales force to

complete purchasing transactions, establish customer relations, and have a one-on-one

engagement with the customers. It is whereby the seller interacts with the buyer directly and

listens to their needs and concerns, passes vital information regarding the product, and collects

meaningful feedback (SanPellegrino, 2022). However, SanPellegrino does not practice personal

selling, i.e., the company contracts third parties to distribute its products to retail and wholesale

outlets in regions across the globe. For example, Blue Triton Brands distributes San Pellegrino

mineral water to retail and wholesale outlets in the North American Market. As such, there is

little to no chance that the consumer will directly interact with a SanPellegrino sales force.

Sales Promotion
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Sales promotion denotes the act of allowing consumers short-term incentives intended to

inspire them to purchase a product or service. Sales promotion entails coupons, discounts, and

premiums (Armstrong and Kotler, 2022). These tools appeal to consumers and offer strong

incentives to purchase while at the same time dramatizing product offers to increase customer

awareness. SanPellegrino leverages a series of sales promotion initiatives intended to increase

purchases and create brand awareness. First, the company rewards its customers a 2 Euros cash

discount for every 2 330 ml bottles an individual buys (Hashting, 2022). Additionally, the Best

Western Hotel Piemontese allows its customers an opportunity to earn a 10% discount on

admission to the Terme di San Pellegrino (Best Western, n.d.)! These discounts are sales

promotion initiatives through which the company increases the volume of purchases and

upsurges product market awareness. Moreover, SanPellegrino offers a specific percent off

coupons on particular deals. For instance, the company offers up to 35% of sales promotion

coupons to specific clients at certain outlets lasting for a specific period (Sociablelabs, 2022).

Such an offer brings value to the company in terms of publicity and increased sales.

Direct and Digital Marketing

Direct and digital marketing tools are leveraged to engage with prudently targeted

individual customers and customer groups directly. These tools seek to engage customers in a

manner that elicits an instant response and establishes long long-term relationships (Armstrong

and Kotler, 2022). Direct and digital marketing encompasses social media, mobile, and online

approaches to engage with customers. It offers immediate and personalized attention to

customers. Companies leverage direct and digital marketing tools to increase sales through
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targeted product promotion. SanPellegrino releases critical information about its various brands

and their health benefits on its website. The company also features several of its brands in a

promotional fashion. This information is intended to capture customers' attention and increase

their propensity to have a test of SanPellegrino Italian taste. Additionally, through its social

media pages, especially Twitter, SanPellegrino features its products in an interactive manner.

Furthermore, customers can inquire about the product through social media messaging.

Therefore, direct and digital marketing are vital promotional tools for San Pellegrino mineral

water.
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References

Armstrong, G. and Kotler, P. (2022). Marketing: an introduction. Hoboken: Pearson.

Best Western (n.d.). Offer Terme di San Pellegrino - Best Western Hotel Piemontese. https://

www.hotelpiemontese.com/en/offers/offer-terme-sanpellegrino.aspx

Caballero, M. (2022). San Pellegrino Ramps Up Marketing, Enlists Stanley Tucci To Celebrate

“All-Things Italian.” https://www.bevnet.com/news/2022/san-pellegrino-ramps-up-

marketing-enlists-stanley-tucci-to-celebrate-all-things-italian/

Carmicheal, K. (2019, September 11). Push vs. Pull Marketing: How They Differ and Work

Together. Hubspot.com. https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/push-vs-pull-marketing

CFI. (2018). Pull Marketing Strategy - Overview, Illustration and Practical Example. Corporate

Finance Institute. https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/strategy/

pull-marketing-strategy/

Everything-Pr.com (2022). San Pellegrino Launches Advertising Campaign - PR News. https://

everything-pr.com/san-pellegrino-marketing/

Hashting (2022). Promotion Regulations: Sanpellegrino Tastefully Light Cashback. https://

hashting.com/sanpellegrino-regulations

iSpot.tv, Inc. (2022). San Pellegrino TV Commercials. https://www.ispot.tv/brands/ZS6/san-

pellegrino
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Lee, R. (2011). Citrus PR lands S. Pellegrino's co-branding project. https://

www.campaignasia.com/article/citrus-pr-lands-s-pellegrinos-co-branding-project/277739

Marketing Communication News (2022). SanPellegrino Brings Italian Lifestyle to the UK with

Location & Weather Triggered DOOH Campaign. https://marcommnews.com/tag/

sanpellegrino/

MediaRadar (2022). San Pellegrino | Advertising Profile | See Their Ad Spend https://

advertisers.mediaradar.com/san-pellegrino-advertising-profile

Radd Interactive. (2020). The Difference Between Push and Pull Marketing Strategies. Radd

Interactive. https://raddinteractive.com/the-difference-between-push-and-pull-marketing-

strategies/

SanPellegrino (2022). S.Pellegrino donates to James beard foundation to #supportrestaurants.

https://www.sanpellegrino.com/us/en/news/events/s-pellegrino-donates-to-james-beard-

foundation-4563

SanPellegrino (2022). S.Pellegrino Water: spot and advertising campaigns. Sanpellegrino.

https://www.sanpellegrino.com/s.pellegrino-water/brand/spot-campaigns

Sociablelabs (2022). San Pellegrino Coupons. https://www.sociablelabs.com/san-pellegrino-

coupons?d=286791