Push/Pull theory

Push 
In a push system information is pushed towards/onto the consumer. Therefore the marketer and distributor are in control of what the message is, how it is seen, and when & where it is seen.

Pull
In a pull system the consumer seeks out the product and then pulls it through the delivery system.


Traditionally the music industry used a Push model of marketing products, however with the significant increase of social networks (and their use) like Twitter and Facebook, the music industry is having to come up with new ideas in order to change to a marketing system that uses Pull strategies just as much as Push strategies.

Examples of Push marketing:

• Magazine adverts
• Television adverts
• Online offers
• Tweets from an artists Twitter account

Examples of Pull marketing:

• Fan sites/blogs
• An artists website
• Email subscription
• Peer to peer recommendations

However some examples can be argued that they are both Push and Pull e.g. - Email subscription. The consumer firstly has to sign up to the subscription which is Pull, but then information from the email is pushed onto them which is Push.

One reason for the change in how products are now marketed is that consumers like to feel that they have created something or found an artist that they like. With sites such as Spotify, consumers can create their own playlists which they can then share with other people - therefore the consumer is pulling the music towards them.

How this links to the coursework

For the coursework we have to create 2 ancillary products, one of them being a magazine advert. This theory suggests that both Push and Pull ways of marketing should be used when my group is creating the magazine advert. As the genre of our song is Indie I think it is especially important that we use Pull strategies, as many listeners of Indie music like to feel that they have found bands/music that they like by themselves, without the media exposing the artist to them.