An exploratory study of how to navigate brand management and improve sales performance through control policies

• Main Author: SRIARANYAKUL, Pavuth
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2018
• Subjects: Brand Management; Sales Performance; Marketing Strategies; Control Policies; Marketing Restrictions; and Dark Markets; alcohol; tobacco; Thailand; Asian Studies; Marketing; Sales and Merchandising
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/189; https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1189&context=etd_coll
• Institution: Singapore Management University

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of alcohol and tobacco control policies on sales performance when two central elements of marketing, communication and promotion programs, are significantly restricted. The study took place in Thailand, which has some of the strongest tobacco control regulations in the world, along with moderately strong alcohol control regulations. Under these regulations, tobacco firms operate in a dark market, with near-total regulatory prohibition on advertising, promotion, and even the display of their products. Alcohol firms operate in a less restrictive or “grey” market, as they face restrictions on advertising and promotion content, as well as restrictions on the sale of their products. This research used a stakeholder perspective that addressed alcohol and tobacco distributors and on-premise customers, which were selected because most past research had surveyed only consumer or regulatory perspectives, leading to a lack of knowledge about the actual marketing practices undertaken in dark markets. The study employed a theoretical base including social learning theory, the brand resonance network, and brand value chains, which were used to establish a working model of marketing in the target markets. These theories proposed that in the absence of pull strategies (advertising and promotion), firms would turn to push strategies (trade marketing, relationship marketing, events and digital marketing). The study was designed as an exploratory qualitative study, conducting interviews with international and domestic alcohol and tobacco distributors (n = 18) and on-premises retailers in five segments (n = 18) providing data. The evidence showed that increased emphasis on trade marketing and innovative use of trade marketing was the most important substitution strategy for the blocked advertising and promotion strategies. Although events and digital marketing were used by alcohol distributors and retailers, tobacco firms, which operated in a much stricter environment, could not use them. The implication of this study was that creation of a dark market through regulation can completely change the marketing environment and strategies in use.