Marketing Strategic Planning

Sales promotion was not used during the introductory launch of Zicam, and price discounting to stimulate sales is still not a primary tool. The company really wants to sell this unique product at full price. However, a one-dollar coupon was included in a Sunday freestanding insert for the first time in November 2002. The main objective of the coupon was to build awareness of the brand, not to give a price break. The promotion worked well; it cleaned out the shelves in many stores, resulting in numerous out-of-stock situations. Sales promotions like this are planned for targeted opportunities when they are felt to be appropriate.