Week 7 Blog Post

Are we Pushing or Pulling recruits to Western New England?

As discussed in class and outlined in our "Try This!" for this week's Marketing Management exercise, we looked at the methods in which manufacturers can move their products through a channel of distribution specifically by using a "push" or "pull" strategy, or a combination of the two.   A push strategy is when the manufacturer uses incentives to get channel intermediaries, such as wholesalers or retailers, to buy and stock their products, and subsequently sell them to consumers.  The imagery is that the product is being "pushed" through the channel, since intermediaries will not buy the product unless they are given incentives.  On the other hand, a pull strategy is when the manufacturer stimulates consumer demand, so that consumers go to the retailer and demand the product.  The retailer, not wanting to lose a sale, then goes and demands the product from the wholesaler; who, in turn, then goes to the manufacturer and purchases the product. This strategy is based on consumer demand "pulling" the product through the distribution channel.

When executing our recruiting strategy at Western New England University, we use a combination of a push strategy and a pull strategy when trying to land recruits.  The reason for this is because each recruit is unique and different from another, so each strategy for landing a recruit must be customized or tailored in some sort of way.  Therefore, there are cases in which we pull for recruits and push for recruits.

For this example, we will look view Western New England University as the manufacturer and the Varsity Football Team as the product.  The recruits will serve as the consumers, and their high school coaches will serve as the channel intermediaries.

At the end of the high school football season, which is usually right after Thanksgiving weekend, college coaches begin going out and visiting high school seniors in school to inform them of their institutions and football programs, and establish a relationship with them to help motivate the rest of the recruiting process for the future.  Because of our budget and resources, we as coaches have to carefully plan our schedule and routes when visiting recruits in school.  This requires us to set up appointments through the school ahead of time, so we do not show up unannounced, which can generate a negative impression from teachers and administrators.  The way in which we usually do this is through contacting high school coaches as to what prospects could be a good fit for us, and when would be a good time to come in and meet with them.  This is a prime example of a push strategy.  We are pushing the high school coaches (the intermediaries) to allow us to come in and have them sell us to the potential consumers, or have us as coaches sit down and meet with their players.  Most of the time, many of the high school athletes, especially those out of the general vicinity, have never heard of Western New England University, so they are not demanding us until we come in and get a chance to meet with them, or expose them to our product.

There are cases in which we utilize a pull strategy as well.  Although most of the time we utilize a push strategy, the are times in which recruits demand that we come in and visit with them.  We spend a great deal of time building a database of potential recruits, and a wide-spread advertising plan to reach out to them via email, letters, post cards, phone calls, text messages, and social media techniques.  Sometimes, this generates enough interest amongst recruits that they mention us to their college coaches about potential schools in which they want to continue their academic and athletic careers.  From there, we will receive emails from high school coaches expressing interest for us to come in and visit their particular players because their is a demand for our product.  This is an example of a pull strategy because the manufacturer (WNE) stimulates consumer demand, so that consumers (high school recruits) go to the retailer (high school coaches) and demand the product.  The retailer, not wanting to lose a sale, then goes and demands the product (WNE Football).