The Push and Pull of Brand Building

Striking the right balance of strategies, tactics and tradeoffs

You’ve likely heard of push-and-pull marketing. The term itself is a bit outdated, and it feels too transactional and mule-ish in its connotation. But at its core lies time-tested marketing principles that remain as relevant today as ever.

A quick refresher: Push marketing refers to strategies and tactics that push products directly to consumers, even if they are not actively seeking them or know they exist. The intention of this in-your-face approach is to drive initial awareness and sales by meeting the consumer where they’re at. Pull marketing, on the other hand, focuses on sparking interest and creating demand by enticing consumers to actively seek out the brand or product. The intention is to magnetize consumers to where you’re at.

“Pushing” and “pulling” is not at all how I think or talk about brand building or marketing strategy. But recently, I have been thinking and talking a lot about how brand marketing and performance marketing work together. Earlier this year, Business …