Push/ Pull Industry Marketing Theory

A 'push' system consists of the industry 'pushing' information and content towards the consumer/ user. This means that the marketer has the control over what the consumer sees, when they see it and how they see it. However, a 'pull system is whereby the consumers are in voluntary demand for a media product so they actively seek out and request it, therefore 'pulling' it towards themselves.



Jake Bugg is a good example of a recent 'indie' music artist under Mercury Records, that concentrates mainly at a niche audience/ market. Through the use of social networking, such as Twitter and Facebook, it allows users (fans) to follow him and 'retweet' his 'tweets'. Jake currently has 312,011 followers on Twitter and 354,398 fans on Facebook. This provides Jake with greater promotion and marketing as his followers are voluntarily sharing his information to others; creating awareness within the online music community. Relating solely to his twitter page; this can directly be linked to the push/pull media theory. For example by a Twitter user voluntarily following his page, they are 'pulling' his information towards them. If Jake then 'tweets' to his followers it could be argued that he/ or his record company are 'pushing' promotional information onto the consumer, although it was the consumers decision to request and seek out the information in the first place. This therefore argues that there are crossovers within the theory.

In the case of the Arctic Monkeys website (Previous blog post- Industry Research (marketing)- Arctic Monkeys Case Study), there are links to various other related websites and pages such as 'photos', 'videos', 'releases', 'fans forum' and their YouTube account. It is then the consumers choice to access these links and 'pull' the content towards them, in theory giving them the greater power. Some aspects of 'push' marketing still exists. One example is that advertisements are occasionally forced upon you at the beginning of a YouTube video, before the consumer is able to watch what they initially chose to view. Traditionally the music industry mainly used a 'push' model as their main promotional and marketing tool. But it is evident that the industry has transformed into more of a 'pull' model, as the consumer has more control over what they view.