2. Definition
The activity of promoting the sale of goods at retail.
Merchandising activities may include display techniques, free samples, on-the-spot
demonstration, pricing, shelf talkers, special offers, and other point-of-sale methods. According
to American Marketing Association, merchandising encompasses "planning involved in
marketing the right merchandise or service at the right place, at the right time, in the right
quantities, and at the right price."
3. Why?
With declining sales in the music industry due to the new technology allowing people to illegally download
music for free, artists and their managements need to think of a new way to make sales, fast. One of these
strategies is to introduce merchandise. Merchandise cannot be ‘illegally bought’ over the internet, as it
something physical, for example one direction have ventured into many other projects such as
toothbrushes, fragrances and lunchboxes, this keeps the one direction brand alive and also promotes the
brand to other consumers, people will recognise the products with the boys faces on them, and look into
what their recent albums/singles are, and find an interest.
Not only does it increase the profit levels going to One Direction as a company, but it gives a sense of
connection between the artist and consumes and keeps loyalty to the artist.
