“Sometimes the best promotion is no promotion at all” (Simone Caljouw, Promology)

You don’t achieve growth and profitability by running more promotions—you do it by making better business decisions. “Every year, brands do exactly the same thing. But what kind of shopper behavior do you want to influence?”

Get more value out of your promotional investments

“What I often notice is that conversations about promotions usually start with the promotional calendar: which week, how much of a discount, what mechanism… And every year, people do exactly the same thing. The promotional calendar isn’t a commercial strategy, but that’s often where it starts. Whereas the first question should actually be: What do you want to achieve commercially? What shopper behavior do you want to influence?”

That’s according to Simone Caljouw, founder and director of Promology. “After 25 years in marketing on the manufacturer side—including at Perfetti van Melle, Wessanen, and Philips—I’ve seen how much commercial energy and budget goes into promotions, but also how difficult it is to determine what those investments actually yield. We help companies get more value out of their promotional investments, not just by assessing effectiveness after the fact, but by better aligning the commercial strategy, shopper insights, and promotional choices.”

“2+3 promotions are on the rise, but is that wise?”

“A packed promotional calendar doesn’t necessarily mean you have a good promotional strategy,” she says. “It’s not about more promotions, but about better commercial decisions that contribute to growth and profitability. In Belgium, I had Focus Marketing Research conduct an analysis of laundry detergent promotions from 2022 to the present, and you can see that the number of offers with at least a 50% discount has risen from 38% in 2022 to as high as 77% today. Above all, we’re seeing increasingly deep discounts. The question is what this ultimately achieves. “2+3” promotions are on the rise, but is that wise?”

She does understand why manufacturers and retailers continue to run so many promotions: because they do indeed serve an important commercial purpose. Retailers use them to drive traffic, to strengthen their price image, or to defend market share. For manufacturers, promotions are important for gaining visibility, attracting new consumers, and meeting their sales targets… In addition, there’s competitive pressure: if everyone in a category is running promotions, it’s hard to be the first to stop.

A promotion doesn’t always have to be profitable

Brands should therefore not stop running promotions, but they should take a more critical look at them. “What do they deliver? Not every promotion that generates extra revenue also creates extra value. Sometimes the best promotion is no promotion at all. On the other hand, a promotion doesn’t always have to be profitable: when you launch an innovation, you’re happy just to be building market penetration.”

At the Category Management Congress organized by LD&Co and RetailDetail, during RetailDetail Night on November 19 in Brussels, Simone Caljouw aims to challenge the audience to look at promotions differently. “We’re used to talking about promotional calendars, discount percentages, and mechanisms, but what happens if we flip the conversation and start with the commercial strategy and shopper behavior? Using relatable examples from across countries and retailers, I’ll show why more promotions don’t automatically lead to more growth—and which commercial choices can make a difference.”

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