There has been an age-old discussion on this point of difference between these 3 terms and my LinkedIn post on the same topic sometimes ago broke all engagement records for me. Off lately, as our business Asbicon has specialised more and more in the Shopper area, this has allowed me to dive deeper into this phenomenon and am happy to share our thinking with all.

Very simply, all the marketing activities from the manufacturer to the retailer/trade so that the retailer/trade stocks and sells that product or service can be called Trade Marketing. All the marketing that happens within the retailer/trade to the shopper of a product or service can be called Shopper Marketing. Both Trade and Shopper Marketing combined can be referred to as Customer Marketing. There are a lot of further details that would sit beneath this such as manufacturer or service provider’s contribution versus retail or trade contribution in these areas of marketing, some overlaps that are bound to exist and the development trajectory of these concepts as channel landscapes change such as the emergence of digital.

All in all, this is a fantastic area of marketing and I will definitely be spending more time working within these. If anyone wishes to discuss more on these topics, please feel free to reach out.

Regards,

Ankur Shiv Bhandari

(ankur.s.bhandari@asbicon.com)