ARTICLE | "Demarketing, yes, demarketing"

SUMMARY

Authors: Kotler & Levy (1971) - Harvard Business Review

50 years ago, in this article, KOTLER and LEVY (1971) defined the concept of "demarketing" as...

" the aspect of marketing consists in discouraging customers in general or a certain category of customers in particular, either temporarily or permanently ".

This refers to efforts to reduce demand when it is detrimental to the long-term objectives of the organization implementing this type of approach. These objectives may simply be the sustainability of the structure, the preservation of the environment, or the health and well-being of consumers.

"An exceptionally refined restaurant in London can only seat 30 people. Word-of-mouth advertising has been so good that the restaurant is fully booked months in advance. Nevertheless, tourists without reservations flock to the restaurant in the hope of a cancellation. They make a lot of noise and detract from the relaxing atmosphere. (...) (The managers) added a doorman who discouraged people from waiting for cancellations and calling to see if reservations were available. They also raised prices."

As another example, the authors cite the island of Bali, which at the time, to protect itself from over-visitation, chose to make the destination less attractive to the middle-class visitor segment by building luxury hotels and targeting its communication at the more affluent social classes.

Today, demarketing is making a comeback for certain tourist destinations faced with the challenge of over-visiting. This applies equally to large metropolises such as Amsterdam, Barcelona and Venice, which are seeking to rebalance the tourist/inhabitant balance, and to sensitive natural areas suffering from an excess of visitors.

Illustration: Kotler & Levy (1971) - Demarketing, yes, demarketing - Harvard Business Review