---
title: "Manufacturers' Terminal Promotion Positions Are Disappearing"
description: "Terminal promotion positions at FMCG companies are being eliminated or downsized as digital tools and skilled sales reps take over their functions. Companies are shifting from crude, resource-heavy promotions to precise, systematic, and value-creating activities that better align with market and consumer needs."
author: "金名"
publisher: "New Distribution"
email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com"
telephone: "+8615854817671"
published: "2025-09-13"
categories: "Distribution & Channels"
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citation: "金名. “Manufacturers' Terminal Promotion Positions Are Disappearing.” New Distribution, 2025-09-13. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/manufacturers-terminal-promotion-positions-are-disappearing-c1d9a468/"
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---

# Manufacturers' Terminal Promotion Positions Are Disappearing

> Terminal promotion positions at FMCG companies are being eliminated or downsized as digital tools and skilled sales reps take over their functions. Companies are shifting from crude, resource-heavy promotions to precise, systematic, and value-creating activities that better align with market and consumer needs.

"Our company has abolished the promotion position; terminal promotion activities are now handled by sales reps." A sales rep from an FMCG brand told the author that he used to be in a promotion role, and after it was eliminated, he transferred to a sales role.
This is not an isolated case. FMCG companies with annual sales below 5 billion yuan have basically all eliminated terminal promotion positions, and even major FMCG companies are reducing their terminal promotion staff.
Terminal promotion positions go by different names in different companies, such as Promotion Specialist, Channel Marketing, or in foreign companies, Trade Marketing (TM).
Recently, in exchanges with several colleagues in the FMCG industry, I learned that terminal promotion roles have been weakened: large companies are downsizing, and small companies have all sales reps handle the work.
Once, promotion positions were coveted in large enterprises, with better salaries, resources, and power than frontline sales reps. In some companies, the number of such positions was second only to frontline sales reps.
Terminal promotion and sales roles complement each other. As a saying in the FMCG industry goes: Sales make products sell well, while promotion makes products easy to sell.
If promotion is so important, why are companies abandoning it?
The crude promotion methods of the past are no longer effective
In the era of incremental growth, doing promotional activities always yielded results, just a matter of how much. You could throw together an event almost without thinking, even copying others' content, and still see good results, like a sales boost. It didn't matter how much of that sales increase was actually due to the event; sales did grow, and leaders were satisfied.
Previously, even if you were just going through the motions, you could get by. But now the external environment has changed, and sticking to old experiences and fixed routines will only yield worse results. Especially as traditional channel sales decline, no matter how many activities you run, sales keep falling.
For a long time, many companies' terminal promotion execution has had some misunderstandings, which are now more pronounced:
1. Internal thinking: self-congratulatory, pursuing flashy forms; not going deep into terminals to understand consumer groups, so promotion content is disconnected from the market; copying others without considering why or whether it fits market reality.
2. Departmentalism: promotion actions and sales actions are separated, each doing their own thing—I do my tasting, you do your promotion.
3. Emphasis on internal resources: blindly pursuing company resource investment, like increasing promotion budgets, buying more traffic, or securing better display spots, while neglecting integration of external resources, failing to maximize resource value.
4. Execution-focused: mainly executing headquarters' activities, lacking independent planning.
The declining effectiveness of promotions is essentially because activities are disconnected from the market, relying long-term on fixed paths and resource input.
The functions of terminal promotion are gradually being replaced by digital tools and professional sales reps
Terminal promotion is a key part of product sell-through at the terminal, but in practice it often becomes disconnected from market and terminal sales actions, leading to low execution efficiency.
Many manufacturers are already adjusting or redefining the responsibilities of terminal promotion positions, either by cultivating specialized teams (like Mingsheng Soda Water's "Scene Department") or integrating them into other roles.
First, with the rise of online channels, the development of chain channels, and the implementation of digital marketing, the complexity of terminal promotion has been greatly simplified, thus replacing a significant portion of terminal promotion work.
In the past, FMCG companies would run buy-one-get-one or cap-redeem activities at terminals to promote new products, with very low execution efficiency.
Sales reps had to visit each store one by one to communicate, then produce promotional materials. No matter how hard they worked, one person could only cover so many stores, and even if they could execute, there was no way to monitor the process—were terminals withholding fees? It was hard to know in real time. If store owners didn't proactively introduce the activity, consumers wouldn't even notice it, failing to stimulate purchases.
Now, manufacturers use digital tools to greatly improve activity coverage and execution efficiency.
For example, common "1-yuan exchange" or "scan-to-win" activities only require product distribution; no manual operation by sales reps is needed. The activity instructions are prominently printed on the packaging, eliminating the need for extra promotional materials. The backend provides real-time data, so there's no worry about whether stores are executing or withholding promotional gifts.
Products like Master Kong Iced Black Tea, Dongpeng Special Drink, and Harbin Beer Ice Pure have all used digital promotion methods to rapidly boost sales.
Similarly, promotional activities in chain terminals can leverage the chain system's full set of promotion tools for quick implementation.
Second, terminal promotion work overlaps significantly with sales rep duties, making it highly replaceable.
Promotion staff and sales reps have considerable overlap in their work; promotion staff focus more on planning, while sales reps handle execution.
In the current environment of "cost reduction and efficiency enhancement," promotion planning and execution will be integrated, either by forming specialized teams or having sales fully take over, combining planning and execution.
In fact, many experienced sales reps already possess strong abilities in planning and executing promotional activities. As companies reduce terminal promotion positions, sales reps' terminal promotion capabilities will be fully unleashed.
In summary, the change in terminal promotion positions is mainly due to companies' dual consideration of "higher efficiency + lower cost," meaning the responsibilities of traditional positions will gradually shift from "extensive" to "lean and composite."
Thus, those composite sales reps who can plan and execute promotional activities will have a competitive advantage in the future workplace.
Terminal promotion activities will become more practical
In the past, promotion staff often had no sales experience and lacked market awareness. Now, terminal promotion needs to be closer to the market and consumers, "creating new value" in the process to support sales.
First, promotional activities must be precisely matched to terminals, consumer needs, and products.
1. Executors must understand market realities, know what consumers need, and study how consumers make choices.
Heineken, an international premium beer brand, has a taste quite different from regular beer, sticking to the original bitterness of beer. Many consumers are not used to it, saying "too bitter" or "not good."
Many distributors have simply given up on this product, but a sales rep in one market, targeting the issue of "consumers finding Heineken hard to accept," persisted in having waitstaff recommend Heineken to consumers while also placing a large amount of materials in stores, promoting "international premium brand, over 150 years of history," "slightly bitter, this is the truest taste of beer," and "clean ingredient list." After several months of effort, Heineken's reputation in that market changed to "mellow taste," and sales picked up, with most customers being repeat buyers.
Consumers think it's bad because they don't know the brand initially; anything unfamiliar is considered a generic brand.
So, promoting Heineken's brand value and getting consumers to recognize the brand psychologically makes it easier for them to accept it, and they will find more positive reasons to consume the product.
Creating value means every resource should be based on consumer needs, precisely hitting target consumers' psychology to trigger purchase motivation.
2. By analyzing terminal target demographics, sales models, sales data, etc., accurately identify high-potential stores and low-efficiency risk stores.
What resources can the store provide for my use, to achieve precise and efficient placement of promotion resources, rather than "sprinkling pepper" or just going where stores are willing?
This year, a major manufacturer ran a hot-sale activity at terminals; the same activity had good results in some stores but poor results in others.
Investigation revealed that in the successful cases, the sales rep specifically chose stores with WeChat group operations, where group members were consumers around the terminal, and the store manager shared promotional information daily. As a result, the effect was better than in ordinary stores.
Second, promotional activities need systematic execution.
Promotion should be systematic and coordinated with a series of terminal actions: main product display/stocking, material promotion, consumer interaction, online secondary dissemination... Integrating all these actions together is more efficient than a single action.
Many promotional activities fail not because the action itself is bad, but because of a lack of systematic execution—methods, personnel, and even venue selection are not linked.
Beer table displays in restaurants are a common promotional activity. One sales rep reported poor results: even giving beer away didn't get consumers to drink it.
With questions, I went to the terminal and saw two bottles of beer on a table. I asked consumers if they knew the beer was for them; they didn't know.
In contrast, a sales rep with good execution shared his experience: "First, place the product where consumers can see it, like on tables in the main hall rather than in private rooms. After setting up, put up activity notice materials and product promotional materials, including product features and selling points, so consumers know about the activity and learn about the product. Also, have price tags. Pair with chilled displays and create a strong in-store atmosphere. Additionally, train the serving staff with scripts and give them a bottle-cap incentive to boost their enthusiasm for recommending..."
Promotional activities are a combination of a series of actions; only when all are done well can sales increase. Don't execute them in isolation and then conclude the product doesn't sell.
Xren Soda Water focused on night market scene promotion and, through a combination of moves, greatly enhanced its brand influence and sales.
Investigation revealed their approach: first, they chose to hold activities in the outdoor area of night market streets to get more people involved, creating atmosphere and amplifying effects. During the process, they shot videos for online secondary dissemination to let more people know the product's value. They also required weekly activities to gradually penetrate and influence surrounding outlets. To motivate people, they set up reward plans for executors.
Final Thoughts
The environment is changing; what was reasonable in the past has changed or is changing to adapt.
Market environments vary, so we cannot use a one-size-fits-all approach to solve product promotion issues in different markets. Only by starting from the market, from terminals, and from consumers, and continuously innovating, can we continue to create new value.
The terminal promotion position may not always exist, or it may be renamed. But the actions of terminal promotion will not disappear; they will evolve with the times, becoming more efficient and valuable.


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## Citation metadata

- Publisher: New Distribution
- Author: 金名
- Published: 2025-09-13
- Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/manufacturers-terminal-promotion-positions-are-disappearing-c1d9a468/
- Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/zJKhy7DBGOcIV-qbVDeI-Q

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