This activity is important because firms must communicate with customers for marketing to occur. marketing managers use one or more of the five promotional elements to communicate with customers: advertising, personal selling, public relations, sales promotion, and direct marketing. the goal of this exercise is to demonstrate your understanding of the differences between the five promotional elements.

Asupermarket has been experiencing long lines during peak periods of the day. the problem is noticeably worse on certain days of the week, and the peak periods are sometimes different according to the day of the week. there are usually enough workers on the job to open all cash registers. the problem is knowing when to call some of the workers stocking shelves up to the front to work the checkout counters. how might decision models the supermarket? what data would be needed to develop these models?