4 . Can a start-up company compete in retail stores against industry giants such as Hallmark? To encourage students to analyze the potential usefulness of two promotional methods-personal selling and direct mail-for a start-up greeting card company.

368 Part rv: Managing Marketing Situation You are the marketing adviser for a local start-up company that makes and sells specialty greeting cards in a city of 400 000. Last year's sales totalled 14 ooo cards, including personalized holiday cards, birthday cards, and special-events cards for individuals. Although revenues increased last year, you see a way of further boosting sales by expanding into card shops, grocery stores, and gift shops. You see two alternatives for entering these outlets:

1. Use direct mail to reach more individual customers for specialty cards.

2. Use personal selling to gain display space in retail stores.

Your challenge is to persuade the owner of the start-up company to use the alternative you believe is the more financially sound decision