Stratus Pretzel Company specializing in its pretzel product line with a brand name "Twisty Pretzel" - a salty snack product. The pretzel industry is estimated to be a $1.2 billion dollar industry. Pretzels are considered the salty snack industry's fastest growing category. Twisty Pretzel's closest competitor is a Falcon Brand pretzel, which maintains 9% market share. Twisty Pretzel uses intensive distribution strategy and it reaches customers via 472,000 retail outlets such as supermarkets, drug stores, and neighborhood grocery stores. Management team of Twisty Pretzel has decided to introduce a new low-fat pretzel in the United States in February 2023. Projected sales revenues from this new low-fat pretzel are estimated to be $ 12 million in year 2023.

Questions 1. In this case situation what role will the sales force (personal selling) play? What type of sales representatives will this company need? Identify some of the methods that can be used to determine the size of the sales force

2. As per last weeks news (April 30 2023) multiple media nationwide picked up a story that some people in Chicago USA had fallen sick after eating Twisty Pretzels at a party. The story is being repeated on major news media as wells as social media a. Management denies that there is anything wrong with it's product. To pacify the public, it plans to introduce buy one get one free promotion nationwide. Do you think it is a good idea b. Does the management need to control the damage done by the negative publicity? If yes what strategy options must be considered? What would you recommend?