The arrival of fall raises the competition of product with pumpkin flavor.  For most people, pumpkin is a symbol of fall, especially when it is a significant part of two important holiday, Thanksgiving and Halloween.  For this reason, many brands have launched various seasonal products that focus on Pumpkin.   Popular coffee company, Starbuck, has had a great success on its pumpkin spice latte. The company has sold about 200 million cups of pumpkin spice lattes in last 10 years.  With the success of Starbuck, McDonald’s and many fast food chains also want to take some shares from this seasonal market.  Both McDonald’s and Tim Hortons have pumpkin spice latte on their menu during the fall. Not only beverages market, Krispy Kreme and Time Horton both introduce pumpkin spice donuts.

The use of limited-time marketing drives up the sales when people can only buy certain product in a short time period.   Companies want their consumers to feel that the product is “last for limited time”, “get it while it lasts”, and “one last chance”.  They hope that their consumers have anticipation on their limited products.  The limited-time marketing strategy is similar to those limited edition products. They both provide a sense of exclusivity when supply is scarce. However, Scott Stratton concludes that this kind of strategy is only suitable for known products.

sources:
http://www.inc.com/articles/201110/marketing-lessons-from-the-mcdonalds-mcrib.html
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/industry-news/marketing/falls-secret-ingredient-for-drink-sales-pumpkin/article14196595/

image:
http://b-i.forbesimg.com/michelinemaynard/files/2013/09/pumpkin-spice-latte-sign-785463.jpg