SEO and Sales !

A recent Sales promotion campaign my friend did for his business left me wondering whether it was really worth it !
My friend had advertised heavily through print media and on net about the extension of his furnishing business. He had taken two shops adjacent to his own and had now one of the largest showrooms and services staff in the city.
Months of advertising and many discount coupons and then when he checked back after a month of the promotional activities (after the coupons expiry date) he found out that only 17% of the coupons were not claimed and yet his sales were somewhat same as before ! This clearly meant that though the coupons were redeemed by the customers and there were huge crowds the entire month, all had happened was that the majority existing customers had utilized the coupons in their regular purchases/services! He called me then to find out the reason for this.
As it came out very clearly, the promotion campaign and the tools which my friend had put into service were not effectively utilized. I found out that there were ads on his site and related sites too but the entire campaign lacked direction.
No "specific" terminology used, not a single instance of effective and researched words (Keywords) and phrases and not at all focused on the market segment and business type they wanted to target!!
In the name of sales promotion, the entire activity had clearly suggested that it was best if my friend had not thought of using it at all...what a waste of time and money and a sorry wastage of a wonderful chance of using the simplest SEO things for effective and practical results !!!
I hope other business people are not going the wrong way !