We are living in a world more and more concerned with corporate governance and corporate social responsibility which is an off shoot of what has happened in the past – corporations filing for bankruptcy and seeking protection under Chapter 11 as a result of questionable corporate activities, some downright unethical. As a result of this, marketers now need to assess the impact of governance and management issues on how they design, formulate and implement distribution strategies. The aim of this paper is to present and assess such impact.
Review of Literature on Distribution Strategy
Foremost, we must admit that marketing is a pervasive business concept – it permeates every moment of our lives. We wake up thinking what coffee to get from Starbucks on our way to work – caramel macchiato or café mocha. We go to work wearing Ralph Lauren or any other designer – affordable or otherwise. We get lunch from McDonalds or Burger King. We go home in our Honda or Ford. The point is brands are everywhere, every moment in our lives.
Now, a discussion on the significance to marketers the issues of governance and management in their formulation and implementation of distribution strategies should be done properly by discussing what marketing is first, and then discussing how distribution figures into the overall marketing strategy.
[...] As our society evolves, new methods, which will no doubt challenge traditional marketing and distribution strategies, will emerge; and the marketers will have to take into account more and more governance and management issues into the design and implementation of their distribution strategies because no matter how advance we become, I believe that distribution will remain. In an increasing global market, efficiency of global distribution holds the key to success in international trade” (Feng & Yuan 2007, p. 623). As the authors said, “[global] logistics in business operation is playing a critical role in responding to the changing market demand in a world of globalization and mass customization” (Feng & Yuan 2007, p. [...]
[...] Given all these, how do the issues of governance and management affect how marketers formulate and implement distribution strategies? Let s go back to our discussion on sports marketing. Marketers have discovered that one of the most effective marketing strategies of sports marketing is using theme- based strategies. A marketer's decision to use sports theme-based distribution strategies, say, for sports drinks must now be evaluated in terms of soundness or ethics. Marketers now have to answer questions such as is this sports theme-based distribution strategy appropriate for the sports drinks' target market or is the design of the distribution strategy targeted too closely to its targeted markets who are kids (which some consider unethical that is direct selling or appealing directly to consumers who can hardly decide what is right and wrong)? [...]
[...] Of course, the distribution channels chosen also dictate how much financial and how many human resources the company will allocate to the development of that channel. Questions such as how much advertising to buy, how many sales agents to allocate, and the likes are affected by the choice of distribution channel. Opting to sell products through intermediaries rather than selling it directly to customers have some downside. One is that the company relinquishes control over how these intermediaries deal with their customers. [...]
[...] These are the types of customers who do not want to go through the whole Super center just to buy few items they need. They would rather go to a small retail store where they buy one or two things then move on to their next agenda. Clearly, the marketer's final decision on which distribution channel to use for XYZ Corporation needs to take into account the identified governance and management issues which were identified above. Works Cited Demirdjian, Z. S ‘Strategic Management Trends in Cyber age', Journal of American [...]
[...] This is a testament on how important distribution channels and the strategies pertaining to them are. Clearly, to create a brand and to communicate the value of the brand to customers, an organization needs a successful distribution system. Smith defined distribution as that which “involves the dissemination of information, the means of booking and purchase, and product bundling or packaging” (2007, p. 321). In a world as complex as ours, it is rare to see a manufacturer directly delivering to the end consumer. [...]
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