Marketing for Competitive Advantage Discussion Thread: Place classmates

Guillermo

Marketing Mix and Place

As organizations expand from small businesses into major corporations, they must identify how to place their items in stores and online sales and select the proper advertising strategies to drive product placement. Depending on the product, organizations create a strategic plan. Tim Hortons is a coffee giant in Canada and has been looking to expand its market into the United States. Tim Hortons hopes to expand its US presence by placing its product in the hands of actions that are in current TV shows or new Hollywood movies (Campbell, N. D., 2013). Placing products on the right show or movies can generate thousands of likes on tweets, Facebook likes, and shares. This brand placement will allow the product to be advertised for years as the movies or TV shows get a reply. Coffee placement is critical in the United States as the coffee market has hundreds of competitors, with giants like Starbucks or Dunkin Donuts.

Marketing teams have created a new approach to product placement by incorporating brands and products into the media. "Product placement is a form of advertising that involves the use of branded products and services in popular entertainment media as a means of building audience relationships and boosting brand visibility" (Ignition, 2024, pg. 2). Businesses are using passive product placement by placing their products in the background of scenes or active product placement by allowing a product to take a more significant role within the storyline. With the increase in competition, the marketing team must place the product on the correct set to increase brand awareness.

The product must be placed in a location targeting the right audience's interests or needs. Over the past three years, product placement has been essential to an organization's success. COVID-19 changed how shoppers purchased its products, with the increase in online sales and same-day delivery from local stores and markets. Shoppers are spending more and more time online looking for the next bargain. Small businesses tend to favor local neighborhoods that accommodate one supermarket, library, personal care, and cafe to advertise a new product. This limits the number of places a consumer can look for products. (Steadman & Millington, 2022)

Apple's marketing mix aligns with the company's strategies and current global market. Apple's placement strategy includes the proper distribution of products between Apple stores, company websites, authorized resellers, and telecommunication companies (Greenspan, R., 2023). Apple-authorized resellers enable Apple products to be marketed by their user agreements with multiple telecommunication companies that advertise them and are integrated with their user agreement. The product is placed in various companies promoting their services, including an Apple product with a subscription. Apple is putting its products in companies to distribute them.

All markets must create strategic placement of products that will allow consumers to view and purchase the item. As the world population increases, product placement is essential to get the right product in front of the correct markets. "Consumers expectations, selection standards, and stimuli factors influencing their purchasing behaviors have transformed over time, thus requiring attention from both product and sellers" (Abdullah et al., 2023, pg. 2). Placement strategies include all channels to identify the right way to distribute a product to ensure it's available in the market that targets buyers. Proper product placement can reduce long-term operation costs and give a competitive advantage. Poor placement can result in loss of profits due to redistributing a product or having to mark down the prices to get the product off the shelves.

A new strategy helping organizations identify the correct product placement is the increase of word-of-mouth marketing. "The idea is to select a certain number of customers as "seed agents" and to equip those agents with the product to be marketed" (Dost et al., 2019, pg.1). Marketing teams have increased spending on digital advertising and social media. Word of mouth has assisted in product growth by supporting an advertising campaign and increasing the word of mouth to potential customers via product knowledge within networks. This allows the organization to bring the product to potential customers.

Genesis 1:9, And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so. Marketing teams must identify the right product for the right customer group, so customers come and seek your product. Marketing teams must make a product feel to a customer that it is something they need. Exodus 18:23, If you do this, God will direct you, you will be able to endure, and all these people also will go to their place in peace. Teams and organizations must strive for change, and time will lead them to success. They must work as a team to identify the needs of their customers.

References

Abdullah, Siti Intan Nurdiana Wong, Teng, P. K., Heng, B. L. J., Subramaniam, K., Yuling, J., &

Shoep, A. M. A. (2023). Effect of marketing mix strategies on the buying behaviour of

organic products: Comparison between consumers in malaysia and china.  IOP

Conference Series. Earth and Environmental Science, 1165(1),

12007.  https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/1165/1/012007

Campbell, N. D. (2023). Selling through the screen: Coffee and product placement.

https://www.gcrmag.com/coffee-companies-selling-through-television-and-movie-

product-placement/

Dost, F., Phieler, U., Haenlein, M., & Libai, B. (2019). Seeding as part of the marketing mix:

Word-of-mouth program interactions for fast-moving consumer goods.  Journal of

Marketing, 83(2), 62-81. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022242918817000

Greenspan, R. (2023). Apple’s Marketing Mix: 4P Analysis. Panmore Institute.

https://panmore.com/apple-inc-marketing-mix-4ps

Holy Bible (2023). The Holy Bible, Genesis & Exodus. https://esv.literalword.com/

Ignition (2024). Marketing Strategy. Best practices for product placement.

https://www.haveignition.com/best-practices/marketing-strategy-best-practices-for-product-placement#:~:text=By%20choosing%20the%20right%20platform, customers%20and%20increase%20brand%20awareness.

Steadman, C., & Millington, S. (2022). Researching with places: On using engaged scholarship

in marketing.  Qualitative Market Research, 25(5), 646-

661. https://doi.org/10.1108/QMR-01-2022-0012

Akishia

Discussion Thread: Place

Adopting efficient marketing strategies in a competitive market necessitates complex strategic marketing techniques and procedures to determine the most fruitful paths of approach and produce optimal solutions or reliable outcomes. The marketing mix framework is among the strategies utilized in creating a marketing approach for a product. This framework comprises the 4Ps: product, price, place, and promotion. The location, method, and diversity of stops along the supply chain can all be considered aspects of the place element in the marketing mix. The place element of the marketing mix lays out how the product moves from the producer to the final consumer. Placement is essential in marketing as it helps deliver the product to the right target market. While profitability might contribute to more sustained sales, it can also cause a significant movement in sales in the wrong direction if the product is not positioned correctly. This discussion thread will examine the many approaches to product placement in the supply chain, emphasizing internet placement.

Distribution Element

The process of getting the goods to the customer is known as the distribution channel. The channels can tang from simple to complex omnichannel. A distribution channel comprises various business categories, such as the manufacturer or producer, wholesaler, retailer, and customer. Notably, there are two distribution channels: direct and indirect. Depending on where the customer completes their purchase, different distribution channels can be applied to ensure that the products are delivered to the specific consumer at the right time and location. Direct channels are employed in product distribution if the producer or manufacturer makes the product and then sold directly to the consumer. On the contrary, indirect channels are usually applied in cases where the producer uses a wholesaler or retailer to get the product to the final consumer.

The past few years have seen a change in consumer behavior, which has allowed businesses to aggressively adopt an omnichannel strategy in which they provide their products to customers over a range of channels (Rivero et al., 2020). Customers can now purchase and receive the product with much greater ease, but marketers also face far greater complexity in distribution as a result. Currently, clients can order and receive products through different distribution channels across the supply chain using multichannel and omnichannel techniques. The marketer faces challenges in keeping the marketing content consistent when it needs helpers' experience across the many channels. The evolution of the Internet has primarily brought about such transformations in the distribution of commodities.

Internet 

Since its inception, the Internet has become one of the most significant distribution channels. The marketplace has been expanded to unprecedented heights by the Internet. Access from a PC to a mobile device can expose a product to a broader audience than possible. Before the Internet, catalogs were the best tool for product placement in brick-and-mortar establishments. However, the capacity for marketing through the various Internet ad placement platforms has grown incredibly powerful in the industry (Meena & Girija, 2022). Furthermore, extensive data collection has only made placement decisions more accessible. However, the benefits of big data gathering could change with the application of restrictions on data collection and protection. 

In the early stages of electronic commerce, marketing channel intermediates were seen to bring only minimal benefit and added expense. Upstream players adopting electronic commerce strategies posed a danger to these intermediaries by trying to avoid them. Manufacturers can conduct online customer service and sales to clients directly through the Internet (Kaya et al., 2020). Dell, for instance, offers laptops straight to consumers. 

However, businesses should consider whether it will be challenging to match the experience, understanding of the industry, and customer service offered by intermediaries and whether any conflicts may result from preexisting relationships or agreements.

The Internet eliminates Geographical boundaries, giving consumers more options and businesses more rivals. The Internet offers three main advantages for distribution: speed, flexibility, and ease. Customers may track electronic transactions online, which increases the efficiency of the supply chain and helps with inventory control (Zatonatska et al., 2019). 

Websites might be neutral or geared toward merchants or buyers. A website can be localized to a particular area while accounting for product requirements and cultural aspects variations. These aspects usually play a critical role in enhancing the distribution of products.

Conclusion

How and when the target customer receives the product makes product placement a crucial marketing mix component. Several distribution channels and their methods of getting the product from the manufacturer to the final consumer were examined in this discussion. Getting a product to a customer in the current marketplace is becoming increasingly strategic and essential. The Internet is among the technological advancements that have revolutionized the place element of the marketing mix. This is because products can now be positioned and promoted to the target market online. 

 

 

References

Kaya, S. K., Paksoy, T., & Garza-Reyes, J. A. (2020). The Impact of the Internet of Things on Supply Chain 4.0: A Review and Bibliometric Analysis. Logistics 4.0, 35-50.

Meena, S., & Girija, T. (2022). A Conceptual Study In Understanding The Impact Of Internet Of Things Towards Supply Chain Management. Journal of Positive School Psychology, 2763-2767.

Rivero Gutiérrez, L., & Samino García, R. (2020). Omnichannel strategy and consumer behavior in distribution channels: Trends in the ophthalmology sector. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1142.

Zatonatska, T., Dluhopolskyi, O., Chyrak, I., & Kotys, N. (2019). The Internet and e-commerce diffusion in European countries (modeling at the example of Austria, Poland, and Ukraine). Innovative Marketing, 15(1), 66.