Place
The marketing mix, as we learned, provides marketers with concepts of pursuing
marketing goals set out by their company. The marketing mix is called the 4Ps, which stands for
product, price, place, and promotion. Place can make or break a B2B business if not used
strategically to answer the target market. Our discussion for this week's discussion forum will
focus on place, looking at strategies used in this vital part of the marketing mix that’s needed for
a business to thrive. An analysis of some articles regarding marketing channel strategy will help
distinguish the importance of place in the marketing mix. Place (distribution) refers to making
products or services available to a company’s target market at the right time and place, providing
an effective strategy.
A successful distribution strategy needs to ensure consumers receive products that are
easily accessible and bring a sense of convenience and consumer value. Distribution channels
can be complex due to the product or service being offered by a company, especially keeping the
target market in mind. When looking at distribution channels, these would include channels like
wholesalers, retailers, e-commerce, and direct sales. Distribution management can be vital to a
company being profitable and providing its consumers with what they want when they want.
Therefore, choosing the proper placement to distribute or set up shop can make or break the ROI
(return on investment) for a company. These decisions need to be made based on the company’s
target audience.
As we know, all aspects of the marketing mix need to work together to deliver a product
or service. It’s on the marketers to implement strategies to make sure the 4Ps are being used
efficiently and effectively. A strategy like the marketing channel strategy can be vital for
distribution to be effective with the focus on providing consumers with the product in the most
accessible and convenient way.
Marketing Channel Strategy
A marketing channel strategy is a strategy used to connect a company’s target market and
meet consumer’s needs. Marketing channels are essential to any company that wants to be
competitive and stand out from their competitors depending on how they use the channels. These
channels drive value for a company and are highly valued in a company’s structure. A company
will focus on value appropriation strategies like channel integration and channel compression.
Channel integration and channel compression are used to combine a company’s communication
channels into one system by reducing the size of inputs into fewer channels.
The marketing channel strategy has been recently used in the role of durability in
marketing durable goods manufacturers in this day and age. Yang et al., (2018) discuss how
durable goods manufacturers, including Lenovo, HP, Epson, and IKEA, have adopted dual
channels to market their products. Durable goods are different from those in nondurable goods
marketing (Yang et al., 2018). When a product is perceived as durable, profitability on both ends
of the balance beam strongly depends on product durability and direct selling cost. This allows
both parties to be happy and provides the best opportunity for the company and the consumer to
get the value they perceive to be true. This marketing channel strategy is used as a tool to gain a
competitive advantage.
To further improve competitive advantages, suppliers are motivated to make more
marketing efforts and boost their marketing budget to get the best ROI. Suppliers do this by
looking to increase the sales of products at the cost of investing capital into boosting brand
reputation and the use of advertising. Marketing efforts need to be used all throughout the
marketing channels to best achieve what a company has planned to do. A unified system where
each channel is getting the same level of attention can be vital for a company’s success. Now on
the other hand a decentralized channel structure could make supply chain decisions more
complex (Mingxia & Curbing, 2022). This mainly affects supply chain environments that are
competitive, so a company has to determine was channel structure is best for business.
Nowadays, the marketing channel strategy has changed a bit. Scholars nowadays identify
influence strategy as one of the most important marketing channel practices that affect strategic
behaviors. The two types of influence strategies are coercive influence strategy and non-coercive
influence strategy. Coercive influence strategies are influencing behaviors using hard tactics
while, non-coercive influence strategies are influencing others' behaviors by changing their
perceptions in less harsh ways (Ishii & Kikumori, 2024). Marketing channel strategies are just
the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the importance of place in a company’s marketing mix.
Bible Verses
The Bible states, “Commit your work to the LORD, and your plans will be established.”
(English Standard Version Bible, 2001, Proverbs. 16:3). I believe this passage from Proverbs
16:3 fits well with our discussion of place in the marketing mix because it shows the importance
commitment to major factor like distribution. Using strategies to execute efficient distribution of
your product and service shows commitment to a company’s product and consumers.
Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for
welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope” (English Standard Version Bible, 2001,
Jeremiah. 29:11). This passage from Jeremiah 29:11 shows that creating a plan and strategy is
vital for success for company. Making sure a company has a place and distribution in place is
important for the cycle of the marketing mix to operate. All parts of the marketing mix need to
work together and adhere to the plan to become successful.
Lastly, another verse in the Bible that resembles our topic of discussion is Proverbs
27:17. Proverbs 27:17 states, Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. (English
Standard Version Bible, 2001, Proverbs. 27:17). This Proverb represents the marketing mix as a
whole. Each part of the marketing mix needs to work with each other, rely on making each other
better, and be coordinated under one strong management. When we look at promotion next, we
will see that it will tie in with making the product and place stronger along with discussing
pricing eventually.
References
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). ESV Online. https://esv.literalword.com/
Ishii, R., & Kikumori, M. (2024). Influence strategies in dual distribution channels: Examining
their effects on distributor opportunism. Industrial Marketing Management the International
Journal for Industrial and High-Tech Firms, 123, 1–11.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.09.001
Mingxia, L., & Kebing, C. (2022). Channel structure selection in a competitive supply chain
under consideration of marketing effort strategy. Soft Computing, 26(22), 12155-12177:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00500-022-07468-z
Yan, W., Xiong, Y., Chu, J., Li, G., & Xiong, Z. (2018). Clicks versus Bricks: The role of
durability in marketing channel strategy of durable goods manufacturers. European Journal of
Operational Research., 265(3), 909–918. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejor.2017.08.039
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