Marketing_L8_2013-2014

Iden>fying Major Alterna>ves

When the company has defined its channel objec&ves, it should next iden&fy its major channel alterna&ves in terms of:

•  the types of intermediaries

•  the number of intermediaries

•  the responsibili>es of each channel member

Evalua>ng the Major Alterna>ves

Suppose a company has iden&fied several channel alterna&ves and wants to select the one that will best sa&sfy its long-run objec&ves.

Each alterna>ve should be evaluated against criteria, such as

•  economic

•  control

•  adaptability criteria

Designing Interna>onal Distribu>on

Channels

Interna&onal channel complexi&es:

When the Chinese government banned door-to-door selling, Avon had to abandon its tradi&onal direct marke&ng approach and sell through retail shops.

Channel Management Decisions

•  Marke&ng channel management

Selec&ng, managing, and mo&va&ng individual channel members and evalua&ng their performance over &me.

Caterpillar works closely with PRM its worldwide network of

independent dealers to

find beeer ways to bring value to customers. When a big piece of CAT equipment breaks down, customers know they can count on Caterpillar and its outstanding

dealer network for support.

Marke&ng Logis&cs

and Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management

Managing upstream and downstream valueadded flows of materials, final goods, and related informa&on among suppliers, the company, resellers, and final consumers.

•  Marke>ng logis>cs addresses not only outbound distribu&on but also inbound distribu&on and reverse distribu&on. That is, it involves the en&re supply chain management—managing value-added flows between suppliers, the company, resellers, and final users.

•  No logis&cs system can both maximize customer service and minimize distribu&on costs.

•  The goal of logis&cs management is to provide a targeted level of service at the least cost.

•  The major logis&cs func&ons include warehousing, inventory management, transporta&on, and logis&cs informa&on management.

•  Improved logis&cs requires teamwork in the form of close working rela&onships across func&onal areas inside the company and across various organiza&ons in the supply chain.

•  Companies can achieve logis&cs harmony among

func&ons by crea&ng cross-func&onal logis&cs teams, integra&ve supply manager posi&ons, and senior-level logis&cs execu&ves with crossfunc&onal authority.

•  Channel partnerships can take the form of cross-

company teams, shared projects, and informa&onsharing systems.

•  Today, some companies are outsourcing their logis&cs func&ons to third-party logis&cs (3PL) providers to save costs, increase e ciency, and gain faster and more e ec&ve access to global markets.

Thanks for your aPen&on!