Getting Multi-Channel Distribution Right

CHAPTER 16Summary: Dashboards and Principles for Managing New Directions in Distribution

16.1 PULLING (AND PUSHING) IT ALL TOGETHER

“I believe that all good things taken to an extreme become self-destructive and that everything must evolve or die.”

—Ray Dalio, quoted in the Wall Street Journal, April 25, 2019

We have written this book to provide insights into how marketers should evolve and manage their distribution channels during periods of significant change. Change typically means new channel options and accompanying conflicts with existing channel partners. Managing those conflicts while having the flexibility to adapt to a rapidly evolving—but still uncertain—future requires sound strategy executed with a marketing program that is both guided and evaluated by the right metrics.

For most people, the term “marketing program” or “marketing mix” has become synonymous with the 4 Ps (product, price, promotion, and place), thanks to Professor Edmund Jerome McCarthy's famous alliteration. Among the 4 Ps, product and price are usually preeminent and at least initially, distribution (or Place among the 4 Ps) choices are made so that they are consistent with product and price. Over the long term and in the face of the types of changes we noted in Chapter 1 and subsequently illustrated throughout the book, distribution choices begin to drive these other Ps. Examples you might recall from earlier chapters include Leather Italia creating a totally new price point for Costco.com