Marketing Management For Non-Marketing Managers

8PLACEMENT OR DISTRIBUTION: THE SECOND ‘P’ OF TACTICAL MARKETING

Figure 8-1: Marketing Alignment Map

Placement, or distribution, is the way a company ensures its target market or markets have access to its products or services. The goal is to ensure that the customer has access to the products or services a company sells in the location he or she would be most likely to look for that product or service.

The method the company uses to reach the market is called a channel, which forms the basis of the second ‘P’ of marketing. The channel or channels a company selects will depend on the type of product or service, the size and configuration of the market, where the customer will look for the solutions offered by a company, costs and control considerations.

GO WHERE THE MARKET LOOKS FOR SOLUTIONS

Companies should be very familiar with the various places their markets shop for the particular product or service that they offer. For example, service organisations often sell direct to the consumer or business purchaser. In a law firm, the distribution channel is the team of legal professionals who both sell and provide services to customers. If a company tried to set up a professional sales team to sell the services of lawyers the purchaser had not met, it would be less likely to be successful. The market does not expect to shop for legal services through intermediaries.

However, that is ...