Marketing Mix : Place Strategies & Channels

• Place in the marketing mix means ensuring a product is available when and where customers want to buy it

Different Place Strategies

• Direct to Consumers
• Retailers
• Wholesalers
• Agents

Major Distribution Channels

• Distribution channels define the path goods and services take from production to consumers
• Intermediaries are businesses or people that aid in moving goods and services from manufacturers to consumers
• Direct distribution is when the Producer sells directly to customers, without intermediaries
  • All profits return to the producer
  • Full control of marketing strategies can be held
  • It's the quickest way to get products to consumers
  • High costs can occur
  • This include delivery, marketing, promotion, and inventory storage
• Producer to Retailer to Consumer involves the producer selling to a retailer who then sells to individual customers
  • It allows the producer to sell in large quantities at once
  • Reduced costs, the retailer incurs costs relating to promotional and inventory
  • This eliminates direct contact with customers
  • Retailers markups cause the profits to reduce
• Producer to Wholesaler to Retailer to Consumer involves the producer selling to wholesalers, who then sell to retailers in smaller quantities, and they sell to consumers
  • Large bulk sales to wholesalers are possible
  • Wholesalers do the promotion (to retailers)
  • Reduces costs because storage & transportation costs are paid by the wholesaler
  • Increases availability across regions and markets, as products are distributed to multiple retailers
  • Prices are increased for consumers, more profit is taken away from producers, and it takes longer to reach consumers
  • Wholesalers marks up make it cheaper for retailers to buy direct from the producer
• Agent-Assisted Distribution involves a producer to an agent. Retailers retailers and then the consumer

Agent-Assisted Distribution

• Agents have market expertise and connect producers to wholesalers in new markets
• Agents may receive commission OR mark up prices to cover expenses -Lowers margins and the longer distribution chain means there are increased costs (distribution fee, agent fee) -This helps with exports and entering global markets

Product Factors Impacting 'Place' Decisions

• The product's characteristics influences the place where decisions include:
  • Type of product (direct distribution or wholesale)
  • Technicality (direct distribution)
  • Price range (limited to retailers)
  • Durability (retail distribution)
• Other factors impacting place decisions include purchase frequency, where competitors are selling, and where customers are located

Marketing Mix: Promotion

• Promotion aims to inform customers about new goods & services
• Promotion persuades to convert interest into sales
• It helps shape brand image and increase loyalty
• It increases sales and market share

Promotion Structures

• Structures within include advertising, above the line, and sales promotions below the line
• Advertising can be either via television, radio, newspaper, magazine, posters or billboards, leaflets, or via online & social media
• Sales promotions includes after service, gifts, BOGOF (Buy One Get One Free), Free samples, Point of Sale, Price Reduction, PPL, or Competitions
• The advertising process involves setting objectives, deciding on an advertising budget, creating an advertising campaign, choosing a medium, and evaluating campaign effectiveness

Above-the-Line Promotion

• Above-the-line promotion is advertising using paid communications via printed and visual media
  • It aims for wide reach to a broad audience and boost reach and frequency
  • There are two types: informative vs persuasive
  • Those that create awareness or drive a purchase

Informative Advertising

 - This involves sharing facts and focuses on details of the products facts, features, and benefits
 - This helps customers make informed decisions and build trust by accurately showing the product, which increases reliability

Persuasive Advertising

 - This works by evoking emotions to create an emotional connection and make products seem desirable.
 - Influences buying decisions, makes customers relate and want to buy

Advertising Channels

Television

 - Has  wide reach with  millions of people viewing, however this is a very costly form of advertising
 - Great to place attractive product displays, there is no reach to younger segments
 - Great for timed advertising as you can reach the target audience

Radio

 - A has a decent reach with millions of people listening and it is more cheap
 - Good for memorable songs, however this form has no visual message
 - Additionally there is no hard copy for reference

Newspaper

 - Newspaper helps to aim for customer segments, it is long lasting as it can be cut out.
 - Contains heavy information, however there is not eye catching as this is a black and white print only
 - There is a lack of younger segments, customers don't really read the newspapers

Magazines

- Used to atract specific customer groups which are eyecatching, with a long lastting impact 
- Slow to print however it can be more expensive

Billboard/Posters

- Wide reach is beneficial for a  large amount of people, with and eyecatching visuals
- It can have a long lasting effect but there is lack of details offered on this medium

Leaflets

- Strong  geographical segmentation as the area will be targeted with the leaflets
- Incetive to convert into sales, but leaflets can often be ignored 
- Delivered door to door with mail

Internet/Social Media

- High potential for very wide coverage but potential high competition
- Increased ads are needed and there can be privacy concers

Below-the-Line Promotion: Sales Promotions

• Short-term incentives and discounts
• Support traditional advertising efforts and increases excitement and urgency to drive sudden purchases

Common techniques

- after-sales service
- gifts to incentivise and encourage repeat purchases of small gifts
- freemium as a promotion option to encorage trial
- discounts to offer flash sells
- promotions

-BOGOF - buy one get one

• Point of sales
• Competitions and product placements

Benefits of Sales Promotions

• Off-season sales
• New Customers
• Brand Loyalty

Factors Affecting Promotional Decisions

• The various promotional stategies depend of what states life cycle for the product that are above
• Promotion varies on the product, with consumer goods seeing more publicity and B2B seeing bulk selling
• The amount of money that is put in compared to profit depends alot on the budget