Principles of marketing/Course division/Distribution channels promotion and awareness

Proposed Title: Distribution Channels, Promotion and Awareness

Once marketers have identified the right product and determined appropriate pricing, they must decide how to effectively raise awareness and distribute the product. This unit will focus on these decisions. You will learn that distribution is a complex process that involves taking a product through the manufacturing process, shipping to warehouses, distributing to sellers and customers, and taking returned products. Marketers must work with supply chain managers to determine the best method to route products. If marketers expect that sales will be heavier in the northeast than in the west, additional resources will need to be allocated there to meet demand. There are a number of strategies for moving a product through various distribution channels. These vary based on anticipated demand, actual demand, and the competition. Marketers must have a proactive strategy: They cannot sit on inventory and wait for orders because inventory storage is expensive and a lack of sales is disruptive.

The final and arguably most vital aspect of marketing is the actual promotion of the product. This can take for the form of giveaways, competitions, advertising, sales, and anything else a creative manager can think of. Marketers must take a number of aspects into consideration, however.

If you employ a sales staff to promote the product, how do you compensate them? If you pay a commission, how much commission will be paid per unit? Will the sales staff be given discretion on price, or do you want to send a uniform message that the price is locked in? If a new company has limited funds available for advertising campaigns, might they use public relations tactics to gain free media coverage?

These are just a few considerations that marketers must consider. This final unit will provide you with the tools you need to make the best possible promotion decisions.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 18 hours.

--- {Note| Elements from this section to be incorporated into Section 3}} Marketing is not just a matter of internal strategies and customer analysis. There are factors outside of the company that must be taken into consideration with any marketing strategy. Though marketers can control how they might respond to customer needs and expectations, they face the often-unpredictable reactions of customers to them. Maintaining customer satisfaction is essential to sustainable success. Marketers need to be sensitive to the regulatory and ethical constraints that may be placed upon them by a wide range of domestic and international industry standards and the expectations of society.

Companies must also face social forces that challenge their success. For example, marketers must be aware of the social and cultural aspects of each region in which they choose to market a product. Even a worldwide brand such as Coca Cola must adjust its marketing strategy for every region it enters. An awareness of the cultural factors affecting a marketing strategy can make the marketing message much more effective. Quite often marketers will address social issues especially relevant to lives of their audiences or the larger society with social marketing campaigns.

Finally, as a marketing campaign prepares for its launch, all the issues addressed in this and earlier units must come together in a formalized document - the comprehensive marketing plan.

Completing this unit should take you approximately 39 hours.