Chapter 9 – Place (Distribution) Strategy
9.6 Discussion Questions and Activities
REVIEW QUESTIONS
- Why are direct marketing channels possible for some products and not others?
- Explain the value intermediaries can add to products.
- Name some companies that have multiple marketing channels for their products. What are those channels?
- What are some reasons for backward integration? For forward integration? Does such integration always benefit the consumer?
- How do marketing channels differ around the world? Why is it sometimes hard for companies to penetrate foreign markets?
- What’s the ideal number of marketing channels a company should have?
- Explain the value intermediaries can add to products
- Which companies manage inventory in marketing channels?
- Why are good channel decisions critical to a product’s success?
- Name the factors that affect channel-selection decisions.
- Which kinds of products are more likely to be distributed using exclusive marketing strategies
- How do companies add value to products via their marketing channels?
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
- Is selling power the only source of channel power? From what other sources could an company derive channel power?
- The chapter listed a number of scenarios that can cause channel conflicts. What other factors can you think of that might cause channel conflicts?
- Amazon.com has carved out a unique niche for itself as an intermediary. Amazon sells products on behalf of manufacturers such as Dell, Sony, and Calvin Klein, as well as retailers such as Macy’s and Toys R Us. How should Amazon be categorized? As a retailer, wholesaler, or broker?
- What are some brands that you think use selective or exclusive channels? How does channel choice, in those instances, influence consumer perceptions of value? In what situations might selective or exclusive channels add real value?
- Of the channel functions described in the chapter, which is the most important and why? The least important? Why?
- Which companies have the most power to resolve channel conflicts?
- Why are marketing channel decisions as important as pricing and product feature decisions?
- What are the benefits of looking at all of the companies that contribute to the production of a product versus just the companies that sell them?
- Why do channel partners rely on each other to sell their products and services?
- Why are direct marketing channels possible for some products and not others?
- Name some companies that have multiple marketing channels for their products. What are those channels?
- How do marketing channels differ around the world? Why is it sometimes hard for companies to penetrate foreign markets?
ACTIVITIES
- Think of some products or services you currently use. Are there any you would like to buy via different marketing channels? Do you think the products could be made available this way?
- Describe a time in which you did business with a company and received conflicting information from its different channels (for example, a store’s web or mobile site versus a visit to the store). How did it affect your buying experience? Have you done business with the company since?
- Break into groups and make a list of two or three products or services. Decide which channels could be used to distribute each product. Present your findings to your class and see if they agree with you. Make a list of two or three products you believe failed because of poor marketing channel choices.
