Some marketers feel that the image of the particular channel in which they sell

Question

Some marketers feel that the image of the particular channel in which they sell their products does not matter--all that matters is that the right customers shop there and the product is displayed in the right way. Others maintain that channel images--such as a retail store--can be critical and must be consistent with the image of the product.

2.    Take a position: Channel images do not really affect the brand images of the products they sell that much versus Channel images must be consistent with the brand image.

Explanation / Answer

A marketing channel is a necessary to ensure that the products that have been manufactured reach the end consumers in the proper time effective manner. While it is difficult to ascertain whether any channel has significant correlation to sales, very often a brand is synonymous with the distribution strategy it takes on. For understand the distribution strategy we must first understand the organization`s strategy.

For example, if we consider the case of Zara, a leading fashion retailer. They want to ensure that the latest trends are available to the consumers in the quickest time. To ensure this, the distribution strategy including logistics have to be really effective. In such cases, the cost of supply chain planning, sourcing, network design and logistics management will be high. To recover the costs it becomes a mandate that the costs will be passed on to the customers. In such cases, the shops need to be prime locality where the community can afford to spend the money and purchase for the supply model to work effectively.

Contrary, if we consider a local vendor who wants to sell vegetables across chain of stores, affording a store in a big area in a shopping mart may not be affordable. In such cases, he may prefer to sell it to local vendors in the markets.

I fully feel that the channel image plays an important role in brand images. Brand perception is very important in the mindset of the consumer and this is what differentiates one product from another. If we consider the case of Zara, if Zara were to sell the clothes in low cost stores in every other block, the brand will be popular but only a select few among that neighborhood could really afford such clothes. While it can be argued that if right consumer shop in any area, the brand still maintains the impact it wanted to create, but it is not very often that such occurrence happen. Shopping is often described as an experience, high end shoppers often prefer spending time in shops to understand what is best and what can be better than others in the crowd. In such cases, having a high end retail store is a must to ensure such customers are attracted to the stores. As mentioned initially, all this boils down the to the target audience the brand needs. If they want to target the high end customers and ensure the projected prices are recovered, channel image is a must to maintain.

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