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原文出处：Marketing Management

Marketing Channels and Value Networks

Most producers do not sell their goods directly to the final users between themstands aset of intermediaries performing a variety of functions. These intermediariesconstitute a marketing channel also called a trade channel or distribution channel.Formally marketing channels are sets of interdependent organizations involved in theprocess of making a product or service available for use or consumption. They are theset of pathways a product or service follows after production culminating in purchaseand use by the final end user.

Some intermediaries-such as wholesalers and retailers-buy take title to andresell the merchandise they are called merchants. Others-brokers manufacturersrepresentatives sales agents-search for customers and may negotiate on the producersbehalf but do not take title to the goods they are called agents. Stillothers-transportation companies independent warehouses banks advertisingagencies-assist in the distribution process but neither take title to goods nor negotiatepurchases or sales they are called facilitators.

The Importance of Channels

A marketing channel system is the particular set of marketing channels a firmemploys and decisions about it are among the most critical ones management faces.In the United States channel members collectively have earned margins that accountfor 30 to 50 of the ultimate selling price. In contrast advertising typically hasaccounted for less than 5 to 7 of the final price.Marketing channels alsorepresent a substantial opportunity cost. One ofthe chief rolesof marketing channels is to convert potential buyers into profitable customers.Marketing channels must not just serve markets they must also make markets.

The channels chosen affect all other marketing decisions. The companys pricingdepends on whether it uses mass merchandisers or high-quality boutiques. The firmssale force and advertising decisions depend on how much training and motivationdealers need. In addition channel decisions include relatively long-term commitmentswith other finns as well as a set of policies and procedures. When an automaker signsup independent dealers to sell its automobiles the automaker cannot buy them out thenext day and replace them with company-owned outlets. But at the same timechannel choices themselves depend on the companys marketing strategy with respectto segmentation targeting and positioning. Holistic marketers ensure that marketingdecisions in all these different areas are made to collectively maximize value.

In managing its intermediaries the firm must decide how much effort to devoteto push versus pull marketing. A push strategy uses the manufacturers sales forcetrade promotion money or other means to induce intermediaries to carry promoteand sell the product to end users. Push strategy is appropriate where there is low brandloyalty in a category brand choice is made in the store the product is an impulse itemand product benefits are well understood. In a pull strategy the manufacturer usesadvertising promotion and other forms of communication to persuade

consumers todemand the product from intermediaries thus inducing the intermediaries to order it.Pull strategy is appropriate when there is high brand loyalty and high involvement inthe category when consumers are able to perceive differences between brands andwhen they choose the brand before they go to the store. For years drug companiesaimed ads solely at doctors and hospitals but in 1997 the FDA issued guidelines for TV ads that opened the way for pharmaceuticals to reach consumersdirectly. This is particularly evident in the burgeoning business of prescription sleep aids.

Top marketing companies such as Coca-Cola Intel and Nike skillfully employboth push and pull strategies. Marketing activities directed towards the channel as partof a push strategy are more effective when accompanied by a well-designed andwell-executed pull strategy that activates consumer demand. On the other handwithout at least some consumer interest it can be very difficult to gain much channelacceptance and support.

Channel Development

A new firm typically starts as a local operation seIling in a fairly circumscribedmarket using existing intermediaries. The number of such intermediaries is apt to belimited: a few manufacturers sales agents a few wholesalers several establishedretailers a few trucking companies and a few warehouses. Deciding on the bestchannels might not be a problem the problem is often to convince the availableintermediaries to handle the firms line.

If the firm is successful it might branch into new markets and use differentchannels in different markets. In smaller markets the firm might sell directly toretailers in larger markets it might sell through distributors. In rural areas it mightwork with general-goods merchants in urban areas with limited-line merchants. Inone part of the country it might grant exclusive franchises in another it might through outlets witIing to handle the merchandise. In one country it might useinternational sales agents in another it might partner with a local firm.

International markets pose distinct challenges. Customers shopping habits canvary by countries and many retailers such as Germanys Aldi the United KingdomsTesco and Spains Zara have redefined themselves to a certain degree when entering anew market to better tailor their image to local needs and wants. Retailers that havelargely stuck to the same selling formula regardless of geography such as EddieBauer Marks amp Spencer and Wal-Martmarketing strategy for Its entrance into 1MUS. market to slock different national manufacturer have sometimes encounteredtrouble in entering new markets.

In short the channel system evolves as a function of local opportunities andconditions emerging threats and opportunities company resources and capabilitiesand other factors. Consider some of the challenges Dell has encountered in recent years.

Hybrid Channels

Todays successful companies are also multiplying the number of quotgo-to-marketquotor hybrid channels in anyone market area. In contrast to Dell HP has used its salesforce to sell to

large accounts outbound telemarketing to sell to medium-sizedaccounts direct mail with an inbound number to sell to small accounts retailers to sellto still smaller accounts and the Internet to sell specialty items. Staples marketsthrough its traditional retail channel adirect-response Internet site virtual malls andthousands of links on affiliated sites.

Companies that manage hybrid channels must make sure these channels workwell together and match each target customers preferred ways of doing business.Customers expect channel integration characterized by features such as:the ability to order a product online and pick it up at a convenient retail location；the ability toreturn an online-ordered product to a nearby store of the retailer ；the right to receivediscounts and promotional offers based on total online and off-line purchases. Circuit City estimated in-store pick-ups accounted for more than half its onlinesales in 2006. Heres a specific example of a company that has carefully managed itsmultiple channels. REI （Recreation Equipment Inc.） Whats more frustrating: buying hiking boots that cripple your feet or trying onthe perfect pair only to find the store is out of stock in the size or style you want at Recreational Equipment Inc.

Understanding Customer Needs

Consumers may choose the channels they prefer based on a number of factors:the price product assortment and convenience of a channel option as well as theirown particular hopping goals economic social or experiential.As with productssegmentation exists and marketers employing different types of channels must beaware that different conumers have different needs during the purchase process.

Researchers Nunes and Cespedes argue that in many markets buyers fall intoone offour categories.

1.Habitual shoppers purchase from the same places in the same manner over time.

2.High-value deal seekers know their needs and quotchannel surfquot a great dealbefore buying at the lowest possible price.

3.V ariety-loving shoppers gather information in many channels take advantageof high touch services and then buy in their favorite channel regardless of price.

4.High-involvement shoppers gather information in all channels make theirpurchase in a low-cost channel but take advantage ofcustomer support from ahigh-touch channel.

One study of 40 grocery and clothing retailers in France Germany and theUnited Kingdom found that retailers in those countries served three types of shoppers:1. Service/quality customers who cared most about the variety and performance ofproducts in stores as well as the service provided .2. Price/value customers who weremost concerned about spending their money wisely .3. Affinity customers whoprimarily sought stores that suited people like themselves or the members ofgroupsthey aspired to join. As Figure 15.1 shows customer profiles for these types ofretailers differed across the three markets: In France shoppers placed moreimportance on service

and quality in the United Kingdom affinity and in Germanyprice and value.

Even the same consumer though may choose to use different channels fordifferent functions in making a purchase. For instance someone may choose tobrowse through a catalog before visiting a store or take a test-drive at a dealer beforeordering a car online. Consumers may also seek different types of channels dependingon the particular types of goods involved. Some consumers are willing to quottrade upquotto retailers offering higher-end goods such as TAG Heuer watches or Callaway golfclubs these same consumers are also willing to quottrade downquot to discount retailers tobuy private-label paper towels detergent or vitamins.

Value Networks

A supply chain view of a firm sees markets as destination points and amounts toa linear view of the flow. The company should first think of the target markethowever and then design the supply chain backward from that point. This view hasbeen called demand chain planning. Northwesterns Don Schultz says: quotA demandchain management approach doesnt just push things through the system. Itemphasizes what solutions consumers are looking for not what products we are trying to sell them.Quot Schultz has suggested that the traditional marketing quotfour Psquot bereplaced by a new acronym SIVA which stands for solutions information value andccess.

An even broader view sees a company at the center of a value network-a systemof partnerships and alliances that a firm creates to source augment and deliver itsofferings. A value network includes a firms suppliers and its suppliers suppliers andits immediate customers and their end customers. The value network includes valuedrelations with others such as university researchers and government approvalagencies.

Demand chain planning yields several insights. First, the company can estimate whether more money is made upstream or downstream, in case it might want to integrate backward. or forward. Second, the company is more aware of disturbances anywhere in the supply chain that might cause costs, prices, or supplies to change suddenly. Third, companies can go online with their business partners to carry on faster and more accurate communications, transactions, and payments to reduce costs, speed up information, and increase accuracy. With the advent of the Internet, companies are forming more numerous and complex relationships with other firms.

Managing this value network has required companies to make increasing investments in information technology and software. They have invited such software firms as SAP and Oracle to design comprehensive enterprise resource planning systems to manage cash flow, manufacturing, human resources, purchasing, and other major functions within a unified framework. They hope to break up department silos and carry out core business processes more seamlessly. Marketers, for their part, have traditionally focused on the side of the value network that looks toward the customer. In the future, they will increasingly participate in and influence their companies’ upstream activities and become network managers, not only product and customer managers.