Advantages of Brands

A strong brand offers many advantages for marketers including:

 Brands provide multiple sensory stimuli to enhance customer recognition. For

example, a brand can be visually recognizable from its packaging, logo, shape, etc. It
can also be recognizable via sound, such as hearing the name on a radio
advertisement or talking with someone who mentions the product.
 Customers who are frequent and enthusiastic purchasers of a particular brand are
likely to become Brand Loyal..
 Well-developed and promoted brands make product positioning efforts more
effective. The result is that upon exposure to a brand (e.g., hearing it, seeing it)
customers conjure up mental images or feelings of the benefits they receive from
using that brand. The reverse is even better. When customers associate benefits with
a particular brand, the brand may have attained a significant competitive advantage
 Firms that establish a successful brand can extend the brand by adding new
products under the same “family” brand. Such branding may allow companies to
introduce new products more easily since the brand is already recognized within the
market.
 Strong brands can lead to financial advantages through the concept of Brand
Equity in which the brand itself becomes valuable. Such gains can be realized through
the out-right sale of a brand or through licensing arrangements

TYPE AND NATURE OF MIDDLEMEN

There are three types of middlemen that facilitate the flow of goods and services from
the manufacturer to the customer.

Merchant Middlemen
These are the intermediaries who take title to the goods and services and resell them.
We know them as dealers, wholesalers and retailers. These middlemen get margins
and bonuses as compensation. They share the risk with the manufacturers when they
take title and physical possession of the goods.

Agents
These are those intermediaries who do not take title to the goods and services but help
in identifying potential customers and even help in negotiations. The typical example is
 that of C&F agents, brokers, jobbers, etc. who act on behalf of the producer only to the
limited extent of prospecting, warehousing and redistributing the products. They do not
share risk with the manufacturers as they do not take the title to goods and services.
Agents earn a commission and are reimbursed for all expenses by the manufacturer.
Facilitators
These are independent business units that facilitate the flow of goods and services from
the producer to the customer without taking a title to them or negotiating for them on
behalf of the producer. Transport companies, banks and independent warehouses are
an example of these institutions. These institutions are paid for their service charges.
For example, a transporter get paid in the form of freight charges, while a banker gets
paid service charges in the form of bank commission and warehouses and cold
storages earn rent.

The Functions of Wholesaler.

Buying of goods in large quantities from producers and selling the same in small quantities to
retailers is termed as wholesale trade and the person who carries on wholesale trade is called
the "Wholesaler".

Functions

The primary functions performed by the wholesalers are as follows:

 He assembles varieties of goods from different producers. In case of agricultural goods,

he collects small quantities of goods from numerous small-scale producers and store in his
godown.
 He stores the assembled goods in proper warehouse till the goods are sold.
Warehousing or storing of goods fills up the time gap between the production and consumption.
 He distributes the assembled goods to the retailer or to the consumer directly. He thus
helps in the dispersion process of marketing.
 He helps in the transportation of goods form the place of production to his godown and
to the retailer.
 He provides financial assistance to the retailers by supplying products on credit.
 He helps in proper grading of goods as per quality, size and colour.
 He involves all the risks associated with the ownership as he makes bulk purchases and
makes arrangement for assembling and warehousing.
 Retailer
  

Definition
A business which sells goods to the consumer, as opposed to
a wholesaler or supplier which normally sell their goods to another business. Retailers
include large businesses such as Wal-Mart, and also smaller, non-chain locations run
independently such as a family-run bookstor.

Function of retailer:

*provides personal services to all

*provides two-way information

*facilitate standardisation and grading

*underteke physical movement and storage of goods

*assembles goods from various sources

*stock goods for ready supply to buyers

*extend credit facility

*creat demand by window diaplay etc 

The following difference between wholesalers and retailers can be drawn:

Wholesalers:
 It is the first link in the chain of distribution which links between manufactures and retailers.
 The wholesaler trade is conducted in bulk quantities.
 Most of the transactions are effected on the basis of credit.
 The capital requirement of this business is heavy.
 This type of trade deals in specific goods.
 It does not emphasize on proper display of goods.
 It does not experience direct dealing with consumers.
 It avails the economics of bulk purchasing.
 They operate in big cities and towns.
 It does not give emphasis on home delivery facility.
 It does not provide facility.
 It does not provide after sale service.
Retailers:
 It is the last link in the chain of distribution which links wholesalers and consumers.
 It is conducted in small quantities.
 Most of the transactions take place on cash basis.
 This type of business usually require less capital.
 This type of trade deals in variety of goods.
 It gives  a lot of emphasis on proper display and advertisement.
 It always deals directly with the ultimate consumers.
 It does not avail such economies because it does not incur bulk purchase of goods.
 They operate in small villages and in big cities.
 It gives much emphasis on home delivery facility.
 It provides after sale service to the consumers.

Placement strategy

Placement (or distribution): refers to how the product gets to the customer; for example, point-of-

sale placement or retailing. This fourth P has also sometimes been called Place, referring to the

channel by which a product or service is sold (e.g. online vs. retail), which geographic region or

industry, to which segment (young adults, families, business people), etc. also referring to how the

environment in which the product is sold in can affect sales.

Distribution channel

  

Definition
Path or 'pipeline' through which goods and services flow in one direction
(from vendor to the consumer), and the payments generated by them flow in the
opposite direction (from consumer to the vendor). A distribution channel can be as
short as being direct from the vendor to the consumer or may include several inter-
connected (usually independent but mutually dependent) intermediaries such
as wholesalers, distributors, agents, retailers. Each intermediary receives the item at
one pricing point and moves it to the next higher pricing point until it reaches the
final buyer. Also called channel of distribution or marketing channel.

Types of distributional channel

Indirect Channel

 The indirect channel is used by companies who do not sell their goods directly to consumers.
Suppliers and manufacturers typically use indirect channels because they exist early in the supply chain.
Depending on the industry and product, direct distribution channels have become more prevalent
because of the Internet
.
Direct Channel
 A direct distribution channel is where a company sells its products direct to consumers. While direct
channels were not popular many years ago, the Internet has greatly increased the use of direct channels.
Additionally, companies needing to cut costs may use direct channels to avoid middlemen markups on
their products.

The main affecting factors are following:

Organization objectives - If company objective is to have mass appeal and rapid market

penetration. 

type of product - Perishable products should have a short distribution channel, FMCG goods should

have a wide reaching, intensive distribution channel. 

nature and extent of market- Distribution to consumer market or industrial markets would be

different channel structures. 

existing channel for comparable product- company may chose it's existing channel of distribution

for relative product. 

buying habit of customers- Understanding consumer needs and criteria for buying 

Channel Availability - Channels may not be available