Marketing Project--PLACE - Admission/Application Essay Example

Place Table of Contents Place References Place From the interview it is clear that the distribution or place aspects of the marketing mix for WD-40 leverages key brand attributes that include WD-40’s iconic brand cachet and pervasive brand awareness in the United States and in many other developed markets around the world. Ubiquity too is an important aspect of the place aspect of the mix, with presence in more than 180 countries and making use of more than 60 trade channels. Of these, 7 channels account for all but 10 percent of the business, so that one can say that the other remaining channels play only a marginal role revenue-wise, even if they matter in terms of saturating the market with the company’s products, which is also a key part of the place strategy for WD-40, aping Coca Cola.

In terms of distribution strategy, moreover, the company employs a two-tiered approach for its global expansion, leveraging exclusive partnerships to enter into country markets by assigning one exclusive marketing distributor or MD for each country market, and then moving towards directly operating in those country markets where feasible. The United States serves both as the single largest market for WD-40, as well as a showcase market that boosts brand cachet and acceptance in other country markets.

Distribution is also a function of where the products are actually sourced, and in this regard the company has set up manufacturing operations in or near the company’s largest markets, in China, in Europe, and in Australia, apart from the United States, where manufacturing is domestic and likewise a showcase for the rest of the company’s international operations. Elsewhere the use of some key retailers as global showcase places for the company’s products, including the likes of Wal-Mart and Carrefour, serves that purpose well (Interview, 2014).

For WD-40 therefore there is the straightforward place strategy that consists in entering as many markets as possible, and making use of as many trade channels as possible, to achieve global reach and saturation for its products. This can be construed as a source of differentiation for the company. From the standpoint of considering where the company lies in terms of utilizing a broad range of place strategies, WD-40 has made use of all three generic place strategies to achieve its ubiquity and pervasiveness goals, from direct customer interactions, to the use of marketing distributors, to the use of wholesalers in the form of large retailers like Wal-Mart, and the company has thrived doing so (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2014; Borden, 1984).

Moreover, in the context of leveraging ubiquity and pervasiveness as boosting the global appeal and popularity of the brand, WD-40 seems to have done well making use of a comprehensive place strategy to boost brand equity, something that the company claims is a source of real competitive advantage in a market where it has been able to develop a global brand while having the resources of a middling company in competition with manufacturing giants. The literature validates this use of place to boost brand equity as valid and effective (Yoo, Donthu and Lee, 2000).

1 ReferencesBorden, N. (1984). The Concept of the Marketing Mix. Journal of Advertising Research. Retrieved from http://www.commerce.uct.ac.za/managementstudies/Courses/bus2010s/2007/Nicole%20Frey/Assignments/Borden,%201984_The%20concept%20of%20marketing.pdf Interview (2014). Interview TranscriptThe Chartered Institute of Marketing (2014). Marketing Planning Tool: Strategy. CIM.co.uk. Retrieved from http://www.cim.co.uk/marketingplanningtool/tech/tech6.aspYoo, B., Donthu, N. and Lee, S. (2000).

An Examination of Selected Marketing Mix Elements and Brand Equity. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science. Retrieved from http://faculty.mu.edu.sa/public/uploads/1361466903.9327marketing%20mix43.pdf