Distribution channel - Essay Example

What is the distribution channel? Discuss the role of advertising in the marketing process? Introduction Marketing process includes a list of activities or components that are to be completed in order to create demand and awareness of a particular product. There are various stages involved in the process of marketing, among which distribution and advertising are considered to be the most important ones. Distribution Channel Distribution channel is one of the important elements of marketing mix which forms a linkage between production and consumption.

Efficient distribution channel is essential for every business as it allows smooth movement of the product from producer to the final consumer. Majority organizations make use of intermediaries including retailers, sales persons and wholesalers to sell their product to the final consumers. In my view, the best way of getting your product to the market is through having your own distribution channel. Advertising through internet will certainly help increase sales and reduce cost. Dell Computers, without any third party’s assistance has been selling its product through internet and is quite successful.

There is a possibility that the third party’s involvement in the distribution might disrupt availability of the product to the customers on time due to hoarding or personal benefits or even might result in inability or failure to meet the targets. Role of advertising in the marketing process Advertising is basically a marketing communication channel through which a product is communicated to the target consumers. Today, media has advanced so much that the message can be disseminated throughout the world in seconds.

Hence, the role of advertising in the marketing process has also increased world-wide. Role of advertising in marketing process help organizations achieve two basic goals, goal of promoting a specific product (product advertising) and goal of promoting the image of an organization (Institutional advertising). I will discuss various roles played by product advertising. Product advertising is considered to be a vital part of marketing process. Among different roles played by advertising, few include: Increase Demand Pioneer advertising is done at the introductory stage in order to increase the demand of the product.

In addition to increasing demand, the purpose of pioneer advertising is to create awareness about the product among the general public. In my opinion, pioneer advertising is all about conveying the benefits of the product and communicating the right message to the customer. For example it was due to extensive pioneer advertising that HDTV became popular among us because initially people could not differentiate between earlier introduced televisions and HDTV. Once the buyers are attracted, efforts should be made to make them permanent customers by utilizing different tools of marketing.

Efficiently Compete Competitive advertising is done at maturity stage to compete efficiently and maintain its position in the industry. Though the basic purpose of it is to increase demand but the actual purpose is to compete efficiently with the competitors by increasing the overall sales of the product. One common thing between various similar selling product brands is that they all engage in competitive advertisement at a certain point of time. Competitive advertising is one of the best ways to show your consumers that competitor’s claims are false and you are still the best in the industry.

The best example is the statement made by GoAir which said “We have not changed. We are still the smartest way to fly”. Moreover, innovation in the product range is the heart and soul of business and helps us compete effectively. Customer Retention Third important role of product advertising is to retain existing customers which is only possible through sustainability advertising. Customer retention will help reduce cost as cost of acquiring new customers is much higher than retaining existing ones.

For example Taco Bell retains their customers by advertising loyalty programs and through reinforcement advertising. Customer retention is very important because if you forget the buyer, the buyer forgets you. Conclusion Keeping in view the above mentioned points, we can conclude that advertising is important to promote a particular product or service and therefore is considered to be an essential element of the marketing process. However, it is important for the organizations to deliver the correct message in order to reach the right target customers.

Bibliography Nobilis Laurus. “Promotion Mix: Advertising.” Biz Development, Laurus Nobilis, 2010. Web. 4th April 2011 “Distribution Channels.” Business Dictionary. Web. 4 April 2011