A Sales and Marketing Channel and the Brand Development Process

A sales and marketing channel refers to a set of mutually dependent associations that help in making a service or product available for usage or consumption by the end user or business user. Conventionally, suppliers and resellers have been dependent on intermediaries like retailers, agents, and wholesalers to liaise them with the end user. However today, the internet has brought much positive change to sales and marketing relationships.

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The advent of the internet has redefined all aspects of marketing that make up relationships between suppliers, resellers, and intermediaries. The change internet has brought to sales and marketing revolves around competition, new channel structures, value chain, business and revenue models, commercial arrangements, and trading locations. Digital age sales and marketing strategies do not look to replace traditional intermediaries per se but to make them more efficient and to quicken transactions within supply chains (Edelman, 2010).

The digital age has reduced the rate of face to face that is, physical interactions between suppliers, resellers, and intermediaries since the World Wide Web predisposes business persons to markets that are geographically dispersed. With the internet in place, all niche products within a supply chain reach wider end user audiences.

Low set up costs and minimal barriers to entry have made the internet the center of many sales and marketing ventures. Traders take advantage of e-commerce technology to effect payments to creditors and to receive funds from debtors; online shopping and immediate payment systems are enjoyed by consumers on a global basis. Overall, there are very tangible results that come with web based content marketing that is, a paradigm shift in consumption and commerce that promote distribution through the internet (Schindehutte, Morris & Pitt, 2009).

Suppliers, resellers, and intermediaries of old; retailers, agents, wholesalers, have been able to realize massive growth in matters revolving online retail of goods and services. End users purchase tangible goods from online establishments like Amazon, or eBay, in addition to a multitude of other small scale retailers marketing in a vast array of diminutive niches (the long thin tail of marketing). For products like software upgrade and theatre tickets, online purchasing has proven to be very viable.

The management of supply chains on a global level is at the moment a central subject that takes logistics to a whole new level; all courtesy of the World Wide Web. Whats more, is that distribution within the said supply chains has become a centralized topic of supply chain strategic management and is made possible courtesy of logistics professionals with software, resources, technical information and technology that is highly technical. Courtesy of the internet, supply chain managers charged with the role of logistics have been able to integrate all essentials of physical distribution through the World Wide Web; with such an arrangement, the flow of goods and services are optimized twofold (Kotler & Armstrong, 2010).

In a nutshell, the internet has segmented the consumers dependent on supply chain supply chain into simplifiers, sportsters, surfers, bargainers and connectors. Bargainers are end users who look for the best prices in the internet; sellers, intermediaries, and suppliers could also look for the best bargain of what they have to offer online. Simplifiers seek convenience, connectors seek online forums, and sportsters seek entertainment. The most phenomenal merit of the internet is that it has widened the market share; with customers making orders on goods without meeting producers; making suppliers carry out just in time deliveries.

Assignment 2 Unit 2: Activity 2.4

The below persona template is in line with the product that puts me as a producer, would present to the market. The product in question is denim and my brand name would be Urban Denim

Persona Template Detail

Age, Gender Teenagers and young adults, both male and female, comprise the target market i.e. prospective clients that Urban Denim would target.

Income, Marital Status There are no specific income groups that Urban Denim as a brand targets since the aim is to lure customers with high quality denim. It is unlikely that teenagers will be married but young adults could be married.

Occupation Urban Denim will be targeting students for the most part. Students are known to love trendy and hype denim that is also fashionable

Education One does not have to be book-smart or very much educated to fit into jeans. Education is important but the business world is dominated by transactions between willing buyers and willing sellers.

Hobbies It is not hobbies per se that Urban Denim will be targeting in its prospective clients. All the same it is worth mentioning that consumers have to be lovers of casual wear.

Why would they use your brand?

(functions, features, benefits) End users would prefer Urban Denim as a brand since it would be characterized by quality, and would present all wearers as trendy and hype. The cotton used to make the denim will be of high quality; this will be very much durable.

Why would they use your brand?

(emotional, psychological benefits) Emotionally, wearers of Urban Denim will be pleased to associate with a high society brand. The emotional benefits will resonate with the psychological benefits.

What competing brands might they choose and why? The competing brands that may be a challenge to Urban Denim; which customers may choose from include Gap Jeans, Levis Jeans, Tommy Hilfiger, and 69 Jeans among others.

Strategic fit between brand and celebrity A strategic fit between brand and celebrity can only be achieved when Urban Denim spends time and resources on celebrity endorsements. These would also be

Overall description (on liner to describe) Urban Denim is the go to place for all your jeans needs

Name (e.g. Betty, Tina, Charlotte) The overall brand name will still remain Urban Denim but there will be sub brands such as Betty, Tina and Charlotte for the ladies and Tom, Charlie, and John for the lads.

A Reflection on the Development Process

The brand development process will comprise of thorough R&D, research and development that is important prior to the establishment of a brand since it enables a producer to become aware of consumer preferences. The cut, fit, design, and color of jeans; apart from the traditional blue, will only be determined by proper research. After the companies make the first batch of jeans, it will adopt a second mover pricing strategy that will help forge a competitive edge for the business. Since Urban Denim will be a relatively new brand in the market with a market share that is yet to be defined, there will be a need for more sales and marketing initiatives that will define the development process; that, paired with custom fit for consumers, will make Urban Denims bottom line just as good as any established brand in the market.

References

Edelman, D. C. (2010). Branding in the digital age. Harvard business review, 88(12), 62-69.

Kotler, P., & Armstrong, G. (2010). Principles of marketing. pearson education.

Schindehutte, M., Morris, M. H., & Pitt, L. F. (2009). Rethinking marketing: The entrepreneurial imperative. Pearson Prentice Hall.