Distribution strategies are vital to Brand Strategies and driving the value of products. Brands need to ask themselves, who they are trying to reach with their products and how they want to reach them? There is no question the retail landscape and consumer buying habits have changed. It is important to understand, anticipate and adjust to these changes.
Any Brand that manufacturers or sells premium products need to create an elevated customer experience to succeed. Creating the desire for the product itself and the desire to obtain that product through a certain outlet. Part of that desire is the need to be among the first consumers to obtain that product and the unwillingness to accept an alternative. These moments’ drive Brand Awareness and the myriad of benefits that cascade from strong Brand recognition.
In some of our previous articles we have covered the pressure that marketplace sales channels place on product values. They are designed to have the widest selection possible at the lowest prices. Amazon is a price follower, and their forecasts get more accurate the longer something is in the market. One eBay seller mentioned the platform as starting out as an awesome garage sale that has turned into a place to dump cheap merchandise. Despite their efforts to improve the detail page content and generate product reviews to increase consumer trust, the reach and price pressures that marketplaces deliver, do not create a sustainable environment for premium products, without significant distribution control.
There are thousands of strategies that can include sales through marketplaces that vary by industry and a Brands position in that industry. There are two constant factors through them all,
1) The perceived value of a Brands’ premium products drive the value of everything else they sell, and
2) Multiple offers for the same product in the same location, will put pressure on that products’ value.
The more products from a Brand in the market that exist with a compromised value, will negatively impact total Brand Awareness. However, if Brands invest in strategies and tools to maximize the moments that drive Brand Awareness by protecting the distribution of those products, they will drive higher margin sales on their entire product line and achieve the Brand Awareness that they are striving to achieve. The Key is the consistency.
Counter Diversion is a boutique SaaS company - we don't have marketing and we don't use high pressure sales tactics. Our goal is to have solid, honest conversations about the issues at hand and then either recommend our service or another one that is a better fit for your needs. www.counterdiversion.com
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