Marketing Essentials

Unit 7: Distribution

WebQuests

You Can't Make a Profit if Consumers Don't Buy Your Product

An essential part of any marketing plan is determining how to place your product in the hands of the consumer. A firm could make the best mousetrap in the world but fail if it was not able to distribute its traps efficiently to people who have a rodent problem. Part of the distribution function is advertising carried out by local retailers. Large manufacturers recognize the importance of these advertisements and usually help local merchants with their costs and often help design the ads as well.

1. Investigate Begin the activity by finding newspaper ads for retail businesses. Be sure to locate ads for at least three distinctly different products that were manufactured by a large corporation such as a brand of vacuum cleaner, clothes washer, or computer system. Study these advertisements to determine whether they appear to have been designed by the local merchant or by the manufacturer. Do they emphasize quality, design, price, or some other attribute?
2. Summarize Write a summary of how each advertisement is designed to attract the attention of potential customers. Do these advertisements explain how the goods they promote are superior to competing products? Are any claims made about the product being new or the best available? If such claims are made, are any facts offered to support the claim? Does the retailer guarantee that the products are in stock and ready for delivery?
3. Assess Explain why you think each advertisement you identified will or will not attract customers to the retailer. If the manufacturer helped pay for the ad, do you think it was money well spent? In your opinion, what factors (design, use of language, photographs) in the ads contribute most to their likelihood of being effective? Explain the logic behind your assessment.