Marketing Management: The Big Picture

chapter twelve

CHANNELS

“…and reducing the indivisibles into cash, he shared the whole among his company, with such equity and discretion, that in the most minute article he neither exceeded nor fell short of distributive justice. Having made this partition, with which every individual was perfectly well satisfied and contented; Roque, turning to Don Quixote, ‘if we did not observe this punctuality,’ said he, ‘there would be no living among such a crew.’”

Cervantes, Saavedra, M. de. (1803).

The adventures of the renowned Don Quixote de la Mancha. Glasgow: Printed by Chapman & Lang. Volume 4, page 238.

After studying this chapter you should be able to:

1. Describe the key challenges of managing channels
2. Identify the key purpose of a channel
3. Explain how channel members add value
4. Identify different channel flows and functions
5. Define the different elements of channel structure
6. Integrate channels with other elements of the Big Picture framework

Walmart and Vlasic Pickles

In the late 1990s, Walmart became interested in Vlasic's gallon jar of pickles, nearly double the standard 80-oz. size, and began sales-testing at a price somewhere over $3 per jar. Consumer enthusiasm led Walmart to propose selling the pickles at just $2.97 per gallon. Vlasic agreed (Walmart accounts for 30 percent of its total retail market), so the larger size soon became available in Walmart stores nationwide. ...