In response to Kaley Deboer

Do you feel one channel of distribution could be more beneficial to a company, or do you feel it will always vary depending on the company, product, or service?

Although all of the channels of distribution could be beneficial to a company because they offer different benefits, I believe that the one that could be most beneficial to a company is a direct channel - where the product goes directly from the producer to the consumer.  

I believe that it is beneficial because it could cut costs for the company.  For example, instead of the price getting jacked up due to transportation costs, etc. a company could sell their product at a lower price if it went directly from the producer to the consumer.  The could also create less inventory because they could create products only when they are ordered by the consumer.

The other channels of distribution are also important, have each have their own benefits, but I believe that because of the cost cutting a direct channel could be the most beneficial to a company.  Do you agree with this, or do you believe that another channel is more effective?

Target Marketing Strategies

A target market is a group of people for which an organization designs, implements, and maintains a marketing mix for.  The organization plans to make the marketing mix meet the needs of that specific group of people, which results in mutually satisfying exchanges.

There are three strategies used in target marketing.  The first is an undifferentiated strategy.  In an undifferentiated strategy there is one marketing mix for everyone.  It is also known as mass marketing, and it satisfies most customers with just one marketing mix.  The second strategy is a concentrated strategy.  In a concentrated strategy an organization targets their marketing mix on one market segmentation.  It is also known as niche marketing and it satisfies a specific group of people.  Finally, the third strategy is known as a differentiated target strategy.  In a differentiated target strategy an organization focuses their marketing mix on  several market segments.  There is a distinct marketing scheme for each of these segments.

A product that can be marketed with an undifferentiated strategy is milk.  Almost everyone drinks milk so it can be marketed to everyone with a single marketing strategy.  On the other hand, baby food is pretty much only consumed by babies, so it would be appropriate to use a concentrated strategy focusing in on a target market of parents.

What are some other products that you can think of that can use an undifferentiated strategy to market their products?