Business Plan: Marketing Mix: Place (Distribution) Strategy and Promotion Strategy

1. Place (Distribution Strategy) (½ to 1 page, plus a diagram of the distribution channel)

-Describe any intermediaries such as wholesalers or retailers that you must sell through in order to reach the end consumer. Describe the incentives you’ll need to give these intermediaries in order to convince them to carry your product. Also describe any support these intermediaries will expect from you in order to promote your product to their customers. Discuss the price at which you will sell your product to the intermediary and the suggested price at which you will expect them to sell the product to their customer. If applicable, include a diagram of the distribution channel (i.e. the entities through which the product will pass in order to reach the end customer).

-If you will not be using an intermediary, explain why you have chosen to sell directly to the consumer. To support your decision you should reference your competitive analysis, the industry research, and your target market segmentation. This explanation should be at least one half page in length.

2. Promotion Strategy

-What is the goal of your promotion strategy? Typical goals of promotion strategy are 1) build brand awareness, 2) communicate information, 3) create an association between your product and some emotion, 4) reinforce brand loyalty, 5) persuade using comparison, or 6) drive some action. You can have more than one goal.

-What is the message you will use in communicating to your customer? Explain how this message will be meaningful to your target market and why it will be effective in helping you reach your goal.

-What the media will you use in communicating your message to your target market? Will you use advertising, public relations, trade promotions, or personal selling? You can, of course, use more than one of these categories of communication or you can use them all. Simply explain why you will use each broad category.

-If you will use advertising, describe the specific type of advertising you will utilize: radio, newspaper, magazine, television, billboards, or Internet. Be very specific in identifying the types of media you will use in placing your advertising. Give examples. Explain what makes this media the best to use in communicating with your customer. Describe how often you will advertise in each media,

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