A Useful Toolbox for Marketing Channel Managers

Abstract

Brand management was the byword in consumer goods marketing with companies measuring effective distribution by the number of resellers in their networks. They seemingly gave little thought to reseller efficiency, satisfaction, or motivation. The emergence of computers (in particular PCs), mobile phones, and tablets led to massive commercial change. Manufacturing became increasingly efficient and the cost of almost all manufactured goods declined significantly as globalization had a massive effect on the cost of goods and services. At the same time, the cost of distributing these goods and services increased within many countries due to the cultural, statutory, and legal changes that redefined the supplier–reseller relationship. Concepts not clearly delineated but related to aspects of marketing channels variously identified as channels of distribution, sales channels, supply channels, and marketing channels became increasingly important (as explained in an earlier Marketing Channel Insights article) encouraging sharper definitions of marketing channels.1 For example, Bert Rosenbloom, the author of Marketing Channels: A Management View and the Founding Editor of the Journal of Marketing Channels, clearly saw marketing channels as “the external contractual organization that management operates to achieve its distribution objectives” (Rosenbloom, 2013, p. 10). As marketing channels and marketing channel strategy evolved, a number of marketing channel strategy