The Marketer’s Fire Chat is a networking event aimed at sharing learning from industry misgivings and advisory from best practices. The premiere edition of the Marketer’s Fire Chat happened on Thursday 25th January 2018 at Legibra Office- Pitman House from 6:30 pm – 9:00 pm and our Topic of discussion was Dissecting Route To Market (The Good…..The Bad…… & The Ugly) moderated by our very own

Distribution ideally means the process by which marketers MUST dissect in detail the various options available to them of availing their brands to their chosen potential consumers. Therefore Marketers MUST get down to the various dynamics within their specific industries AND the HOW their customers expect/want to be sold to in order to successfully reach them at a cost-effective (lowest cost possible) and in the most efficient manner. No matter how great the brand is the right choice for retail channel and the right retailer tied to the expectation and suitability of the end consumer will be the key determinant to achieving successful sales. The represented industries at the Marketer’s Fire Chat included Learning institution, FMCG, Government, Pharmaceutical/Veterinary, Hospitality, Banking, Cosmetics, confectionery, Petroleum, Energy, ICT, and society/ Professional body. Various factors were highlighted during the discussion, namely;

• Channels of distribution/ Stakeholders-this is the chain of business that the product or service may need to pass through before getting to the end consumer. It can also be referred to as a protective approach since it helps manufacturers in planning for production.
• Value Chain- marketers need to understand the cost of adding value to the activities i.e. cost of production, taxes etc .
• Efficiency and profitability to deliver the product to the end consumer. The route to market being sales or marketing function?

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