Abstract

The synchronization of channel structures, global brand management and advertising

campaigns, and sales promotion all must be continually strengthened over time for companies
to stay on course to their objectives. Best practices in multichannel management in both B2C
and B2B contexts is predicate on keeping these three attributes coordinated, tightly integrated
and moving together towards a common objective (Bellin, 2006). The intent of this paper is
to evaluate which factors most influence channel structures and strategies of global markets,
define how global brands and advertising campaigns benefit a company, and define the role
of sales promotion in the marketing mix, analyzing how they vary between industrial and
consumer products.

Introduction
Of the many factors that influence channel structures and strategies that are available to
global marketers, the most prevalent are those that have to do with customer relationships and
the formation of trust (Karray, 2011). This pervades all other factors, as companies must
move away from being entirely focused on designing their distribution channels to only
accomplish transactions, and instead concentrate on creating long-standing relationships with
customers. A secondary factor that influences channel structures and strategies are global
brand advertising campaigns (Bengtsson, Bardhi, & Venkatraman, 2010). A third factor is the
role of sales promotion in the marketing mix, and how that specific strategy varies between
consumer and industrial products and services, further making channel structures and
strategies more unique (Dogan, 2010).

Attaining Profitability through Channel Management, Brand and Marketing Mix

Integration

Distribution channel structures and strategies must stay in step with branding, advertising and
sales promotion strategies if all three are to contribute to higher level of sales and profitability
(Yoo & Lee, 2011). Of these three areas however, channel structures and strategies are the
most specific to a given market, and the most affected by the rapid changes in product or
service demand (Karray, 2011). They are also the one area of advertising, branding and
marketing strategies that have the greatest need for continual knowledge updates, including
support from product management, marketing, product strategies, and services marketing in
both B2C and B2B markets (Wang, Chen, & Wu, 2011).
Another key factor that significantly affects the channel structure and strategy performance is
the depth of insight a given company has of their customer’s buying process, who the key
members of the evaluation process are, and how they choose to evaluate products over the
long-term (Yoo & Lee, 2011). This is one of the more critical factors that influence the
demand for B2B-oriented products and services, as the purchasing cycle is very long
typically, and also requires intensive in-account coordination to be done well.
A fourth factor is the pervasive use of technology to create a greater level of collaboration
and communication across the many different members and groups of a given distribution
channel, uniting it with the supply chain it is reliant on for effectively fulfilling product
demands over time (Karray, 2011). Both B2C and B2B distribution channels need to have a
pervasive level of collaboration and communication to ensure their respective supply chains
can fulfill product and service demand over time. In that sense, the demand visibility that
must be present in a distribution channels’ structure to allow it to stay coordinated to its
supply chain is critical and essential for profitability to be attained over the long-term
(Karray, 2011).
The contributory effects of global brands and global advertising serve to create much higher
levels of awareness, intention and action towards trying a product or service, and advertising
campaigns are the basis of these communications goals being achieved (Bengtsson, Bardhi, &
Venkatraman, 2010).
Global branding and advertising campaigns need to take into account their accumulative
contribution to the growth of the company, its pipeline, and the quantified results of specific
sales promotion and product trial initiatives as well (Kim, 2010). The fact that branding has
become an essential aspect for any company’s social media strategies also supports this
aspect of its contribution to profitability (Melo & Galan,2011).
Branding and global advertising campaigns are best managed as part of a global integrated
marketing communications (IMC) strategy that have quantified goals as every other area of
the marketing mix of a company (Kim, 2010). By having this focus on the contributions of
branding and global advertising campaigns at a measurable level their impacts can be easily
attributed to one type of program or platform decision versus another, tying back to the
effectiveness of a given social media strategy for example. All of the attributes of branding
and advertising campaigns also serve as catalysts of activity throughout distribution channels,
bringing prospects to the website, distribution outlets, or partners comprising the network of
resellers.
Branding and advertising strategies then serve a foundation of messaging and motivating new
potential prospects to try new products and services. Across B2B and B2C markets, the same
holds true for branding and advertising strategies as these platforms and strategies are used
for conveying unique, highly differentiated value propositions over time.

Sales promotion fulfills a critical role in fueling profitability in both B2C and B2B
companies, often creating urgency and the opportunity to treat a new product or service free
or at reduced cost (Dogan, 2010).
Sales promotion strategies for B2B companies are centered on coordinating the efforts of
many different members of the purchasing process, looking to synchronize their efforts
together so that a company will purchase a given product or solution (Martin-Herrán &
Sigué, 2011).
In B2C markets, the focus is much more on the individual consumer, motivating them to also
try the product and inviting them to trust the brand as a replacement or addition to their
current set of preferences (Gamliel & Herstein, 2011). Both B2B and B2C markets’ focus on
sales promotion however seek to create trust with prospects, which will eventually lead to a
product trial over time (Karray, 2011).

Conclusion
Channel structures and strategies, global brands and advertising strategies, and the role of
sales promotion in marketing mix all combine to create a unified marketing and selling
strategy that companies can rely on to increase sales and profitability. The intent of this
analysis has been to show how critical their synchronization is across an organizations’
channels and departments, all unified towards a common goal of capturing prospect interest
and leading to initial product or service trial. This process varies significantly across B2B and
B2C markets and industries, yet despite this wide variation, all share a common focus on
creating a trusted advisor relationship with prospects to turn them into customers.

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