Marketing Mix: Distribution

Commercialization is a very important step for a new brand emerging onto the market.  Rock-It Vodka's goal is to have a very strong beginning, to make ourselves known within the industry.  Therefore, distribution, or the 'place' of the marketing mix is vital to the success of our brand in the future. In order to place ourselves correctly in the marketplace, we will have to use the proper marketing channels to make sure we are delivering our goods most conveniently with our positioning to create the highest customer value.

"We will try to forge a marketing channel (or distribution channel)—a set of interdependent organizations that help make a product or service available for use or consumption by the consumer or business user."(Marketing:An Introduction Armstrong/Kotler pg. 311).  One channel we strongly hope to join with would be Whole Foods Market.  While they don't have a huge number of stores, the customers who shop there often do so because of the highest quality natural and organic foods available there.  Many people who shop there are directly within our target market of 21-35 year olds who are environmentally conscious and are aware of their impact on the world.  There they also allow alcohol tastings for adults of the legal drinking age, which would benefit our promotion.  Another channel would be large wholesale liquor outlets such as Lee's Discount Liquor and Total Wine and Spirits.  While these would be great for our coverage and availability, it would require a hefty inventory to to be able to supply them with enough product.  That is not to mention that we would be in direct competition with every other brand in the marketplace, which would truly give us a chance to shine as something different. On top of those channels we intend to communicate with music venues, clubs and bars throughout the country in order to make ourselves available to a larger audience. "Next, the company must decide where to launch the new product—in a single location, a region, the national market, or the international market. "(Marketing: An Introduction. Armstrong/Kotler pg.253). Currently Rock-It Vodka will release nationally within the US, and with growth and acceptance of the product we hope to move into Europe within the next year.  For launch we must be sure to have enough inventory to meet the demands of our consumers.  Working with our value delivery network we will assure fast delivery with little to no damage to the product.  A distribution plan on each coast and one in the mid-west should satisfy the demands of the customers.  We want to have 5 million units available for the day of launch with an additional 5 million ready by the next quarter.  This should be enough quantity for a launch, and we shall watch our sales closely to see if we must increase our production to continue to provide our high quality vodka at an affordable price, all year around.