Marketing Channels

Excellent book both in terms of framework and use of practical examples.Comprehensive coverage.Quite updated and international coverage due to the alliance with E. Anderson that teaches in Insead. The mix of the authors's background clearly enriches the book. Highly recommended and easy to see why it is in its 7th edition.

This edition is really a significant leap forward with so many great examples bringing the framework and principles to life. All the other changes help to broaden the readership appeal and increase the book's usability. For me, this is the definitive text in the emerging discipline of routes to market and is of tremendous value to channels managers, marketing managers and anyone responsible for their organisation's routes to market. In fact, never mind the marketeers, every CEO should be required to read it.

This book, containing plenty of cases in accordance with each topic in every chapter, gives readers hand-on perception on how the theory exists within the business world. I especially love chapter 8:"Channel Power", which specifies 5 powers a manufacturer or distributor may owns and how to deploy them properly in different situation or period. While you read, the book keeps you thinking about your own business and desiring to apply these breakthrough knowledge tomorrow, great!

Marketing Channels is a must-own for any executive who thinks strategically about the way in which customers buy their company's products. Like the sixth edition, the seventh edition is organized around a comprehensive framework for channel strategy. Each chapter walks through a different element of the framework. This approach integrates a wide range of material while making it easy to sample just the strategic topics that are relevant to your business. The seventh edition continues the evolution of the book toward an approach well-grounded in the real-world economics of channels. Much of the content has been carried over from the sixth edition, although the book's structure is more streamlined. A lot of superfluous and outdated material from earlier editions has finally been cleaned up. The chapter on vertical integration has been rightly moved into the "Channel Implementation" section. This is an outstanding chapter that provides a truly unique synthesis of marketing strategy and economic reasoning. I have only two minor quibbles. One, the book is beginning to lag behind actual management practice. For instance, the discussion of margin vs. fee payments, new to the seventh edition, receives a scant four paragraphs. Two, the chapters on channel institutions (Retailing, Wholesaling, and Logistics) should either be expanded or more closely integrated with examples in the text. In addition, the data presented in these chapters are often out-of-date, in some cases by more than ten years. As both a channel strategy consultant and one of Erin's former students, I can personally vouch for the validity of their insights into channel strategy. You will not be disappointed by the quality and rigor of thinking in this book.

In a business world that is constantly changing, it is absolutely critical to understand the function and behavior of marketing channels -- that is, the roles that manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, and consumers play in the channel of distribution. The businesses that understand these tenets will be able to adapt to changes in the marketplace, and those who do not, will ultimately fail.This is the 5th edition of the original book that developed the theories that explain the structure and behavior of marketing channels. There is still nothing better. For those who understand the significance of channels, it provides a clear roadmap for the analysis of changes. For those who do not, it will explain channel member behavior and illuminate recent successes due to channel management (Walmart, Dell Computer), so that you can understand how the lessons can be applied to your business.I recommend this book to all business managers, not just to read once, but to keep in your office and refer to often through the years in order to navigate the high seas of channel change.