# Distributing and Promoting Products and Services

## Introduction


### Learning Outcomes

After reading this chapter, you should be able to answer these questions:
1. What is the nature and function of distribution (place)?
2. What is wholesaling, and what are the types of wholesalers?
3. What are the different kinds of retail operations?
4. How can supply-chain management increase efficiency and customer satisfaction?
5. What is promotion, and what are the key elements of a promotional mix?
6. How are advertising media selected?
7. What is personal selling?
8. What are the goals of a sales promotion, and what are several types of sales promotion?
9. How does public relations fit into the promotional mix?
10. What is social media, and how has it changed promotion?
11. What is e-commerce, and how does it affect promotion?
This chapter continues to reveal the role of marketing, starting with a discussion of the distribution system and concluding with a look at traditional and nontraditional marketing channels. It explores how organizations use a distribution system to enhance the value of a product and examines the methods used to move products to locations where consumers wish to buy them. Distribution is also known as “place” in terms of the 5Ps, key components of the marketing mix. It is important to have an understanding of the members of a distribution system and to explore the role of wholesalers and retailers in delivering products to customers. In addition to understanding how the supply chain works to increase efficiency and customer satisfaction, marketers must also develop tactics for promotion, the last element of the marketing mix. Promotion is comprised of six parts, which include traditional advertising, sales promotion, personal selling, public relations, social media, and e-commerce.