The Four P's Of Marketing - Place

Marketing strategies must address the place aspect for their product. Place refers to the chains of distribution for a company's product line. A chain of distribution is any firm or entity involved in getting the product from the manufacturer to the consumer (Perreault, McCarthy, 2004). This paper will summarize an article discussing the chain of distribution for Banana Republic's new specialty apparel product line, an explanation of how these distribution channels will support the new product line, and the importance of the new product line and the distribution channels to the company's marketing strategy.

Banana Republic is a fashion retail merchandiser that is known for offering high-end clothing to men and women at reasonable prices (PR Newswire, 2006). Recently Banana Republic has decided to add specialty apparel to their product line. The new product line will consist of frames for prescription lenses and sunglasses. The original apparel product line sold by Banana Republic was offered to the public through the internet, mail-order, and Banana Republic retail stores. The new product line will have an enhanced distribution chain. Banana Republic will join into a partnership with Safilo Group who is known for high-end eyewear. The partnership between Banana Republic and Safilo Group will offer the new product line of Banana Republic a wider distribution channel which will allow for more market saturation. In addition to being available through the methods above the eyewear produced with the Banana Republic name will be offered at optical retail stores, specialty optical wear retail stores, the sunglass specialty store owned by Safilo Group, and possibly high-end department stores (PR Newswire, 2006). The partnership will also offer advantages to Safilo Group. Safilo Group will be able to add a well-known brand name to their product line which will aid sales in their North American markets (PR Newswire, 2006).

The increased chains of distribution provided to Banana Republic through their partnership with Safilo Group allow Banana Republic to achieve greater market saturation. The existing reputation Safilo Group has for providing quality, luxury eyewear will open doors to many eyewear retail shops for a newcomer to the product line. The distribution channels that will be used by Banana Republic will get the product to their target market as well as other markets that may not be considered the purchaser of luxury eyewear. The fact that Safilo Group has a presence in so many different venues for selling this product coupled with the reputation for quality, affordable products that Banana Republic has achieved should put this new product line on the fast-track to success.

The addition of an eyewear line to the existing product line of Banana Republic is an ideal way to support the companies marketing strategy of transforming Banana Republic to a brand-name that is associated with lifestyle products. The eyewear product line complements the existing handbag, jewelry, and personal care product lines (PR Newswire, 2006). The selection of what products to add to existing product lines is very important to a company's marketing strategy. The desire for Banana Republic to become known as a life-style product brand name

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