John Howard – Market researcher

This is a statement by John Howard on his strategy when targeting a new market.

It's obvious we can't open our own retail outlets throughout the whole land.
But, we can't rely entirely on one agent, can we?

Besides, that would mean losing control over the marketing of our products.
And then, do we want to have a nationwide launch, or do we want to try our product locally first?

A test area would be a good idea. We don't know the market well enough to do without such preliminary testing. 

In the report about consumer habits and preferences, it says that our product is likely to sell more in department stores . This is why I think the best idea would be to negotiate a contract with one of the big chains.

They could launch the product in one specific area to start with, and then market it throughout the country. So they would have exclusive right of sale. Whether or not they would be our sole agents remains to be seen. 

Another point is that we should be careful not to leave all the planning to them. We must have our own say in such matters as pricing policy, packaging, advertising, etc.
We must be responsible for our own strategy, and besides, our brand image is at stake.

As I my first boss used to say: If we really want to learn something about the market, we must have some control over the distribution of the products and keep in touch with the consumers.