Product Placement Strategy in the Business Market Competition: Studies of Fast Moving Consumer Goods

Abstract

The phenomenon of distribution intensity has received little attention in academic research, particularly in its relation to the distribution of Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG). This paper aimed at exploring distribution management practices that is appropriate for describing concept and theory related to product placement in the market. The paper uses either qualitative research method as phenomenology by using the philosophy of constructivism interpretation or grounded theory by philosophy of pragmatism interpretation. The data obtained to study the development in FMCG distribution management in term of channel group of traditional markets in Indonesia. The result identifies and describes that product placement concept pervades relations among: (1) the firm’s strategic policy; (2) numbers, types, and roles of salesperson; (3) the distribution level of product; and (4) the customers’ coverage expansion. Theoretically this paper proposes four typical of product placement strategies namely; trial, introduction, attacker, and leader. It might be argued that the findings of this study have constructively arranged the concept and theory of product placement as a form of its novelty. The result of the study contributes into the concept of “place” in marketing mix, along with the use of agency theory as an alternative perspective in marketing management research.