L'Oreal: Global Marketing Theory - Essay Example

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This has led to the company’s worldwide success. Hence, it is vital for firms to have a consistency between their channel image and their brand image (Marconi, 1996). Firms sometimes seem to forget that customers do not think in terms of channels. Customers, owing to that, have expectations of marketers (Armstrong, 2007). However, sometimes marketers do not see these prospects. The perception of a consumer being in control goes back a number of years and the idea will probably never change. The real hurdle is how firms give them what they anticipate and make sure that they shop with them in the future. In the business-to-consumer environment, firms in the past opted to eliminate middlemen. If a firm had a pleasing product and an attractive offer, then it could create a list of consumers and never assign a budget to brand marketing (Gregory, 1999). That, however, is no longer the case. These days, every functional area of a company needs to serve as a middleman and offer the help that a customer requires to make a purchasing decision and become a steadfast buyer.

Therefore, brand image has a significant influence on a firm’s channel performance. Also, as article 7 rules of global distribution (2000) emphasizes, a multinational firm needs to have authority over its marketing strategy (Arnold, 2000). This will help the firm in determining the way the distributor perceives the image of their company. This, at the same time, maybe damaging and favorable. In addition, a group’s notoriety may also assist in the selection of foreign partners. This is because distributing well-known products is always quite an “honor” for a partner abroad and the willing marketers are always many. Finally, a firm depends on the “win-win speculation” and so a distributor is anticipated to respect the firm’s rules before his or her own interests (Arnold, 2000). In relation to L’Oreal, the company takes advantage of its notoriety so as to enforce its own rules to distributors that have no other alternatives than to accept them. If not, then they may see themselves substituted immediately. L’Oreal seems to utilize its own image to make the correlation go well and its results optimal. Conversely, because of such notoriety, it is unquestionable that the firm is obliged to decree a strict policy of monitoring, since the distributor may easily spoil its name.

To conclude, there is a real influence balance between channel images and brand images. It is essential for L’Oreal to uphold its position as a leader and look after its brand image. The distributor also has the interest to convey his or her vision to the vision of the firm and work as long as possible with the vision. Nevertheless, the two have two come up with an understanding in order to bring success to its distribution channel. Hence, they could try the “win-win relation”.