“We’ve got a number of important issues to discuss today,” began Dee Stribyute as she opened the weekly marketing manager’s meeting for Lite Bite Foods. Lite Bite is a producer of low fat, low calorie snack foods. The other managers attending the meeting were her two top assistants, Mark Etter and Rhea Taylor.
“First, sales were hurt last year when we had to recall our almond chocolate bars because of concerns about contaminated ingredients. We’ve got our work cut out for us to recover from that setback. Many stores quit carrying our products, and even the ones that continued to do so put less emphasis on displaying and promoting them. We’ve got to get our products into as many stores as possible. Consumers shouldn’t have to go all over town trying to find our snacks. We also need to make sure that our products are displayed and promoted in a way that attracts attention.” Dee looked at her assistants, and saw that they seemed ready to make some proposals. However, she decided to get another important issue out on the table before stopping to discuss solutions, so she continued with her comments. “The other big concern is the cost of moving our goods. Distribution costs are a major part of the overall cost of selling our goods. What can we do to make the flow of products from our kitchens to our ultimate consumers more efficient?” Having laid out her concerns, Dee sat down at the head of the table, saying to her assistants, “O.K. guys, I’m ready for suggestions.”
Dee’s comments about the need to get Lite Bite products into additional retail outlets suggests the company wants to use a(n)
