How To Build Aspiration with Distribution

The Relationship Between Aspiration and Distribution

A brand’s Aspiration depends on the level of specialness and desirability people feel the brand has. A brand’s distribution is an important approach to take to increase a brand’s feeling of Aspiration.   

Increasing your brand’s Aspiration through Distribution can be done in many ways.  From looking at your brand’s breadth and depth of distribution, to exploring alternative, untraditional channels – where your brand is able to be found is key to building the specialness around it. 

To improve your brand’s Aspiration through Distribution, consider the following: 

1. Breadth of distribution:  Sometimes, things feel a bit more aspirational when they are slightly out of reach. This isn’t to say that you should make your brand difficult to find, but it might mean that you should be selective when choosing the retail outlets your brand is found in. Avoiding retailers known for heavy discounting, for example, is something you consider. Instead, looking at alternative channels and stores which feel aspirational can have a halo-effect on the brands that are sold there. When building your brand’s Aspiration through Distribution, consider the locations you’re placing your product in. They should feel aspirational too.  

2. Depth of distribution:  If you do plan to go wide with your distribution network, you can still control the depth of your distribution with a particular retailer. Explore geographies where you feel your brand is best suited. It might not be that your brand should be distributed nationally. Perhaps there are particular cities where it makes the most sense for your brand to live.  Controlling the depth of your brand’s distribution can therefore help your brand maintain its sense of specialness.

3. Location of your product in store or online: When your product is found in store, the location of it in-aisle is equally important. Products that are often found below eye level tend to be less aspirational than products which are found at eye level. Products that are placed towards the end of the aisle are traditionally ones that drive category foot-fall. Aspirational brands usually want to be found at eye-level, towards the middle of the aisle. When your product is sold online, the location of it is equally important. Make sure your product is found in sophisticated online retailers which match your desired level of aspiration. 

What should you do next?

• Consider how widely distributed your brand should be. Aspirational brands may not be found everywhere. Selecting the right retail outlets which match the image you’re creating from your brand is important to drive Aspiration through Distribution. 
• Ensuring that your brand appears in the right cities and regions to match the Aspirational image you’re creating is important if your brand is widely distributed. Aim to be easy to get a hold of in cool, trendy and modern areas. 
• When placing your brand in aisle or online, ensure the real-estate you secure is premium too. Aspirational brands are at and above eye level in store and purchasable on trendy .com’s. 

How to determine if it’s working.

• Watch your Aspiration score change over time as you are sorting through your brand’s distribution strategy. You should see your Aspiration increase the more you are stocked in, and how well you are stocked in, modern, cool and trendy retail outlets or .com marketplaces.   

• In addition to keeping an eye on your Aspiration over time as you extend your brand into new channels and onto new shelf-sets, consider tasking an instore visibility team with the job of making sure the way your brand is physically presented in store withholds its aspirational edge. 

   

  Guidance from:

  Michael Coden | Head of Marketing, ProQuo AI
  
  Michael has spent 10 years developing and building brands across the US, Europe and Australasia for global companies.