A method for building new marketing channels: The case of “door‐to‐door” in dairy products

The aim is to describe the analysis conducted by a leading company in the dairy (yogurt and fermented milk) sector in Brazil regarding the decision to implement a door‐to‐door distribution channel, in which one of the authors was involved.

A brief overview of the marketing channels is presented and the descriptive case study method was used to present the main company information.

The paper describes the decision‐making process that was used to define how basic services like breaking bulks, product variety, special convenience and wait time should be performed in this case. It also emphasizes the main channel decisions, the channel objectives and the chosen door‐to‐door structure for the company described in the case study.

Even though case analysis has a theoretical background, the decision process used here cannot be generalized, being only a guide for academics and practitioners about how company A addressed the direct marketing issue.

The paper presents specific analysis of the Brazilian yogurt market and use as theoretical background the strategic environmental analysis. As a real case, it can be useful for practitioners as reference for decision making, as well for teaching purposes for case studies with college and MBA students. Finally, the paper presents as main contribution a “method for developing new marketing channels”.