- Hey, everyone. So in this video, we are going to talk about marketing channels. So whenever we talk about marketing, you know that I like to talk about marketing in terms of what marketing does and how marketing is all about value. So we talk about marketing is about creating, communicating, delivering, and exchanging value.

So whenever we are talking about the distribution system or the marketing channels, we are actually talking about the distributing value portion of our marketing. Whenever we are talking about marketing channels, we are ideally talking about the distribution system from the manufacturer to the consumer. So when we talk about supply chain management or supply chain, we are talking about how we resource our raw materials and how the raw materials are brought into our manufacturing plant, all of that thing, as well as how we get the product once they are manufactured from our facilities to the consumer, right?

So that entire thing is kind of like-- that entire thing is what supply chain management is all about, and what we are going to do here is divide that into two pieces. So the upstream partners are the partners that work with us to get the raw materials into our manufacturing facilities. So everything that comes before products reach our manufacturing facilities or raw materials reach our manufacturing facilities is upstream partners.

And everything that comes after that are downstream partners. So for example, if I'm Coca-Cola or if I am Kellogg's and I manufacture specific product, then how does that product reach the ultimate consumers? Who are the partners that help me in getting my products in front of the consumers are my downstream partners.

So whenever we are talking about marketing channel, we are specifically talking about the downstream partners, right? So when we talk about marketing channels, they are all the different entities that help us get our product in front of the consumers.