Weight Watchers: Place the Distribution

Weight Watchers: Place

The distribution of Weight Watchers is somewhat difficult to address, because there are no actual products that the company is selling. Instead, they are selling their meetings, their recipes, and their support, either in person or online. People who are interested in the Weight Watchers program contact them through phone or Internet, and they must pay set-up fees and maintenance fees while they lose weight (Heshka, et al., 2003). Once they get to the point where their weight is within two pounds of their goal weight they do not have to pay more fees as long as they keep their weight right there (Heshka, et al., 2003).

They have to start paying again if their weight is too high, and they pay until they get their weight back down. They have to weigh in once each month in order to keep their lifetime membership status going and not have to pay the set-up fees again if they gain weight back and want to use the program to lose it again (Heshka, et al., 2003). Both men and women use Weight Watchers with mixed success.

Distribution Channels

The main distribution channels for these things are through the use of a Website and through television commercials where celebrity spokespeople talk about how much weight they have lost (Heshka, et al., 2003). Occasionally they also have 'real' people (i.e. people from normal walks of life who are not famous) who have lost a lot of weight on the program so they can show that anyone is capable of doing the program and that it can work for any person, regardless of what they do for a living or what walk of life they come from (Heshka, et al., 2003).

The main channel for distribution is television, because the Internet has not been around for an advertising medium for as long of a period of time (Heshka, et al., 2003). It is likely that the Internet will catch up in the future, however, as more and more people use it in order to remain basically anonymous. The company also advertises through print in the form of magazine and newspaper advertisements and pamphlets, and word of mouth from satisfied individuals who have been through or are going through the Weight Watchers program is important, as well (Heshka, et al., 2003). This kind of advertising, though, is difficult to track, so there is no real way to know how much of it takes place or how well it actually works.

Stores and Market Exposure

There are no retail stores for Weight Watchers, but there is a market for foods that bear the Weight Watchers name to be sold in some stores (Dansinger, et al., 2005). They come with the number of points that they are worth in the program marked on the box or package, but anyone can purchase them, and the people who are in the weight watchers program are under no obligation to buy any of them. The market exposure that the Weight Watchers company offers is intensive (Dansinger, et al., 2005). They are trying to target the people who want to lose weight, but since there is no way for the company to know who those people are until they contact them they must target everyone and get their message out so that all people hear it or see it (Dansinger, et al., 2005).

There are no storage considerations, either, since there is no tangible product (Dansinger, et al., 2005). The Weight Watchers dinners and prepackaged food that are offered have storage considerations, though, because it must be warehoused and then shipped off to stores that request it and put it on their shelves (Dansinger, et al., 2005). Since these foods are not required for the program, though, it is difficult to classify these foods as part of the program for purposes of storage considerations.

Transportation and Meetings

There are also no transportation methods used, with the exception of the Weight Watchers brand foods, which the people in the program are not obligated to purchase. That also helps them to perform better logistically because they are not required to keep inventory on hand. The real issue with place for many of the Weight Watchers clients is finding a meeting near them, and these meetings can be sporadic. Generally, however, a city with a larger population will have more meeting opportunities (Weight Watchers, 2009).

People who live in rural areas or who are self-conscious and do not want to come to meetings can go online and 'meet' that way - that stops any problems with feeling awkward or locating a meeting nearby (Weight Watchers, 2009). It can, though, make people feel more isolated, since they do not get out and go to meetings with others. These people may not remain as motivated as those who meet in person regularly, so there is a consideration there, as well (Dansinger, et al., 2005).