Wondering if you heard of this contest somewhere? Yes, it refers to the blockbuster movie Charlie and the Chocolate factory. The discourse is intended not to undermine the importance of either of the two fields of business, rather it aims at bringing forward arguments in favor of the relative importance of both the areas with regard to a fictional case in order for the reader to map and develop an understanding of the vitality of both departments to the success of a business.
The news of an upcoming event spreads like fire across the jungle downtown, with promotional campaigns full blazing over different mediums including Television campaigns, retailer's willing to sell Willy Wonka's chocolate bar by the millions with only a few having the golden ticket passes sealed in the packaging. Till here, it's done and dusted that it were the marketers who have been quite successful in creating the necessary hype for attracting waves of customers.
However, could this campaign have grabbed the same attention had the chocolate bars not reached on time at the registered retailers and had a handful of golden tickets not been calculatedly placed by the order entry and management department in the stocks provided to each retailer? That's where the Supply chain comes into play. A marketer may make tall claims but those would remain only claims until backed by the evidence (timely delivery of the product) which is ensured by the transportation head of a Supply chain.
Similarly, moving on in the movie it is depicted that children from the elite as well as a child as poor as Charlie have the ability to buy the chocolate bars betting on their luck that they might just become the owners of one of the prized tickets. This goes to show that Willy Wonka and his hypothetical team of marketers deserve all applaud for positioning the chocolate bar as a commodity for all classes i.e. selecting the right target market. But again had the chocolate not been manufactured using good quality plus cost effective methods, it would not be affordable by an unfortunate child nor preferred by a pampered elite class child. So the sourcing of good quality raw materials at the least cost resulted in a reasonable price of the product.
Once, the ticket possessing children and their guardians enter the factory, at each stage of the competition Willy Wonka acts as a brand ambassador raising awareness about the quality of the chocolate offerings all around. But it would at the same time be an injustice to ignore the role the Oompa Loompa's or the Inventory managers were exhibiting to maintain the harmony of the processes and taking corrective measures in case of any mishap, which again is a part of Supply Chain Management. Also, an interesting point to note here would be that the Oompa Loompa's were actually acquaintances of Willy Wonka whom he partnered with later on and set an example of trust based supplier partnerships on based on their value enhancing performance.
So be it Marketing or Supply chain behind the success of the contest, one thing is common seeing it from both angles that is to make the end user satisfied is the ultimate objective of both departments which is not possible to achieve without being a passionate marketer or a supply chain expert.