Travis R. Martin, CPA, MBA

Student Eggmen Used in Distribution Channel Activity

Lesson Background

One of the most underappreciated “P’s” of Marketing is Placement (or distribution). Most people, students especially, would rather talk about product creation, promotion, and pricing, as opposed to discussing how to get products from one point to another.

This hands-on marketing activity puts a fun spin on distribution channels by requiring students to move a product from point A to point B while navigating a classroom obstacle course.

The product in this case is a hard-boiled egg, which with a little help from a sharpie and some push pins, becomes a loveable “Eggman.”

The actual obstacle course will vary depending on how your classroom is laid out, but my classroom provided the following obstacles, or stations, as I called them:

• A 6-foot long piece of tubing that the Eggman traveled down to begin the journey
• 2 traffic cones in the middle of the room that the Eggman had to weave around
• A large desk that Eggman had to travel over
• 2 tables that Eggman had to travel under
• An ocean (marked off with tape and labeled with a sign) that Eggman had to fly over

Of course, carrying an egg by hand through an obstacle course wouldn’t be too challenging, and it probably wouldn’t teach a whole lot about distribution channels.

So, to make things a little more difficult, the students are not allowed to touch the Eggman with their hands. They must transport him by selecting various modes of transportation. For my activity, I use a baseball mitt, a hand-towel, a toy cart, a Frisbee, and a spoon. As an added twist, I require that the students use each method of transportation only once (for instance, a student could not use the spoon to carry the Eggman through each station).

By using this setup, students are forced to develop a plan that utilizes their transportation and labor resources in an

Student Plan for Navigating Eggman Distrubtion Channel

efficient manner.

After creating a plan, the groups are timed to see how quickly they can navigate the channel. I like to assign a dollar amount to each second (1 second = $100 cost) as well as assigning a cost for labor ($250 per student involved in each station). At the end of the game, we calculate what team has navigated the channel for the lowest total cost, and that group is declared the winner.

The activity is concluded with a discussion of how our distribution channels could be made more efficient.

Having completed this activity with a couple of different classes, I can say that it does an effective job of making the subject of distribution channels come to life.

Instructions: An “Eggcellent” Distribution Channel Activity

PowerPoint Notes: Product Placement (Distribution) Discussion

Note
This activity was adapted from a similar one I found on the internet a while back. I believe it was from a group of professors in New York?? I tried to find it again, but couldn’t. If you’re the originator of this idea, and would like credit, drop me a line and I will link back to the original.

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