The significance of Last Mile

I have been a great fan of Last mile details, whether when travelling , or delivering a marketing pitch.

Last 8 years I have been a part of industry which thrives on creating beautiful communication - irrespective of medium used. What made me happy and sad was the way Retail communication was shaping up.

Happy because this was emergence of a new industry called Retail communication. Sad because the communication challenge at Retail was not addressed properly. A closer look at the value chain of Retail communication will tell you the sordid story.

The entire value chain was kind of passing the parcel game. Brand Marketers passed the parcel to Trade Marketing, which in turn passed the parcel to Media agency and which in turn did its bit to pass the work to Printers, fabricators and so on. Needless to say at every stage margins were added, and money poured in.

For a moment if one were to stop and relook at the entire value chain, it was the last mile link - that of implementation and control which is getting the least value. But was perhaps the most important link in the entire equation.

Talk to any retailer and he/she will vouch that it is the last mile which should be the first talking point. I would say Design, Concepts and Printing setup are all at par these days. What matters the most is what do you bring to the table as your last mile connectivity.

I would say this is a case of having a strong back end first which then goes and complements a strong front end.

Wonder how many players though are willing to pay for a strong back end.