COLUMBUS, Ohio, — The HARDI Education & Research Foundation announced the kickoff of what it describes as a “major research project” to study and define distributor’s role in the demand creation process. Michael Marks, managing partner of Indian River Consulting Group, and his team have joined the HARDI Foundation to lead this research effort, the results of which will be presented this December at HARDI’s Annual Conference in Phoenix, Dec. 7-10, 2013. Marks and Indian River Consulting Group will conduct primary and secondary research, and develop an analytical framework for evaluating channel performance and effectiveness.
The project is kicking off with distributor and manufacturer companies who have agreed to let the Indian River research team do a deep dive into their company’s data as a starting point for the research. Distributor participants include: Johnson Supply, Houston; Standard Supply & Distributing Co. Inc., Dallas; Meier Supply Co. Inc., Conklin, N.Y.; GW Berkheimer Co. Inc., Portage, Ind.; Gustave A. Larson Company, Peewaukee, Wis., and Mingledorff’s Inc., Norcross, Ga. Manufacturer Project team members include: Honeywell, Nordyne, DuroDyne, Allied Air Enterprises, Heatcraft, and M&M Manufacturing.