Meridian Group‘s STIHL team was approached in November of 2008 by Dr. Andrew Thomas , who saw the full page ad we produced in the Wall Street Journal asking, “Why is the number one selling brand of chainsaw not sold at Lowe’s or The Home Depot?”

We arranged an interview with STIHL President, Fred Whyte who pointed out the reasons for STIHL’s stance on distribution, which turned into an entire chapter in Dr. Thomas’ book “The Distribution Trap: Keeping Your Innovations From Becoming Commodities” (now available through Amazon.com and other online sources).

Recently Dr. Thomas visited company headquarters in Virginia Beach and spoke to STIHL employees about how the company remained successful by keeping their distribution process in house and avoiding the trap.

Posted by: Terry Kelley, VP of PR and Corporate Communications, Meridian Group