As chief executive of a consultancy specialising in all things channel and routes to market, I have often been frustrated by the lack of a publication which can really discuss and debate issues and strategies. 

Read the Financial Times and you will find an entire supplement printed every week on the glamorous areas of marketing - brands and advertising.  But the FT publishes almost nothing on routes to market.  It is a subject which is still covered exclusively in the pages of the trade press, normally as an after-thought to product launches. Yet it is of vital importance.

Read our piece on rewarding value add in this issue.   Good channel management can move share prices.  For example, how effectively pharmaceutical companies can get products to market before patents expire is a burning issue.  Dell’s direct route to market is the foundation of Michael Dell’s success. 

This is why VIA sponsors the Routes to Market Association (RTMA), which meets regularly to discuss issues such as winning channel trust or working with large retailers.  What is the point of building a compelling brand if it is promptly stomped all over by powerful retailers with their own personal agendas?

And that is why we publish this journal which we send to clients – past, present and future - and also to all the members of the RTMA.

The response from you, our readers has been heartening – after every issue I still get emails warmly praising particular features.