Markets & The Dynamics of Competition

Today selling isn't a similar because it was within the ‘60s or ‘70s, as a result of there square measure enough product to satisfy customer’s desires. indeed customers square measure “hyper-satisfied”! corporations have segmental the market till it's become nearly too tiny to service fruitfully.

Distribution is currently for the most part within the hands of big companies like Wal-Mart and Costco. There square measure additional brands and fewer producers, product “life” are shortened, and it’s cheaper to interchange than to repair - all complicating the method more.
Marketing has invariably started with distinguishing the requirements of your client, however several corporations square measure currently specializing in the merchandise.  They concentrate on what class it falls into, and so what sub-category (for instance pudding and so what flavors). By specializing in the merchandise, corporations then concentrate on who’ll use the merchandise, and people thought-about “not using” square measure excluded from the image.  In doing this, you’ve simply given your competition a target market.

You may have captured seventy fifth of your “user market” as a result of you have got a USP (unique merchandising position) i.e.; additional flavors, additional convenient packaging, longer period of time, etc. however why can’t you furthermore mght beware of the opposite twenty fifth rather than your competitor?

To do that, needs a brand new approach of thinking called “Lateral Marketing”.  Stop pondering however you'll keep the seventy fifth gaga together with your product (Vertical Marketing), accept drawing within the twenty fifth of the market that wasn’t your client. this can be done by innovative thinking. this might be seen as more “segmenting” the market-place, however at a similar time it’s creating it larger.

 Let’s say you sell soap.  You’ve captured seventy fifth of your market attributable to some formulary development that creates additional suds with less product.  The twenty fifth that your competition is making an attempt to capture would rather pay less for soap, than use less.  Your methodology of conjointly capturing that twenty fifth is to begin thinking “innovation” and not totally different product.

Lateral selling works at intervals the initial class of product and enhances it, not competes with it. you'll return up with a soap with additional bleach, with less foam, fragrance free, with additional foam. you'll pioneer by size – merchandising in giant economy packs, merchandising in individual packs, and try this while not ever ever-changing the formula of the merchandise. this sort of promoting works best for mature markets with no growth (after all, what new uses are you able to return up with for soap).  It can also produce markets from scratch, needs bigger resources, and will redefine your company’s mission and business focus.

This innovative methodology of promoting doesn’t produce “new” classes or markets, it invariably happens “within” the class wherever the thought originated.  If you’ve done everything right, you’ve garnered the twenty fifth of shoppers that may have gotten away and it didn’t need plenty of overhead – you’re still manufacturing soap!