Growth strategies of the firm

An important function of marketing is to drive growth in sales and revenue for a company. Marketing is especially adept at doing so for a new product with many competitive advantages and much potential. Good marketing can help to induce trial and promote word of mouth and diffusion. Marketing in more mature markets can

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Competitive Strategies for Market Leaders

Suppose a market is occupied by the firms shown in Figure 12.1. Forty percent is in the hands of a market leader, another 30 percent belongs to a market chal­lenger, and 20 percent is claimed by a market follower willing to maintain its share and not rock the boat. Market nichers, serving small segments

Market-Follower Strategies

Theodore Levitt argues that a strategy of product imitation might be as profitable as a strategy of product innovation.44 In “innovative imitation” as he calls it, the innovator bears the expense of developing the new prod­uct, getting it into distribution, and informing and educating the market. The reward for all this work and risk

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Market-Challenger Strategies

Many market challengers have gained ground or even overtaken the leader. Toyota today produces more cars than General Motors, Lowe’s is putting pressure on Home Depot, and AMD has found some success chipping away at Intel’s market share. Challengers set high aspirations, while market leaders can fall prey to running business as usual. Challengers

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Market-Nicher Strategies

An alternative to being a follower in a large market is to be a leader in a small market, or niche, as we introduced in Chapter 8. Smaller firms normally avoid competing with larger firms by targeting small markets of little or no interest to the larger firms. Over time, those markets can sometimes

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Marketing in a Slow-Growth Economy

Given economic cycles, there will always be tough times, such as the recession of 2008-2009 and the slow recov­ery that has followed. Despite reduced funding for marketing programs and intense pressure to justify them as cost effective, some marketers have survived—or even thrived—in tough economic times. Here are five guide­lines for improving the odds

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Product Life-Cycle Marketing Strategies

A company’s positioning and differentiation strategy must change as its product, market, and competitors change over the product life cycle (PLC). To say a product has a life cycle is to assert four things: Products have a limited life. Product sales pass through distinct stages, each posing different challenges, opportunities, and problems to the

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MARKETING EXCELLENCE SAMSUNG

Korean consumer electronics giant Samsung has made a remarkable transformation since its founding in 1938. Originally created as an exporter of dried Korean fish, vegetables, and fruit, the company evolved into a pro­vider of value-priced commodity products during the 1970s and 1980s that original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) sold under their own brands. When Samsung’s

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MARKETING EXCELLENCE SABIC

Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) is a petrochemical company headquartered in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. It was set up in 1976 by the Saudi government to add value to the country’s natural resources. The in­dustrial model consisted of capturing crude oil-related gases and to delivering them as raw material to manu­facture various industrial commodities. A

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Product Characteristics and Classifications

Many people think a product is tangible, but technically a product is anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need, including physical goods, services, experiences, events, persons, places, properties, organi­zations, information, and ideas. 1. PRODUCT LEVELS: THE CUSTOMER-VALUE HIERARCHY In planning its market offering, the marketer needs to

Product Differentiation and Services Differentiation

To be branded, products must be differentiated. At one extreme are products that allow little variation: chicken, aspirin, and steel. Yet even here some differentiation is possible: Perdue chickens, Bayer aspirin, and India’s Tata Steel have carved out distinct identities in their categories. Procter & Gamble makes Tide, Cheer, and Gain laundry detergents, each

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Marketing design

As competition intensifies, design offers a potent way to differentiate and position a company’s products and services. Design is the totality of features that affect the way a product looks, feels, and functions to a consumer. It offers functional and aesthetic benefits and appeals to both our rational and emotional sides.25 1. DESIGN LEADERS

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Luxury Products

Design is often an important aspect of luxury products, though these products also face some unique issues. They are perhaps one of the purest examples of the role of branding because the brand and its image are often key competitive advantages that create enormous value and wealth. Marketers for luxury brands such as Prada,

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Environmental Issues

Environmental issues are also playing an increasingly important role in product design and manufacturing. Many firms are considering ways to reduce the negative environmental consequences of conducting business, and some are changing the manufacture of their products or the ingredients that go into them. “Marketing Memo: A Sip or a Gulp: Environmental Concerns in

Product and Brand Relationships

Each product can be related to other products to ensure that a firm is offering and marketing the optimal set of products. 1. THE PRODUCT HIERARCHY The product hierarchy stretches from basic needs to particular items that satisfy those needs. We can identify six levels of the product hierarchy, using life insurance as an

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Packaging, Labeling, Warranties, and Guarantees

Some product packages—such as the Coke bottle and Red Bull can—are world famous. Many marketers have called packaging a fifth P, along with price, product, place, and promotion. Most, however, treat packaging and labeling as an element of product strategy. Warranties and guarantees can also be an important part of the product strategy and

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MARKETING EXCELLENCE NIVEA

In 1882, pharmacist Paul C. Beiersdorf established his company with a patent for medical plasters. Beiersdorf sold his company to Oscar Troplowitz in 1890. By 1911, Oscar Troplowitz had developed the world’s first stable skin cream based on a water-in-oil emulsion. He named the product Nivea, derived from the Latin words nix, nivis, meaning

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MARKETING EXCELLENCE TOYOTA

The world’s largest automaker, Toyota has come a long way in its nearly 80-year history. The company launched its first passenger car, the Model AA, in 1936, copying the body design of Chrysler’s landmark Airflow and the engine of a 1933 Chevrolet. Toyota then suf­fered several challenges, including a financial crisis in 1950. However,

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The Nature of Services

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the service-producing sector will continue to be the dominant employment generator in the future economy, adding about 18 million jobs between 2010 and 2018, or about 88 percent of the expected increase in total employment. By 2020, the goods-producing sector is expected to account for 11.9 percent

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The New Services Realities

Service firms once lagged behind manufacturers in their understanding and use of marketing because they were small or they faced large demand or little competition. This has certainly changed. Some of the most skilled mar­keters now are service firms. One that wins consistent praise for its brand-building success is Singapore Airlines.23 SINGAPORE AIRLINES Singapore

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