Markets & The Dynamics of Competition

Today marketing isn't an equivalent because it was within the ‘60s or ‘70s, as a result of there are enough merchandise to satisfy customer’s desires. actually customers are “hyper-satisfied”! corporations have segmented the market till it's become nearly too tiny to service profitably.

Distribution is currently largely within the hands of large companies like Wal-Mart and Costco. There are additional brands and fewer producers, merchandise “life” are shortened, and it’s cheaper to switch than to repair - all complicating the method additional.
Marketing has continually started with identifying the wants of your client, however several corporations are currently that specialize in the merchandise.  They specialise in what class it falls into, and then what sub-category (for instance pudding and then what flavors). By that specialize in the merchandise, corporations then specialise in who’ll use the merchandise, and people thought of “not using” are excluded from the image.  In doing this, you’ve simply given your competitor a target market.

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

To do that, needs a brand new manner of thinking referred to as “Lateral Marketing”.  Stop puzzling over how you'll be able to keep the seventy fifth in love together with your product (Vertical Marketing), suppose drawing within the twenty fifth of the market that wasn’t your client. this can be done by innovative thinking. this could be seen as additional “segmenting” the market-place, however at an equivalent 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 produces additional suds with less product.  The twenty fifth that your competition is attempting to capture would rather pay less for soap, than use less.  Your methodology of additionally capturing that twenty fifth is to begin thinking “innovation” and not totally different product.

Lateral selling works inside the first class of product and enhances it, not competes with it. you may come back up with a soap with additional bleach, with less foam, fragrance free, with additional foam. you'll be able to innovate by size – selling in massive economy packs, selling in individual packs, and do that while not ever changing the formula of the merchandise. this kind of selling works best for mature markets with no growth (after all, what new uses are you able to come back 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 selling doesn’t produce “new” classes or markets, it continually happens “within” the class where the concept originated.  If you’ve done everything right, you’ve garnered the twenty fifth of consumers that may have gotten away and it didn’t need plenty of overhead – you’re still manufacturing soap!