Market Dominance Strategies
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Market dominance strategies These calculations of market dominance yield quantitative metrics, but most business strategists categorize market dominance strategies in qualitative terms. Typically there are four types of market dominance strategies that a marketer will consider: There are market leader, market challenger, market follower, and market nicher. Market leader The market leader is dominant in it�s industry. It has substantial market share and often extensive distribution arrangements with retailers. It typically is the industry leader in developing innovative new business models and new products (although not always). It tends to be on the cutting edge of new technologies and new production processes. It sometimes has some market power in determining either price or output. Of the four dominance strategies, it has the most flexibility in crafting strategy. There are few options not open to it. However it is in a very visible position and can be the target of competitive threats and government anti-combines actions. Research in experience curve effects and the PIMs study during the 1970s concluded that market leadership was the most profitable strategy in most industries. It was claimed that if you cannot get enough market share to be a major player, you should get out of that business and concentrate your resources where you can take advantage of experience curve effects and economies of scale, and thereby gain dominant market share. Today we recognize that other less dominant strategies can also be effective. Many industries contain one firm that is the acknowledged market leader. This firm has the largest market share in the relevant product market, and usually leads the other firms in price changes, new-product introductions, distribution coverage, and promotional intensity. Some well-known market leaders are Microsoft(computer software), Intel (micro processors), Gillete(razor blades), LG (consumer electronics in India), and Visa (credit cards). “Breakthrough Marketing: Accenture” summarizes how that firm has attained and maintained market leadership. All though marketers assume well-known brands are distinctive in consumers’ mind, unless a dominant firm enjoys a legal monopoly, it must maintain constant vigilance. A product innovation may come along and hurt the leader, a competitor might unexpectedly find a fresh new marketing angle or commit to a major marketing investments; or the leader might find its cost structure spiraling upward. One well-known brand and market leader that lost its way is gap. In many industries, a discount competitor has entered and undercut the leader’s prices. “ marketing insights: When Your Competitor delivers more for less” describes how leaders can responds to an aggressive competitive price discounter. Saying the number-one firm calls for action on three fronts. First, the firm must find ways to expand total market demand. Second the firm must protects its current market share through good defensive and offensive actions. Third, the firm can try to increase its market shares, even if market size remains constant. The main options available to market leaders are: Expand the total market by finding new users of the product new uses of the product more usage on each use occasion Protect your existing market share by: developing new product ideas improve customer service improve distribution effectiveness reduce costs Expand your market share: by targeting one or more competitor without being noticed by government regulators Market challenger A market challenger is a firm in a strong, but not dominant position that is following an aggressive strategy of trying to gain market share. It typically targets the industry leader (for example, Pepsi targets Coke), but it could also target smaller, more vulnerable competitors. Many market challengers have gained grounds or even overtaken the leaders. Toyota today produces more cars than General Motors, Lowe’s is putting pressure on home depot and AMD has been chipping away at Intel’s market share. Challengers set high aspirations, leveraging their resources while the market leader often runs the business as usual.The fundamental principles involved are: Assess the strength of the target competitor. Consider the amount of support that the target might muster from allies. Choose only one target at a time. Find a weakness in the target��s position. Attack at this point. Consider how long it will take for the target to realign their resources so as to reinforce this weak spot. Launch the attack on as narrow a front as possible. Whereas a defender must defend all their borders, an attacker has the advantage of being able to concentrate their forces at one place. Launch the attack quickly, then consolidate. Some of the options open to a market challenger are: price discounts or price cutting line extensions introduce new products reduce product quality increase product quality improve service change distribution cost reductions intensify promotional activity DEFINING THE STRATEGIC OBJECTIVES : A market challenger must first define its strategic objectives. Most aim to increase market share. The challenger must decide whom to attack. 1. It can attack the market leader: This is a high risk but potentially high pay-off strategy and makes good sense if the leader is not serving the market well. It often has the added benefit of distancing the firm from other challengers. An alternative strategy is to out- innovate the leader across the whole segment. Xerox wrested the copy market from the 3M by developing the better copying process. Later, Canon grabbed a large chunk of Xerox’s market by introducing desk copiers. 2. It can attack firms of its own size that are not doing the job and are under financed: These firms have aging products, are charging excessive prices, or are not satisfying customers in other ways. 3. It can attack small local and regional firms: Several major banks grew to their present size by gobbling up smaller regional banks. Tapal Tea of Pakistan is good of how a local company comes out of the shadow of giant multinational and becomes a challenger in the market. NICHE MARKETING 1 Niche Markets A niche market is a focused portion of a larger segment that is generally not being addressed by mainstream providers. There are several advantages that can be realized in serving niche markets: • Marketing can often be targeted to a narrowly defined group of potential customers. • Even without economics of scale, smaller businesses can compete because there is not the pricing pressure from mass merchandisers. • Competition is often minimal because niche markets may be ignored or discounted by large businesses due to what they consider to be small potential. An ideal niche market is one that is already experiencing growth, has an accessible customer base, and is not already dominated by established suppliers. While niche markets are focused, they are not necessarily small. Many niche brands already represent several million dollars in annual sales. This is, in part, a natural consequence of population growth. Capturing a portion of the market for a product or service that appeals to only 1% of the U.S. population can be huge. 2 Niche Opportunities While the classic definition of niche marketing–the targeting of a more narrowly defined customer group seeking a distinctive mix of benefits–still rings true, it no longer implies what it did five or 10 years ago: A small, low-volume, erratic market opportunity that is transactional, likely unsustainable, and unscalable. Marsha Lindsay, CEO of Lindsay, Stone & Briggs (www.lsb.com), provides the following guidelines for the development of niche market opportunities: • Position your brand as narrowly as is economically possible. • Become the specialist that anticipates the needs of your target. • Rapidly work with the target niche to co-innovate. • Set as your goal such consumer centricity that the target niche will want to co-brand their identity with yours. • Embrace a business model and metrics that grow the most valuable assets of the new niched economy. • Reap first-mover advantage by learning how to identify a niche of opportunity. • Re-imagine your role as that of entrepreneurial founder of a special interest group. • Forget push marketing; excel at pull marketing. • Realize your brand is now “media” competing against all other media. Some niches target a narrow interest that becomes the next big trend, disrupting a whole category. Starbucks, Target, and Apple Computer, when they started, were all believed to target a narrow passion of seemingly limited potential. 3 Niche Branding Within each general product category there are commonly several consumer groups that could be better served with more specialized products. Major brands often create brand extensions to serve these niches. While Coca-Cola Classic remains the mainstay for The Coca-Cola Company, the brand serves those with special dietary or taste preferences with such beverages as Caffeine Free Diet Coke, Cherry Coke, Coke Zero, Diet Coke with Lime, Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, Caffeine Free Coke Classic, Black Cherry Vanilla Coke, Diet Coke with Splenda, Coke C2, Vanilla Coke, Diet Vanilla Coke, and Diet Coke with Lemon. Similarly, Marriott International, in the lodging segment, operates the Courtyard, Fairfield Inn, Marriott, Marriott Conference Centers, Marriott Executive Apartments, Renaissance Hotels & Resorts, Residence Inn, SpringHill Suites, The Ritz-Carlton, and TownPlace Suites, each catering to a separate niche of traveler. 4 The Long Tail The bestseller The Long Tail: Why The Future Of Business Is Selling Less Of More, by Chris Anderson (Hyperion, 2006), popularized the economic theory that businesses can realize a significant profit by selling small volumes of hard-to-find items to many customers rather than selling only large volumes of a reduced number of popular items. The long tail model is very applicable to entertainment products (films, music, books, etc.), where a few hits generate the bulk of revenue before demand drops off quickly. Demand, however, doesn’t drop to zero.