Marketing Strategies: 5^thSet

Notes:

• A truly new product made possible by technology, creates a shock in the existing market and may, on occasion, lead to the emergence of vast new markets. To exploit a mass market, the new product must be simplified and far more streamlined than the original application which was developed for the visionary customer of the Application strategy #16. Critical price points may need to be met. Crude product attempts fall at the hurdle of customer-acceptance [cf. Education strategy #18].
• New products appeal to economic buyers if they solve a persistent problem that is costing time &/or money (e.g. if they provide a dramatic improvement to productivity in an already well-understood critical success factor without disruptive side effects).

Notes:

• A position, like identity, exists in the mind. The market and its categories are mental constructs. Values depend on the mind of the customer. Altering minds is not easy. Businesses that see the reality of their place in the market and accept the dominance of the market, will not imagine that they can easily usurp an already-occupied position.
• The essence of any business is that it identifies and mobilizes competencies and resources so as to exploit opportunities to meet customer needs profitably. Positioning involves adapting the underlying business conception to the times by recognizing emerging market realities and responding in a timely and appropriate way.
• Clarity is required: to name and frame the offering (what?), to claim a purpose/use/function (what for?), to identity a target market (who?), to indicate which technology (how?), to specify differences/advantages over competitors (why?), and to set price parameters (where?).

Notes:

• An R&D strategy is a long-term investment to ensure that a stream of new, advanced, best-in-class products can be generated for existing and new markets. It is not blue-sky research.
• Because the prize often goes to the first rather than the best, a concomitant first-mover strategy [#22] may be advisable. Getting a product to market requires a concern for standards [#15]. Useful feasible products may emerge through developing applications for specific customers [#16], but economic viability depends on commoditisation [#19], which usually requires partnership [#17] and cultural endorsement via education [#18].

Notes:

• Getting into the market first, if combined with gaining customer acceptance first [#18], virtually guarantees market leadership.
• Alignment of technological, economic and social factors, which ensure that a new product category is accepted by the mass market, is extremely difficult to predict or force (cf. bottled water). Problems are likely in alien cultures or with high-tech products.