Markets The Dynamics Of CompetitionToday Marketing Is Not The Same As It Was In The 60s Or 70s, Because There Are Enough Products To Satisfy Customers Needs. In Fact Customers Are Hyper-satisfied! Companies Have Segmented The Market Until It Has Become Almost Too Small To Service Profitably.Distribution Is Now Largely In The Hands Of Giant Corporations Such As Wal-Mart And Costco. There Are More Brands And Fewer Producers, Products Life Have Been Shortened, And Its Cheaper To Replace Than To Repair - All Complicating The Process Further.Marketing Has Always Started With Identifying The Needs Of Your Customer, But Many Companies Are Now Focusing On The Product. They Focus On What Category It Falls Into, And Then What Sub-category (for Instance Pudding And Then What Flavors). By Focusing On The Product, Companies Then Focus On Wholl Use The Product, And Those Considered Not Using Are Excluded From The Picture. In Doing This, Youve Just Given Your Competitor A Target Market.You May Have Captured 75 Of Your User Market Because You Have A USP (unique Selling Position) I.e.; More Flavors, More Convenient Packaging, Longer Shelf Life, Etc. But Why Cant YOU Also Take Care Of The Other 25 Instead Of Your Competitor? To Do That, Requires A New Way Of Thinking Known As Lateral Marketing. Stop Thinking About How You Can Keep The 75 In Love With Your Product (Vertical Marketing), Think About Drawing In The 25 Of The Market That Wasnt Your Customer. This Is Done By Innovative Thinking. This May Be Seen As Further Segmenting The Market-place, But At The Same Time Its Making It Bigger. Lets Say You Sell Soap. Youve Captured 75 Of Your Market Because Of Some Formulary Development That Makes More Suds With Less Product. The 25 That Your Competition Is Trying To Capture Would Rather Spend Less For Soap, Than Use Less. Your Method Of Also Capturing That 25 Is To Start Thinking Innovation And Not Different Product.Lateral Marketing Works Within The Original Category Of Product And Complements It, Not Competes With It. You Could Come Up With A Soap With More Bleach, With Less Foam, Fragrance Free, With More Foam. You Can Innovate By Size Selling In Large Economy Packs, Selling In Individual Packs, And Do This Without Ever Changing The Formula Of The Product. This Type Of Marketing Works Best For Mature Markets With No Growth (after All, What New Uses Can You Come Up With For Soap). It Also Can Create Markets From Scratch, Requires Greater Resources, And May Redefine Your Companys Mission And Business Focus.This Innovative Method Of Marketing Doesnt Create New Categories Or Markets, It Always Occurs Within The Category Where The Idea Originated. If Youve Done Everything Right, Youve Garnered The 25 Of Customers That Might Have Got Away And It Didnt Require A Lot Of Overhead Youre Still Producing Soap!
