Archives for "Marketing"

You’ve got a great new product, but is it ready for marketing? Not necessarily, according to studies. Sometimes, complementary products are needed before yours can take off.

For example, color television was developed in the early 1950s, but was not fully marketed until ten years later, because color transmission and programming had yet to be invented. If your new product is in this category, prepare for a prolonged product introduction and make sure you can cover development and production costs during the gestation period.

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Before replacing your current direct marketing or lead generation approaches, bear in mind the “Tarzan Theory” of management: Don’t let go of one rope until you have the other rope firmly in your grasp. Failing to follow this dictum can cause you to drop with no safety net to cushion your fall.

Some companies can make the mistake of abruptly replacing their present techniques with alternatives that have not been tried and tested. The results are often negative – confusion and loss of customers, to name two.

If you really believe that new procedures will increase your market penetration, implement them in an evolutionary manner, testing and learning all the way.

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Market share can be misleading. Share numbers can vary greatly, and arbitrarily, according to how you define the market. By focusing on only getting a piece of the targeted market, you can overlook opportunities in whole new markets.

For example, in 90’s IBM decided not to enter the copier business early on when the company was excellently positioned to do so. When it finally did enter the business, it was too late to dominate it. The best strategy is to realize that you have 100% share of your own market position, figure out the strengths that have enabled you to attain this position, then work to expand the boundaries of your own market in all directions.

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