Marketing Strategy and Competitive Positioning pdf ebook

Increase share
Increasing market share, especially in mature markets, usually comes at the expense of exist-
ing competition. The main routes to increasing market share include: a) winning competi-
tors’ customers; b) merging with (or acquiring) the competitors; or c) entering into strategic 
alliances with competitors, suppliers and/or distributors. In order to win customers from 
competitors, a company must offer something that is currently unavailable through another 
supplier. Another way to look at this, is that the company must create a perception in the 
mind of the customer that what they offer is currently unavailable from another supplier. 
This may come about through identification of competitor weaknesses, or through better 
exploitation of the company’s own strengths and competencies. Each of the elements of 
the marketing mix (products, price, promotion and distribution) may be used to offer the 
value-added proposition to the customer, to induce switching.
Increasing usage rate may be a viable approach to expanding the market for some prod-
ucts. For example, breakfast cereals might be promoted as healthy snacks to be eaten at 
any time of day, and not just at breakfast. Alternatively, they might also be promoted as 
food that can help as part of a calorie-controlled diet, such as Kellogg’s Special K. Of late, 
many organisations have introduced loyalty schemes, designed to reward repurchase and 
‘loyalty’ in order to increase purchase frequency, share of ‘purse’ and customer retention.
Improving profitability
With existing levels of sales, or even reduced levels, profitability can be increased through 
improving margins. This is usually achieved by increasing price, reducing costs or doing both 
of these things. In a multi-product firm, it may also be possible through ‘weeding’ of the 
product line – that is, removing poorly performing products and concentrating effort on the 
more financially viable. The longer-term positioning implications of this weeding should, 
however, be carefully considered prior to wielding the axe. It may be, for example, that 
maintenance of seemingly unprofitable lines is essential to allow the company to continue 
to operate in the market as a whole, or in its own specifically chosen niche of that market. 

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