Managing competition through aggressive marketing

Executives of billion dollar firms are literally eventually getting bald from the pressures they get looking for appropriate marketing strategies to make their products known to untapped market, innovating or creating the quality of their products or services to stay on top, strengthening their customer service for customer satisfaction and the most difficult task which is trying not to fall from their current level of gross sales. Every year your quota is increasing and competition is tough. This would mean designing the organization to fit the environment and managing the environment to fit the organization. Environmental management uses your ability to explore your existing advantages like managing your competition, managing uncertainty and managing symbiotic interdependence.

There are strategies that can be applied to threatening environments but which executives don’t consider much because of the idea being too plain and ordinary. Sometimes we have to look back at some plain ones to obtain total emotional response and support of the majority of consumers to whatever product or service you are promoting. Let’s leave the pricing and distribution to the experts. Please be aware that consumers are willing to pay for your products price as long as they find their money’s worth fairly compensated. So between a $3 and a $5 dollar worth of service, many companies or consumers would still go for the $5 worth service because they find the appropriate components of the service that they were looking for. So price is not really the issue here. Quality of service or quality of product is more of an issue than price.

Let’s look at another angle in marketing. Have you ever thought of telling your people not to discourage other people from buying the competitor’s product? Let them buy ahead and then come back to buy at your product because it is better and they remain there if your customer service is good. I have been hopping to organic skin food shop two weeks ago and I asked skin food shop A what makes them better with the other store that is skin food shop B. Skin food shop A said that the skin food B is not really organic because she knows the ingredients being placed in the cream were not really organic. There were chemicals in it and that they got the better product than theirs. I put the cream back on the shelf and was gone in a second.



Why did I do that? People who destroy the reputation of their competitors cannot be trusted. So the question now is: are their products reliable? Even if it is reliable then their customer service practically destroys the image of the store by saying something that is not pleasant and ethical in marketing their product. Let me illustrate it to you this way. Employee A and employee B were called to the table of their supervisor to explain about the error that was made with in a certain transaction. Employee A discusses the operation without blaming employee B. She took note of the error, analyzed it and then made a list of alternative courses of action for the supervisor’s approval. Employee B analyze it, defends himself and always blame employee B. If I am the supervisor I can see that if you put employee B in front of a customer he is going to fight just to put the blame on someone else. And if there is another similar situation in the future he is not likely to admit his mistake without a fight and that is just depressing attitude or practice.

The traditional and honest way of dealing with arguments are to be honest about the mistake, admit it, analyzed it and then create the solution without going through blame. Blame like destroying the product of a competitor creates a negative feeling. Market your product by discerning the consumer’s needs and then try to answer to that need with reliable information as much as possible without destroying competitors. Do it like you explain the benefits they get from buying your product or services. People are very much concern with benefits. They want to get their money’s worth regardless if it was cheap or expensive. They want to get the equivalent worth of what they paid for. Point out the differences of the product or service with tact and in a professional manner.



Managing competition through aggressive marketing means that you never have to take 100% of the market pie too. Say if you get the 75 or 80% of the chart then that is good reason enough to stay there already. Competing means being on top, not taking it all! The employee’s of your competitor have to bring food to their table also. Make it like a nice and friendly competition. Friendly competition enhances public relations and symbiotic relationships. There are products you cannot serve so you refer it to them to help them out. Another reason is you can very well outsource some of the operations or assembly or maybe first stage of the product using their resources. Then the secret confidential stages can be done at your plant. You got to cover you orders when you are the giant at the top. Sometimes coping up is quite difficult when market is growing and you are using the same level of resources. Symbiotic relationship will do you more good than harm.

Work for your competitor’s and your competitor will work for you. Remember referrals. If they can’t serve the customer they will refer them to you too. That is good marketing right knowing competitor’s referring to you. Give them discount or little percentage for referral fees. The idea would be: if they can’t beat you then they will work for you because in any way they gain. The competition within the industry may be stiff but healthy this way. The secret to being on top of the competition is to try to make your competitors work for you. That is a real challenging task that can make your hair fall at the beginning. Once you have established the relationship then it would be much easy. The other consideration here is the employees. Make your employees happy and satisfied. Then if they meet consumers and potential buyers they will radiate their happiness and talk about the company nicely. Give your employees great benefits and more will come to you because word by mouth advertising is better than plain images. And lastly if you know how to appreciate music, create a jingle. Music retains to the hearts and minds of the consumers even after thirty or forty years. Remember the best jingle ads in town? Make yourself known let the children sing and dance for you. Create a jingle.

Ideas… ideas…. ideas… read about how Pepsi made it to the top hits before. Maybe an idea will strike you about the importance of slogans and headlines. I’ve made a research on two classic jingles. This can be played with Windows Media Player.

1964: http://www.roadode.com/classicwmv1/ForThoseWho1964_I00.wmv

1970: http://www.roadode.com/classicwmv1/smalltownUSA1970_100.wmv


Until the next time. Keep on reading my blog.



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