Marketing strategies for recovering market share in saturated markets

Marketing Decisions and Strategies Embraced in Marketing

Marketing Mix and Marketing Strategy

Product Strategy

Pricing strategy

Promotional Strategy

Market Targeting

Companies have to come up with marketing strategies consistent with an organization's strategy because absence of a marketing strategy undermines such companies' effort to attract customers. A company's marketing strategy must be one that ensures that the products and services the company deals in meet the expectations of the customers (Galavan, Murray & Markides, 2008). This can guarantee a long lasting and profitable relationship between the company and its customers.

A company's marketing strategy should among other things take into consideration the resources available. The resources have to be optimally utilized. If a company's management contemplates venturing into a new market or coming up with a new product or service, it has to develop a marketing strategy (Beamish & Ashford, 2007). When a company's market share is dwindling, it has to embark on some serious marketing research to make strategic marketing decisions. While doing the marketing research bit, marketing opportunities and constraints have to be identified.

The company has to ideally embrace the marketing concept. This has to be done to uncover the needs of the customers so that the company can channel its effort towards satisfying those needs. Other than embracing the marketing concept, it is imperative that the company fully understands the competitive environment. This enables the company to plan for the future and identify future market opportunities and threats. Marketing strategies should then be developed and implemented.

Marketing strategy can only be effective when there is an effective marketing mix. In this regard, the nature of the product being sold, ways to promote the product, the price charged to potential customers, and the means used to make the product available to the customer have to be brought into perspective. A good marketing mix will make the company maximize profits from the available opportunities. System should be put in place that enables management to get feed-back from the market place and initiate corrective measures. The feedback received should enable the management to know the market share of their product, the users of its products, and whether the nature of the users and purchase volumes is consistent with their goals and expectations. The feedback should also help the management to know whether the company's market share is increasing, decreasing, or constant.

1.1. Objective

In this assignment I seek to compose a document that presents the marketing decisions and strategies embraced in marketing. The paper will illuminate a client who has been losing considerable percentage of his market share to competition in a heavily saturated market. The client is not certain about measures he should take to recover market share and create a strong brand image. He is also not sure about what he needs to do to recover market share and create a very strong brand image.

He is uncertain on where he should position his product to get the broadest market share and revenue. This client is dealing in thin white uncoated paper plates that are quite often found in social events. The client however appreciates that he may not have stayed up with the times and is willing to upgrade his products. He however likes the paper plate industry. The paper will highlight: a) how access to information can impact an organization's marketing function b) Integration of organizational marketing decision making with strategy c) relationship between marketing strategy and overall organizational strategy, and d) marketing knowledge and strategic implications.

1.2 Background of the study

Management theorists take strategic management to mean corporate or business strategy. Corporate strategy implies a strategy at the organizational level in a big business organization where as business strategy simply means a strategy at the business unit level in a big business organization. Strategic marketing and market strategy are often used interchangeably. Marketing strategy is often used in analyzing an organization's resources and energies to find out maximum usage so that the objectives of an organization can be established. As was mentioned earlier in this paper, the client under focus here deals in white uncoated paper plates that are normally found in social events. Because he is loosing market share to competitors, he intends to recover the market share and create a strong brand image.

2. Literature Review

Christensen (1997) defines marketing as an activity and a process for creating, communicating, delivering and exchanging offerings that have value for customers. There are business to consumer marketing and business to business marketing (Joshi, 2005). Marketing is an integrated process that enables companies to build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers. Marketing strategy is a set of choices a company makes to maximize the potential use of its products and services.

Choices are influenced by a number of factors. These include mission of the business organization, the target market, environmental assessment and goals. Different authors give conflicting views and opinions on marketing strategy. Some authors characterize product, promotion, price, and place as the marketing strategy. Some other authors contend that behaviors relating to segmentation should make the best possible strategic planning for an organization.

2.1. Marketing Mix and Marketing Strategy

2.1.1 Product Strategy

This section deals with how the client should plans to sell his products to his potential buyers. He should focus on how his clients think about his products and business and how he should position his products and services (Schultz & Dev, 2005). This client has to take into account his production, distribution, and engineering capabilities. If these are not available he has to think of acquiring them either through hiring or mergers. He must also evaluate the customers' expectations when he delivers the uncoated paper plates to his customers (Schultz & Dev, 2005). To maximize profits in his market niche, he has to evaluate the existing competition. For the company to succeed in its market niche, it has to engage in product planning to enable them prepare myriad product line plans and invent models within each product line that match the competition prices and performances.

The client should also contemplate coming up with new higher models by unleashing the design constraints (Schultz & Dev, 2005). He must outline his business objectives, describe the target market based on the result of marketing research conducted, and establish how he wants his products to be viewed by his clients. Product features and benefits, selling strategies, how product features and pricing compare to competitors must also be evaluated. Finally, the client must also contemplate changes that he wants to be implemented on the white uncoated plastic plates to enable better market positioning of this product (Schultz & Dev, 2005). When the client develops a product strategy, he will be in a position to analyze why customers should buy his product instead of the competitors'. To penetrate this market segment, the client must analyze his competitors and engage in product differentiation. After this he will know how he should price his product (Schultz & Dev, 2005).

2.1.3 Promotional Strategy

For this client to have a considerable percentage of market shares, he has to clearly communicate the benefits of this product to the target market. This he can do by engaging in extensive advertising, public relations, sales promotion, personal selling, internet marketing, and sponsorship. Depending on the resources available, the client can use any form of mass media that is within his means. He can also go for the services of public relation companies to obtain favorable publicity within the media. The client can also make use of money off coupons or special offers to increase sales volumes in short-term. Internet marketing techniques like social media and videos on demand can also come in handy (Chaffey, 2007). Message strategy should be well thought out. The message should reinforce the benefit of that product (Schultz & Dev, 2005).

2.1.4 Place Strategy

This stands for ways by which goods are transported from the client to the end users. The client has to ensure that goods reach the market when they are still in good condition failure to which quality may be compromised (Schultz & Dev, 2005).

2.2 Market Targeting

If the client is keen on venturing into other markets his products must dominate over other competitors. In selecting a market segment, the client has to engage in market targeting by ascertaining the demands of customers. After all these, the client must create a good picture in the minds of his customers of the product he sells. This will enhance loyalty and satisfaction among his customers (Schultz & Dev, 2005).

3. Conclusion

Success of any business relies on whether it has competitive organizational and marketing strategy or not. Marketing strategy development largely depends on organization strategy.