From a marketing perspective, some have said that you should be looking to beat your competitor to the punch. By being the first to market with a particular type of product, there’s a good chance that you’ll attract the early adopters and get them to buy your product even before your competitor has something comparable available for sale. It’s important that you work hard to promote these kinds of products, because you don’t want your launch to be overshadowed by your competitor’s hype.
One industry where we can see a lot of this jockeying for position in the wireless phone market. This applies not only to the service providers, but also to the manufacturers of the cell phones themselves. There are some very heavy rumors that Apple will be announcing a new version of the iPhone some time next month and this has come with a fair bit of hype from the online community. At the same time, the Palm Pre smartphone is also getting a fair bit of attention, but Palm knows that it has an uphill battle ahead of it.
Up until recently, Palm and Sprint did not come forward with a firm release date, possibly waiting to see what Apple had planned. Possibly based on some of the prevailing rumors, Palm and Sprint have now announced that the Pre will launch during the first week of June. Will this be able to take the wind out of Apple’s sails? Maybe, maybe not, but they have a greater chance of attracting some new customers during that window of time leading up to the next iPhone. After the new iPhone hits the market, Palm could be pushed into the shadows, so they need to establish the Pre in the marketplace before that happens.
Similarly, the Canadian cell phone market will be shaken up by some new players in the next couple of years. In addition to Telus, Bell, and Rogers, a few other “major” carriers will be entering the game and they’ll likely going to offer some very competitive price plans. As such, I’ve noticed that all three of the current major service providers have put out a much bigger push to get their customers signed to contracts. This locks them in, proactively reacting to the pending lure of the increased competition.
In marketing your company, keep your eyes and ears peeled for what your competitors are doing and how things are changing in your end of the market.
Minnesota Attorney
May 23, 2009 6:50 am
When you are not first to market, the next step is differentiation. One of the basic rules of marketing is that if you are not first to market, you must differentiate your product from whatever products are currently on the market. You carve out a niche based on your product’s audience, features, benefits, or some other aspect that sets your product apart from the competition.