Developing a Marketing Strategy for a Small Company in a Market Dominated by Giants
The client is a well-established but small manufacturer of industrial equipment. It competes with major international companies. Over the years the client has not been able to keep up with advancing technology and has been gradually squeezed out of many markets. Competitors have extensive dealer and distributor networks that the client cannot match.
Despite the obvious disadvantages the company has an impressive list of loyal customers and a history of good quality, service, and fair dealing. The idea is to create a strategy that enables the company to maintain its advantages and find opportunities to compete, other than head-to-head, with the giants.
Beta Consulting contacted all of the key customers to identify the client's strengths and weakness, zero in on new business possibilities, and assess the strength of the client's position.
This research revealed that the best opportunity for profitable growth was in focusing on small and medium OEM customers. These customers were often overlooked by the giants and frequently had difficulty getting exactly what they needed.
We recommended that the company offer to customize its products to meet the exact needs of small and medium sized OEM's. The giant competitors generally lacked the ability to respond to these needs in an economical and timely manner.
This strategy enabled the client to offset many of the size advantages enjoyed by its competitors. It became a dominant player in its special niche. The client was able to solidify and expand its OEM business to assure its ongoing success.
Beta Consulting's contribution was to identify ways and means for the company to compete effectively even though, by most measures, it had a weak market position.
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