How To Break Into Market With Your Products

                                   

#Business

Stepping into an existing market with a new product is like little David confronting giant Goliath. But not everybody have what it takes to face the threat of Goliath in their business.

The larger than life image of already existing and well known products is enough to edge out the new product that has all the odds against it. This accounts for why many step into business with a lot of zeal, vision and inspiration but later step aside (in some cases, step out completely) with frustration, regrets, and bitterness.

For somebody warming up to start his business, his first decision concerns the product or service he wants to introduce. The decision is quite tasking as almost all areas look congested. But are they really congested?

Every sector of the industries seems to be no go area and they are being dominated by the big and well-known companies out there. In 80’s, the movie market was virtually dominated by foreign videos as the home videos were literally not known then. No one thought then that Nigerian video could eventually mark any landmark entry into market, let alone dominating it. This is the case in all other sector.

But those that have waded through this suffocating path successfully say the coast needs not be clear before you steer your ship along the stormy water. However, they are of the view that if you must break into the existing market and remain there without being edged out, you must have something peculiar to you that will give you a known identity.

According to those that have done so successfully, you can only do this through a good background work, adequate preparation, and a sense of delivery that catches the attention and patronage of the customers.

Here are things the EXPERTS advised you need to do in order to break into the existing market with your products:

Research

Mr. Anthony Mama was the factory manager of Kiwi Polish, one of the giant in the polish industry before started his own company Urochek Pharmaceuticals Limited, the producer Sunstar shoe polish which was challenging the giant image of Kiwi polish.

In his submission, Mr. Mama maintains that breaking into an existing market requires both intensive pre-production research and good marketing strategies. “You step into market, the best thing to do is to first study the market and find out the existing product and their shortcoming and then see if there is anything new you can add or any way you can perfect the existing product.”

Identify Existing Problems

“After the research, we were able find out the problems of the existing products. Most of the problems had to do with early dryness of the polish. At times you buy a can of polish and before you use it, the rest in the can dries up.”

“Other problems we discovered were the shininess that fades very fast and the offensive odour of the existing brands. You don’t stop at identifying the problems; you must also find solution to them because it is that solution that is going to be your product which you are offering for sales. That solution is your unique selling point (USP). It is what you play upon as the distinguishing lecture between your product and the rest of the market.”

“So these discoveries we made were combined and we carried out research on how to improve of these products. The result of that research was the formula for Sunstar shoe polish. With the long research, you come up with a brand of polish with great improvement on the existing products. After we launched the product into the market, the responses so far have been encouraging” said Mama.

RecognizingA Unique Selling Point (USP)

For Emmanuel EdozieEriobu, the Co-ordination, Infinity Merchant Limited, a subsidiary of Royal Corporates Limited, largest producers and marketer of home videos in Nigeria said that “in order to break into an existing marker, one must discover a unique selling point(USP) on which one could cash in.” This he was able to do after the production of Living in Bondage by Kenneth Nnebue in 1992.

“Through the success of Living in Bondage, we decided to try something new. We realize that home videos could sell because the actors involved are indigenous. You know the actors that involved.For instancelet’s say you live at Okota, You know Zak Orji, and I’m living at Ikeja. I know Richard Mole Damijo and someone else living in Surulere known Kanayo O, Kanayo. These are people you know. You don’t know James Bondand so on. You will like to buy a film that stars the actors that you know. You will like to see what these people are doing. So you pick the local video instead of the foreign one.”

“This is so because, we were able to penetrate the market already monopolized by the foreign videos. That is one. Another thing we capitalized on is the anticipated loyalty, patriotism, and sympathy of Nigerian viewers to the indigenous actors, who star in the home videos.

“You know that as we parade a lot of Nigerian artists. As such, we put food on their table and their families, so a lot of their friends, co-workers, and colleague will like to identify with their effort. So they say ah! This or that guy is in the film; let me buy the film to promote him, these guys are trying … and so on.”

“Then there is the issue of relevance. We understood that the message of foreign video is not directed to the indigenous environment. But the home videos direct their message to our culture and even prevailing circumstances. For instance, there was a rumour in my village that a man turned into a vulture while in pursuit of money through dubious means.

This prompted us to come up with blood money. So when people knew that the film was out, with vulture on the cover, they rush to buy the film, to find out how it happened. The film was made to warm those who would go for ‘hot money’ of grave danger involved.”

AnalyzingTheBusiness Environment

Apart from researching into the existing brand, a thorough analysis of business environment as well as purchasing strength of the customers is also necessary.

According toMr. Omoleo Dare who was the Operating Manager of Uren Food Processing Limited, themaker of Uren Pure Water, said that research into the economy and the purchasing strength of customers is as vital as research into the existing brands.

“Uren United Food Processing was not just incorporated to package pure water alone. But we started with pure water as a test run. Even before the pure water business was started, a kind of market analysis was carried out the economy and the purchasing strength of customers was also put into consideration and findings dictated the packaging of N5 pure water”, says Omoleo Dare.

“If you spend N50 to buy bottle water, at the end of the whole thing, you might not finish it and the money would be considered wasted. Nigerians are not ready to waste the money, they find it more convenient to pay just N5 for the one in sachet”, he reasons.

However, he added that researching into purchasing strength of customers enables their business operation to come up with good pricing strategy which is believed to be another good weapon to launch a product into a market.

Product Determines Marketing Strategy

Many people use price, distribution, and packaging as strategies to break into an existing market. For the Co-ordinator of Infinity Merchants, it is nature of the product that will determine the market plan.

“It depends on the film we have, like the title, the type of message it is to preach. For instance, the one we had in February this year was Richard Mole Damijo’sOut of Bound. We capitalized on the fact that a lot of people know RMD. He is a widower; the title of the film is “out of bound”. Richard himself is out of bound (as a widower).

 February 14 is lover’s day, that valentine. So we said, why can’t we package this film and why can’t we say RMD is looking for val. He doesn’t have a wife and he is handsome guy and val is approaching. So whatever strategy we want to adopt will depend on the type of film we have.”

Pricing Strategy

Speaking on pricing strategy as effective means of breaking into market, Mr. Mama says apart from the product, price can be used to catch customer.

“We put price of other brands into consideration before coming out with our own price. Although, the idea of the polish was conceived for the high class, but the reality of the economy dictates that we put the middle class and the common man into consideration in our price. For that reason, we placed the price lower than where it is supposed to be.”

“Given then those cheaper prices, we want to give the users the opportunity to first try the product and because we are confident in of the quality of the product, we are sure that by the time they now he first can, they will start asking for more. Then we can review the price and by then, they might have discovered the value of the product and keep on using the product.”

Publicity

Publicity is a marketing tool effectively utilized by Emmanuel Eriobu in the quest for a place home video market.

“AIT is on my side. In fact, Daar Communication as a whole is on my side. Of course, you might still remember the kind of publicity Ray Power 100.5 FM gave to our best-seller Domittila; the story of a prostitute. Then there are other producers representing me at Minaj.

“If you are in our industry, you will understand that advertising is virtually part of the business. If you do not keep the people aware, you might find it difficult to sell the product. So we don’t ever regret any money we spent on adverts. They will finally yield dividends.”

Distribution

When the problems of existing product have been tackled and improvement made in form of the new product, the new comer does not just stop at fixing the price of his products. The level of impact he makes, depends on his distribution network which involved say is as important as the price strategy.

“When you start a business like this, you will definitely have problem with the distribution but you have to start somewhere. The distribution strategy has to go along with an aggressive promotion of the product through adequate publicity, say Mr. Mama.

It is believed that when the distribution strategy is well marshal out then the promotion effort can be very effective. Continuing on the line of distribution as a sure method of leaving serious imprints in the market one gets into.