Marketing Management, Millenium Edition - epiheirimatikotita.gr

174 CHAPTER 9 POSITIONING PRODUCTS THROUGH THE LIFE CYCLEThree strategies for the maturity stage are market modification, product modification,and marketing-mix modification:➤➤➤Market modification. The company might try to expand the market for its maturebrand by working to expand the number of brand users. This is accomplished by(1) converting nonusers; (2) entering new market segments (as Johnson & Johnsondid when promoting baby shampoo for adult use); or (3) winning competitors’customers (the way Pepsi-Cola tries to woo away Coca-Cola users). Volume can alsobe increased by convincing current brand users to increase their usage of the brand.Product modification. Managers try to stimulate sales by modifying the product’scharacteristics through quality improvement, feature improvement, or styleimprovement. Quality improvement aims at increasing the product’s functionalperformance—its durability, reliability, speed, taste. New features build thecompany’s image as an innovator and win the loyalty of market segments that valuethese features; this is why America Online regularly introduces new versions of itsInternet software. However, feature improvements are easily imitated; unless there isa permanent gain from being first, the feature improvement might not pay off inthe long run. 26Marketing-mix modification. Product managers can try to stimulate sales by modifyingother marketing-mix elements such as prices, distribution, advertising, salespromotion, personal selling, and services. For example, Goodyear boosted itsmarket share from 14 to 16 percent in 1 year when it began selling tires throughWal-Mart, Sears, and Discount Tire. 27 Sales promotion has more impact at this stagebecause consumers have reached an equilibrium in their buying patterns, andpsychological persuasion (advertising) is not as effective as financial persuasion(sales-promotion deals). However, excessive sales-promotion activity can hurt thebrand’s image and long-run profit performance. In addition, price reductions andmany other marketing-mix changes are easily imitated. The firm may not gain asmuch as expected, and all firms might experience profit erosion as they step uptheir marketing attacks on each other.Marketing Strategies: Decline StageThe sales of most product forms and brands eventually decline for a number of reasons,including technological advances, shifts in consumer tastes, and increaseddomestic and foreign competition. All of these factors lead ultimately to overcapacity,increased price cutting, and profit erosion. As sales and profits decline, some firmswithdraw from the market. Those remaining may reduce the number of products theyoffer. They may withdraw from smaller market segments and weaker trade channels,and they may cut their promotion budget and reduce their prices further.In a study of company strategies in declining industries, Harrigan identified fivepossible decline strategies:1. Increasing the firm’s investment (to dominate the market or strengthen its competitiveposition);2. Maintaining the firm’s investment level until the uncertainties about the industry areresolved;3. Decreasing the firm’s investment level selectively, by dropping unprofitable customergroups, while simultaneously strengthening the firm’s investment in lucrative niches;4. Harvesting (“milking”) the firm’s investment to recover cash quickly; and5. Divesting the business quickly by disposing of its assets as advantageously as possible. 28