Marketing in South Africa - Target Market and Competition - Assignment Example

Marketing in South Africa Target Market and Competition In doing marketing in a business, one has to put focus on a specific target group that is aimed at in terms of making sales in a business. In marketing strategy, one has to clearly define the target so that it can convey the sense of productivity. For the marketing strategy to meet the target group efficiently, they have to consider some of the elements of marketing mix that will dictate whether the strategy is successful or not, these includes; product, promotion, price, and distribution place (Hawkins et al 67). In the marketing strategy, there should be the classification of the various groups who are separated by certain noticeable aspect that are peculiarly looked into for one to cut a niche in meeting every requirement of the targeted group. In doing marketing for their products then, the organization in South Africa has to consider several aspects that create distinction in the targeted groups. Amongst the main aspect that bring about difference in taste and preference that should be paid attention to includes geographic factors, demographic or the socioeconomic factors that considers occupation, age, gender, income, house hold size, and education. There are also the psychographic issues that looked into values, lifestyles, and attitudes. Behavioral segmentation also deals with such issues like degree of loyalty and occasion. One needs to understand South Africa in the context explained above in order to make reasonable influence in the marketing of a product; otherwise, the strategy will not be productive ultimately. Competition In business, competition is obvious and it takes different perspectives, which include pricing strategy, packaging, and availability to the customers. In addition, other initiatives can be taken by the different manufactures that would put them ahead of the pack in galvanizing the available market for the supplementary products. To achieve this, organization needs to put extra efforts in making their products stands out in all aspects that may influence customers to opt for their products. A simple business strategy can be a competitive advantage of one company over the rest and it might make it thrive in a fiercely competitive landscape (Hawkins et al 77). In order for a business to thrive in such business environment, they have to understand the market dynamics the SWOT their main competitors so that a more conclusive approach can be taken in curving the market loyalty. If a business cannot keep with the competitors new approaches, it may be at risk of collapsing, the essence of business is to ensure that you cut yourself a niche in the thick of competition through the strategies following research about the market trend and progress. A business has to ensure that they understand what the customers want and that they can produce them and possible dictate what they should have. For a business to remain vibrant, it has to be full of a team that analyzes the needs of the customers and the development of the competitors so the at all the time, they can keep their competitors under checks. Distribution of Product Once the manufacturer produces the goods, they are destined to be conveyed to the final consumers through varieties of means. The choice of the distribution model is one of the most important decisions that a manufacturer should opt for in order for the realization of the expected sales. A legion of factors informs the choice of distribution mode in order to ensure maximum populations are aware of the existence of the product. For instance, distribution of a new product in the market may not take the normal channel that are taken by the established products that in most cases assume the conventional chain of good moving down through the whole seller to the retailer and finally to the consumer. Contrary to this, a new product always needs agent that would be paid on the commission, this is because the products needs to e demonstrated and advertised to the customers before they can make choice on whether to purchase it or not. In the case of large and expensive products like heavy commercial vehicles, the choice of distribution method will drastically differ with the manufacturers directly selling them to the retailers or making their sales through the franchised operations that they themselves have set up. The same applies to those goods with variations; these goods are always sold by the manufactures themselves since there will only be a limited range of the stock and customers will choose the kind of product they want, for example, furniture. In choosing the right distributor, manufacturer should consider several questions, which includes; the commission that is required by the distributor, the level of the stock that is acceptable by the distributors, how the unsold stock will be treated, and whether or not a written distribution agreement is of essence. Distribution of products is therefore a pivotal role in the marketing of a product and if the distribution is not properly managed, the entire system will not benefit even if there is proper awareness about the product. For a product to be sold to the final consumer, it must be distributed, the distribution here should also consider several factors which includes the population density of an area, there must be proportionate distribution of the products depending on the population so that not sparsely populated receiving more units that those areas that are densely populated. In the cases of aggressive means of marketing of a products, several channels of distribution can be given trail in what is referred to as trouble shooting to assist in the evaluation of the best strategy so far. For a business to achieve greater advancement in its marketing strategy there must be a good channel of distribution that will take the product to all possible places where it can be purchased by the final consumer. The strength of a business is being able to make as frequent distribution as possible of their products so that more can be manufactured, this shows that the business in recording a positive progress. Price The determination of the price of a product is very important for the sole reason that it determines whether the product will hit the market or not while at the same time should satisfy the interest of the manufacturer in that they have to know what value they exchange their product. If a product’s price is higher than the complementary ones, the business may not sustain the pressure of competition from those products. In as much as the manufactures would want to make maximum profit out of the products, the price is controlled by very many factors that at the end of the day, they have to be satisfied all, otherwise, the product will not survive the market (Hawkins et al 93). It is therefore important to do assessment of the complementary product as well as the economic situation of the targeted customers before the price is set. Determining the price of products considers a legion of factors and question that it requires specialized knowledge and absolute research to know the right balance to strike. Most new products enters market at a more competitive prices than the established products in the market, the strategy has been used for several times given the fact that most targeted customers prefer to consider price first before any other aspect of the same product. It is a way of making a through way in the market when there are established firms controlling the market with their specific products. Pricing offers one of the best competitive strategies in areas with low income because most of the people would want to save anything as long as they can acquire a complementary product that will serve the same purpose to them. A form should therefore be very captious when selecting and resolving on prices of the product. It will be realized the pricing is one of the pertinently considered factors in strategic marketing hence an integral part of marketing matrix used in the exploration of marketing. Take for an example a product that cost $50 while another complimentary product that can serve the same purpose costs $ 35, people will obviously go for the cheaper one. This move though should be avoided sometimes given the fact that cheap products are sometimes made of low quality and that justifies the lower prices. People with brand loyalty and financial stability are not always moved by the cost of their brands and will stick to them whatever the cost. When doing a marketing strategy in this case, it is important that such demographic factors are considered even in the pricing determination, this is because sometimes businesses do depend on the number of units that they can sell to the consumers in a day. If the reduction of prices will make them make mores sales that it surpasses the other way, it is always considered given that most people are not economically stronger but can lead to substantial sales if the prices are reduced to accommodate all of them. Work Cited Hawkins, Del I., Del I. Hawkins, Roger J. Best, Roger J. Best, Kenneth A. Coney, and Kenneth A. Coney. Consumer behavior: building marketing strategy. 9th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2004. Print. Read More