Marketing Strategic Analysis

The RapidSYSTEM™ analyses your marketing strategy to understand the key day-to-day influences it has on your business performance:

Identify the significant element…customers, competitors, suppliers and distributors
Identify the actual and potential players
Attempt to understand their objectives
Identify and monitor the factors that influence their behaviour (opportunities and threats)
Identify their strengths and their weaknesses
Identify their basic strategies
Analyse the impact their behaviour has, or will have, on your business.

Markets and Customers

It is important to identify the scope of the market as accurately as possible. It may not include all those who buy similar products and services. For example, Rolls Royce do not complete for the whole car market and target their potential customers carefully.

They would not include purchasers of Ford’s branded vehicles but would include Jaguar, Range Rover, Aston Martin and Mercedes among their competitors.

A market may be at different stages in its development, each with implications for marketing strategy. The stages include:

Embryonic – a particular configuration of influences seems to indicate opportunity, for example changing customer circumstances, technology breakthrough, economic change etc. the issue is when and how much to invest in capability?
Start up – the opportunity may be realised, the market is at a very early stage .The issues are if and when growth will begin?
Growth – the opportunity has become a reality but can still get bigger. The issue is how much bigger, and by when?
Maturity – The opportunity is fully realised. The issue is how long it will last?
Decline – other opportunities have arisen, new solutions have appeared. The issue is when to depart?

Organisation Position

The position of the organisation relative to its competitors also exerts an influence on strategy. There are four fundamental positions:

Market leader – dominant with high relative market share
Market challenger – significant share, seeks leadership
Market follower – Reasonable share, does not seek leadership
Nicher – Competes with unique offering in specialist segment.

Market Analysis

An analyse of the market includes the following elements:

Total potential Market – those able and willing to buy.
Market penetration – The proportion of the potential market actually buying.
Usage patterns – the variation in level of consumption by individual customers
Market share – the proportion of the total sales accounted for by individual

Organisations

Market performance – effectiveness of value creation, customer satisfaction, competitors
Market segmentation – identifiable groupings in the market having different requirements and offering different opportunities for profitability.
Competition – those competing for a share of the market, their strength’s and weaknesses.
Broadscale influences – the impact of political, economic, environmental, social and technological forces on customers, competitors suppliers and distributors.

In addition to analysing the broader market, the organisation must also analyse its customer base:

Number and location, characteristics and segments
Critical customers – now and in the future
Understanding of how value is created and turned into profit – now and In the future
Basis and sustainability of its competitive advantage as perceived by customers

The organisation should also be able to assess its performance in this key area.

Suppliers and Distributors

Most companies rely on other organisations for the effective operation of their business; they are part of a supply chain. The relationship between the various elements is a critical strategic issue. Decisions about supply and distribution should be based on objective assessment.

The analysis of the supply and distribution position should include the following with reference to the companies involved:

Strengths and weaknesses
Effectiveness and efficiency
Comparison with alternatives
Contribution to competitive position
Management of change, technology management etc.
Value for money
Systems and process compatibility
Overall assessment