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Newly developed products entering a congested market to effectively penetrate the genre and grab a reasonable share of the market share is one of the hardest tasks that a company will find itself in, especially for consumers that emphasize quality and affordability above everything else. Product identity is still in its building phase, and to be able to expect a very good growth in the brand building strategies, the research and development team with the cooperation of the marketing section should find ways on how to place the product and make it available to the market.
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This is the most important thing above anything else. The strategy of pricing is the easiest way to attract market purchase of any product, but this will only be good for a certain period, which most people call the trial period phase. Brand and Product Loyalty shall ensue once the product is able to prove its worth as far as quality and price is concerned. In most cases, people who are satisfied with the offer to them will most likely continue to endorse the product. Such successful products include that of Universal Robina Corporation’s C2 Green Tea, Zesto’s The One, Coca Cola, Pepsi Cola, San Miguel Corporation’s beer lines, Asia Brewery for its bottled water and beer beverage lines and Chin Chin’s Black Gulaman/ Grass Jelly and Powerbits Sports Drink variants. Each has had its share of proper chances to saturate the market, and the most significant factor that separates most of them is through the following observations, ironically the anchored by the 4P’s of Marketing:
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- Price
- Placement
- Promotions
- People
- Packaging
- Persuasion, and
- Quality
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As it seems, the most important thing to note is that the 4P’s of Marketing more or less becomes the gauging point towards the success of the consumer products. Satisfying as many of them as possible is the most important aspect towards product development and brand building success. The category to which they will fall under is usually common, but in the case of such products as that of Chin Chin Black Gulaman, it may fall under two marketing categories: Bottled Beverages or Juices and Deserts.
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Chin Chin Black Gulaman or Grass Jelly, an oriental cuisine made up of honey and black jelly bits has effectively covered both categories, enabling it to be more flexible as far as where people would be able to consider their category. The usual beverages offered by most major players concentrate on one particular category, in this case, the beverages category. There may be mixed reactions with regards to the classification of this Grass Jelly Drink from Chin Chin but if it can widen the area of scope for its target customers, then there is no reason to think twice of its promise towards the market. But perhaps one of the things that Chin Chin Black Gulaman would need to emphasize on is that of placement in the market, since most people have second thoughts when they are offered its suggested retail price. Then again, what is price compared to quality, especially for a company that was awarded a Super Brand tag for successive years for offering quality and naturally made products to the consumers. Quality products come in numbers, but the mentality of cost conscious people for affordable and cheaper products becomes an obstacle. Perhaps this is something that most people should think about, instead of being cheated out of their money by so-called products that claim to be natural, but are actually only of natural quality in their minds.
Useful Articles for Further Reading:
Strategic Marketing Plans For Weighting Marketing Activities by Joshua Feinberg
Market Penetration – Match Customer Type to Revenue Goals by Joshua Feinberg
Customer Loyalty Tales – a view from Europe
