Entering into a market with your unique proposition is a challenge in itself. But when you do it with a large player already in your presence in your market segment, you will surely need nerves of steel to survive and grow. The road is difficult and rife with challenges along with way but it is not impossible.
There is a long list
of challenger brands that have taken this challenge in stride and have now made
a great impact on the market. As an Advertising
Agency, we have had the privilege of working with many challenger brands
that have gone on to successfully ferment their market position. If you are
wondering about how you can make a similar impact in your market segment that’s
currently dominated by a large competitor, you can take note of the following
points.
Be flexible where they can’t
A large company
usually has to work with a pre-set structure of approvals. This also means they
may be slow to make key decisions. This is what gives you an advantage. With a
lot less bureaucracy to deal with, you can make quicker decisions and make
policy can creative decisions to improve your services for your customers.
Use a smaller niche to grow
In Sun Zu’s ‘The Art
Of War’, the book talks about
“Fight your enemies where they aren’t”.
This may sound a little confusing to some but it talks about how you can cater
to the gaps that your competitor has left in the market. Your
Advertising Agency can conduct a
detailed competitive analysis to find these gaps for you to exploit.
Study your competition
It’s one thing to know
you have competition, but it’s a completely different thing to know your
competition. You can employ many methods to understand how they operate. You
can become their customer and experience their services first-hand. Go through
their customer handling process, use their products/services and make detailed
notes on how they operate. This way, you will know exactly how to brief your
advertising agency about your product’s
USPs.
Be ready to engage your competitors
If you’re good at what
you do, you can expect your competition to take notice. That would be the best
compliment you can get from your competitors. Beyond that, you can expect them
to change their operating strategy to take you on.
This would mean that
they will start to target your market segment. They are most likely to do so by
providing competitive pricing. Although you can expect their quality and
service experience to remain the same, their primary operating policy would
still be centred around their main customer base.
Play to your strength
When you start your
business in an environment with pre-existing customers, it’s important for you
to understand that you play to your strengths and not theirs. Your
Advertising Agency would recommend that
same to you when they’re building your Go-To-Market strategy.
Adopt a grand appearance
Your brand’s
positioning relies mainly on your posturing. If your keep your appearances
humbled, your customers will think of you in the same lines. This will prove to
be a challenge if you plan to grow in the short and the long-term.
Your
advertising agency will be the most
resourceful asset in this exercise as they have the expertise in brand
positioning.
Ritz Media World is an
award-winning
advertising agency
that has recently been distinguished as ‘The Most Trusted
Advertising Agency in Delhi/NCR’ by The Economic Times.
This award was given
in recognition of our integrated creative and advertising services that enable
us to yield the best results at the lowest cost.
If you want to discuss
advertising opportunities for your brand, you can
reach out to us
directly or you can ping us on any of our social media channels.
Until then, Happy
Advertising!