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for the customer； because if they don’t want what you have to offer the game
is over before you begin。 You have to offer value and satisfaction； otherwise
people will either choose an apparently superior petitor or； if they do
buy from you and are dissatisfied； they won’t buy again。 Worse still； they
may bad…mouth you to a lot of other people。 For you the marketer； being
right means that there have to be enough people wanting your product or
service to make the venture profitable； and ideally those numbers should
be ge。。ing bigger rather than smaller。
So inevitably marketing is something of a voyage of discovery for both
supplier and consumer； from which both parties learn something and
hopefully improve。 The boundaries of marketing stretch from inside the
3
82 The Thirty…Day MBA
mind of the customer； perhaps uncovering emotions they were themselves
barely aware of； out to the logistic support systems that get the product or
service into customers’ hands。 Each part of the value chain from pany
to consumer has the potential to add value or kill the deal。 For example；
at the heart of the Amazon business proposition are a superlatively
efficient warehousing and delivery system and a simple zero…cost way for
customers to return products they don’t want and get immediate refunds。
These factors are every bit as important as elements of Amazon’s marketing
strategy as are its product range； website structure； Google placement or its
petitive pricing。
Marketing is also a circuitous activity。 As you explore the topics below；
you will see that you need the answers to some questions before you can
move on； and indeed once you have some answers you may have to go
back a step to review an earlier stage。 For example； your opinion as to the
size of the relevant market may be influenced by the results achieved when
you segment the market and assess your petitive position。
GETTING THE MEASURE OF MARKETS
The starting point in marketing is definition of the scope of the market you
are in or are aiming for。 This es from the business objectives； mission
and vision that form the heart of the strategy of the enterprise。 These are
topics covered in Chapter 12 on strategy。 For most MBAs for most of the
time these will be a ‘given’ and as such will not inhibit your ability to apply
the marketing concepts explored in this chapter。 So； for example； if you
are working in； say； Body Shop； McDonald’s； IBM； a Hospital Trust or the
Prison Service； the broad market thrust of your current business will be
self…evident。 Later you may want or need to change strategic direction； but
effective marketing is concerned fundamentally with dealing with a defined
product （service）/market scope。 These concepts apply to any marketing
activity； but you will find that understanding them is made easier by
applying them to the business you are in； or have some appreciation of。
Assessing the relevant market
Much of marketing is concerned with achieving goals such as selling
a specific quantity of a product or service or capturing market share。
MBAs are frequently set the challenging task of measuring the size of
the market。 Now in principle this is not too difficult。 Desk research （see
in ‘Market research’ later in this chapter） will yield a sizeable harvest of
statistics of varying degrees of reliability。 You will be able to discover that
the consumption； say； of bread in Europe is ￡10 billion a year。 But first you
need a definition of bread。 The industry…wide definition of Bakery includes
Marketing 83
sliced and un…sliced bread； rolls； bakery snacks and speciality breads。 It
covers plant…baked products； those that are baked by in…store bakers； and
products sold through cra。。 bakers。
Assessing the relevant market then involves refining global statistics
down to provide the real scope of your market。 If your business operates
only in the UK the market is worth over ￡2。7 billion； equivalent to 12
million loaves a day； one of the largest sectors in Food。 If you are operating
only in the cra。。 bakery segment then the relevant market shrinks to ￡13。5
million； this contracts still further to ￡9。7 million if you are； say； operating
only within the radius of the M25 ring road。
The importance of market share
The relevant market will be shared by various peting businesses in
different proportions。 Typically there will be a market leader； a couple of
market followers and a host of businesses trailing in their wake。 The slice
that each petitor has of a market is its market share。 You will find that
marketing people are fixated on market share； perhaps even more so than
on absolute sales。 That may appear li。。le more than a rational desire to beat
the ‘enemy’ and appear higher in rankings； but it has a much more deepseated
and profound logic。
Back in the 1960s a firm of US management consultants observed a consistent
relationship between the cost of producing an item （or delivering
a service） and the total quantity produced over the life of the product
concerned。 They noticed that total unit costs （labour and materials） fell by
between 20 and 30 per cent for every doubling of the cumulative quantity
produced。 （See Chapter 12 for more on the experience curve effect。）
Tesco
40％
Asda
21％
Morrison/Safeway
15％
Independents
3％
Sainsbury's
21％
Figure 3。1 Market share UK supermarkets June 2008
84 The Thirty…Day MBA
So any pany capturing a sizeable market share will have an implied
cost advantage over any petitor with a smaller market share。 That cost
advantage can then be used to make more profit； lower prices and pete
for an even greater share of the market； or invest in making the product
be。。er and so stealing a march on petitors。
petitive position
It follows that if market share and relative size are important marketing
goals； you need to assess your products’ and services’ positions relative to
the petition in your relevant market。 The techniques most used to carry
out this analysis are SWOT and perceptual mapping。
Strengths； weaknesses； threats and opportunities （SWOT）
This is a general…purpose tool developed in the late 1960s at Harvard by
Learned； Christensen； Andrews and Guth； and published in their seminal
book； Business Policy； Text and Cases （Richard D Irwin； 1969）。 The SWOT
framework consists of a cross； with space in each quadrant to summarize
your observations； as in Figure 3。2。
Figure 3。2 Example SWOT chart for a hypothetical Cobra Beer petitor
Strengths Weaknesses
1。 Beginning to get brand
recognition
2。 Established strongly in Indian
restaurants
1。 Don’t have own production
2。 Need more equity finance to be
able to advertise more strongly
Opportunities Threats
1。 We could capitalize more on
our relationships in Indian
restaurants
2。 We are only in the UK – so
have the world to go for
1。 We are vulnerable to a big player
targeting our niche
2。 Our sector looks like being the
target of major tax rises which
could reduce overall demand
In this example the SWOT analysis is restricted to a handful of areas； though
in pra