Gaining Breakthrough Opportunities

If you, as the marketer, fully understand the target markets, you may be able to develop marketing mixes that are superior to those of competitors. Such understanding may provide breakthrough opportunities. Taking advantage of these opportunities can lead to substantial sales and profit growth. This is why it is so important to search for these breakthrough opportunities rather than imitating your competitor’s offerings.

Let me give you an example of one such breakthrough offering. When Hilton Hosiery marketed its Razzamatazz brand socks, it realized that a new approach was needed. Most socks sold in supermarkets were dull, low-priced imports, with no brand differentiation. Acknowledging that socks were bought on impulse, Hilton created a range of brightly colored children’s socks with play value, to catch the shopper’s eye. It first launched a range of children’s socks under the Zoo Feet brand, with nine individual designs. It sold 200000 pairs in three months. Three months later, it discounted Zoo Feet and launched Sea Feet, with expectation of even higher sales. By year-end, Puppet Feet were introduced.

From the above example you can see that customers will look for new designs. They don’t want the old boring designs. However, marketing planning involves much more than independent decisions and assembling the parts into one marketing mix. The four P’s must be creatively blended so that the company develops the best overall mix for its target market.