Question

Suppose you are the VP of Marketing for SolMate an electric solar cell manufacturer with customers in the transportation, military and consumer electronics markets. A small, new competitor e-Solex has entered the market with a lower-priced knock-off version of one of our solar cell products. Based on the material in this chapter, what are some of the options you have to respond to this competitive threat, and what questions should you ask your marketing team to help you choose the best response?

Answer 1

As the VP of marketing for SolMate I would respond to this competitive threat by formulating a strategy in that retaining competitive advantage to ensure the company's market share is not negatively impacted from the price leadership strategy of the competitor. I would achieve this by formulating a cross functional team consisting of customer service and marketing executives to conduct market intelligence strategized to obtain data relevant to competitive intelligence. This would entail acquiring all information regarding the product introduced by the competitor, the features which the consumer perceives to be relevant and superior in comparison to the company product. Conduct adequate intelligence to obtain information on the features and attributes within the competitors product which which are desired or needed by the consumer but do not exist. To obtain information regarding the features from a value perception basis to easily evaluate and analyse which features would provide maximum value for the consumer and provide maximum competitive advantage.

On the basis of the data collected and adequate analysis for identification of the most desirable features within the product which are not available in the product of the competitor and are needed by the consumers within the product as it would add substantial value for them, I would prepare specifying the features and attributes to be implemented within the product design. In cooperation and collaboration with the design engineering and production departments with absolute guidance and involvement of decision making at the top management level, I would consider the feasibility of introducing a new product with improved features as compared to the competitor with similar pricing to retain the competitive advantage through product differentiation providing a better quality product better fulfilling customer requirements rather than lower prices. the option would be to redesign the existing product or to introduce an entirely new product aimed at controlling the competition. The strategies to outperform the competitor and exploit the opportunity identified by them by doing what they have done in an improved manner with greater customer satisfaction through effective and efficient market analysis.