MARKET ANALYSIS

Market analysis consists of: market position, market objectives, market segments, market structure.

Market position - market niche, market leader, market follower, market challenger.

Market niche - small part of an existing market;

Market leader - maintain dominant position in the market;

Market follower - follow the lead of the market leader – pricing, product development etc;

Market challenger - seek to adopt strategies to challenge market leader’s position.


Market objectives - national growth, intwernational growth, ethical objectives, market share, consumer focus, product focus, image, social responsibility, revenue maximisation, shareholder value, overcome competitors.

Market objectives will involve/determine some or all of: Market Penetration, New Product Development, Branding, Diversification, SWOT Analysis.

Market segments - age, religion, gender, income level, lifestyle, ethnic grouping, social class, geographical religion, family circumstances, behaviouristic.

Segments: mass markets, multiple segments, single segment.

Mass markets - high volume, low margin goods – confectionary, cars, clothing, food stuffs;

Multiple segments - appealing to wider range of groups – e.g. 4x4 vehicles – town, country, gender, lifestyle, social class;

Single segment - often a specialised product, e.g. machinery, exclusive goods.

Market structure - highly competitive, imperfect competition, oligopoly, duopoly, monopoly.

Nature of the market structure determines marketing strategy:

• Pricing strategy;
• Branding;
• Product Differentiation;
• Market Penetration;
• Direct Selling.