Brett wrote;
>And even more baffling, why would they do something like this that is
>going to be a lightning rod for attention, and *relies* upon their
>monopoly position to succeed, while the monopoly itself is under
>scrutiny?
To test the market reaction - why else!
Its getting to a stage that we should let sleeping dogs lie as when they
wake they'll bark and then you will have a noisy neighbourhood full of
barking dogs.
There is no way out when there is a monopoly situation but, its not quite a
monopoly situation here. The situation here is that customers are linked to
a product or range of products under what could be considered as customer
satisfaction. The market needs alternative products to persuade customers
to change or adapt from their own favourite brand. There are other
products out there but, the formula used by these products, cost,
performance and appeal, is not correctly set to persuade customers to
change.
The cost of change is a considering factor by most purchasers and its used
in their formula and by shrewd competitive marketeers. Other products
which do exactly the same or better with comparative performance, must be
in a competitive price range and obviously have the appealing factor.
Sometimes the 'appealing factor' is just the colour of the box and the cheap
pricing policy is a hinderance which usually kills the esteem factor.
Manufacturers usually consider items, such as, the process of new product to
market and another is the market penetration. Well, we all have seen
products rise and fall after product introduction stages but have we seen
products fall so blatant even before product introduction or at the first
stage of the product life cycle for reasons other than the obvious
traditional ones?
What are we seeing now, more commonly and aggressively, by strong
competitive manufacturer's? Do they attack competitors on the street? Do
you find that they attack their competitor's accounts, their design, their
personnel and their service departments? Is this another element which has
been brought on by the fact that we are in the information age and its easy
to
do so? I don't think confidentiality or loyalty agreements are going to
deter the major aggressors but something is required to stop the 'donkey
following the carrot'.
Anybody with a little money can basically stifle an competitor by simple
espionage. Its all too common in a world of business where the business
community is relatively very small. Head-hunting key personal from a
competitor could destroy your competitor or their market. Purchasing all
the oranges from a competitor's supplier could topple a fruit juice company.
Or even arranging a erotic night out for a competitor's CEO could destroy
the ones reputation and shareholder's confidence.
The other small element in the equation is reactive trends or what I call,
customer gullibility. Another analogy, is I will install a swimming
pool just because my neighbour's just installed a fish pond. One is the
feeling of prosperity and the other is the advancement. These have
absolutely nothing got to do with the product, its performance, colour or
even functions, only the fact that the product is seen by others. And if
this is the major incentive to buy then customers do not care for price or
performance.
If your new car broke down every time you add fuel, would you bring it back
to the garage where it was bought and ask for a refund or get the garage to
fix it permanently with some form of compensation for the disturbance?
And, you should note, it is the garage where you deliver or collects it
and not the manufacturer. We normally let the garage deal with the
manufacturer as terms of conditions is with the seller and if the terms need
changing, then change it, otherwise don't buy it or you'll be in trouble
with a worthless broken car. How many times do we want to have our brand
new toy fixed before we get fed-up?
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David Mullins
Ajaz Communications, Gallipoli, Italy
+39 (833) 589836
mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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