A MARKET FIT FOR YOUR PRODUCT
In today’s world marketers in order
to gain more profit out of their
product, promote the product and
try to take advantage of economy of
scale by standardising the product.
So is there any scope for Niche market
in present world? Why should
a company go for Niche Marketing
rather than Mass Marketing?
Above questions are really troublesome
for a marketer and the solutions
to them are never easy. There is no formula to define
that either Mass Marketing or Niche Marketing is more
effective. We can only analyse that under what conditions
a Niche Marketing can turn out to be an effective tool to marketers.
Niche Marketing is to target narrowly defined customer
group in search of specific mix of benefits
by dividing a segment into sub-segments.
It is very important that a subsegment
is being defined for the product
where customers have specific set of
needs and are willing to pay premium
amount for the product. This is because
the product is a specialised one, which is
totally missing in Mass Marketing where
a product is more standardised and less
specialized.
There is a lot of healthy examples of Niche
Marketing with specified target group
and making most of its product specialization.
For e.g. Krack cream from Paras
Pharmaceutical is one of the examples of
having a niche market product. It clearly
targets women with cracked feet and it
is very specific in the sub-segment with minimal
competition.
If one is allowed to think of a competitor, it would be
hard to do so. Krack cream has been a successful venture
in Niche market. As a 25 gram Krack cream tube would
cost around INR 61 whereas 25 gram tube of “Fair and
lovely advanced Multi Vitamin Fairness solution” would
cost only around INR 47. This is a clear contrast effect of
a Niche marketed product and a mass marketed product.
Krack cream may not be as popular as Fair and lovely but
earns more, makes more out of the same quantity, reason
being it is a specialised product and the need for the two
products are different so it exploits its Niche market presence
in the segment.
Another good example of
Niche Marketing is “Vanish
Stain Remover” which is applicable
for the clothes with
strong stain on them which
are not easily removable
with normal detergent. It
may not be suitable for daily
wash of clothes. Vanish enjoys
its supremacy in Niche
Market which it belongs to, as compared to any other detergent
(mass market). Lack of competition and it being a
specialized product give it a price premium advantage. A
900 gram pack of “Vanish Shakti O2 fabric stain remover”
is priced as INR 320 where as one of the premium segment
detergent “Surf Excel Matic Front Load’s” 1 kg pack
is priced at INR 205: showing a clear
cut advantage of a Niche market
product over a Mass market product.
There are a host of other examples
i.e. Godrej Ezee, Medicines,
organic or natural food (fruit juice
etc.)
With the advancement of technology
and globalisation the products
will keep on becoming cheaper and
better but Niche Market will keep
on enjoying its premium position.
Marketers need to keep on promoting
their product in a creative and
comprehensive manner. Marketers
should also keep trying to bring
some changes in the product with
time. No market is safe against
competition, as competition is bound to creep in and
make a niche market product a mass market product, as
has happened in case of “Iodex”. So it is very important
that marketers keeps a keen watch on changing trend and
keep positioning and repositioning its product in order to
cater to larger consumer base in niche market before it
gets crowded by fresh competitors.
