The main types of competition in marketing. Types and methods of competition. Benefits of Using Competitive Marketing

The market remains the same, but the number of companies increases. If it seems to you that you have no competitors in your business and you are earning easy money, then keep in mind that soon your competitors will want to earn it instead of you!

Therefore, competitive marketing is a set of tasks and goals of building a business stronger and better than that of a competitor. The company must build its business and activities in such a way as to outperform its competitors. Your sales should be not just good, but better than your competitors. Personnel are not just loyal, but work to achieve results.

Benefits of using competitive marketing:

• The company does not experience stagnation within the organization;
• Competitors do not interfere with the company, since they still have to catch up with your company;
• You follow market trends and stay ahead of them;
• When the enemy is stronger than you, you can easily outplay them through maneuvers marketing moves.
• Work with consumers;
• Creating an information occasion/eliminating an information attack from competitors.

The main elements of competitive marketing:

♦ Content. Now in the market, the winner is the one who has interesting content and who starts the game first. It is impossible to survive on image and individuality alone. Therefore, you need to constantly remind yourself and maintain your status.

Competitive marketing allows you to stay ahead of your competitors' marketing moves and maintain your own communication model. “Virality” works well in some methods. Such company content will not only be unique, but also be a competitive advantage for your company.

You can be sure that the content will work for you even on the verge of a foul, and this is when the company cannot be silent! Interesting content + marketing “tricks” will help you maintain your image and not remain in the shadow of your competitors.

♦ Work with consumers. Competitive marketing helps to build relationships with consumers based on the needs of the target audience. In addition, work with consumers is aimed at gaining loyalty and commitment to the company's products. In other words, you create a unique trade offer, which makes your company stronger than your competitor.

♦ Creating an information occasion/eliminating an information attack from competitors. Competitive marketing allows you to always be prepared for turns of events not in your favor. Your main competitors may create “pseudo-news” to distort the real situation or “tarnish” your image. It is possible to neutralize all this and develop a “fork of events”, how the situation will develop further and what needs to be done. Competitive marketing is a kind of combination of proactive marketing moves.

In the modern business world, every company follows the principles of marketing: “Study the needs of customers and decide how to provide what the customer needs.” If a company wants to be a winner, it must focus on its competitors. It must be able to avoid clashes with strong companies and be able to strike at their weak points.

Competition is competitiveness, confrontation in the market between producers of goods and services for market share, obtaining maximum profits or achieving other specific goals. In addition to competition between producers (sellers), there is also competition between consumers (buyers) of goods and services.

Competition is determined by the following prerequisites:

Competitors cannot set the market price, but can only adapt to it;

Each enterprise does not view competitors as a threat to its market share;

No participant in competition is able to influence the decisions made by other participants;

Information about prices, product quantities, production technology and probable profits is available to any enterprise;

Entry into and exit from the market is free in the long term.

There are several types of competition in marketing. An entrepreneur must be able to choose the type of competition required at the moment and be able to combine its types if necessary.

Functional competition is any need that can be satisfied in different ways. Consequently, goods with the help of which satisfaction is possible act as competitors to each other. Functional competition can arise even when producing unique products.

Subject competition arises because manufacturers create almost identical goods, differing only in quality, and often the same in quality.

Species competition is the result of the fact that there are goods that serve the same need, but differ from each other in some significant characteristics.

Price competition is competition by reducing prices to a lower level relative to competitors. At the same time, by improving the price/quality ratio from the consumer's point of view, the competitiveness of the product in the market increases. Depending on the reaction of other market participants (whether they respond with an adequate price reduction or not), either the company increases its sales, attracting part of their consumers to its product, or the average profitability (and therefore the investment attractiveness) of the industry decreases.

Marketing strategy is the formation of goals, achieving them and solving the problems of the manufacturing enterprise for each individual product, for each individual market for a certain period. The strategy is formed in order to carry out production and commercial activities in full accordance with the market situation and the capabilities of the enterprise.

Marketing strategies represent a way of acting to achieve marketing goals.

Distinguish marketing strategies, developed by the enterprise at three levels:

Corporate;

Functional;

Instrumental.

Strategic marketing corresponds to the corporate and functional level of strategies.

Corporate marketing strategies determine the way a company interacts with the market it serves. They coordinate market requirements with the company’s potential and are aimed at creating new areas of activity, the company’s growth in the market, better customer satisfaction, etc. Corporate Marketing Strategies Set Directions effective use company resources to meet market needs.

Corporate Marketing Strategies:

1. Portfolio strategies allow you to effectively resolve issues regarding capital investments in various areas of enterprise activity.

Company management based on the selection of promising products (directions of market development) is carried out using matrices.

As is known, a strategic matrix in marketing is a spatial model that reflects the position of a company in the market depending on combinations of two (or more) factors.

The matrix is ​​a particular manifestation of the general portfolio approach and allows for effective management of various groups of company products.

2. Growth strategies make it possible to answer the questions in which direction the enterprise should develop in order to better meet market requirements, as well as whether its own resources are sufficient for this or whether it is necessary to go for external acquisitions and diversify its activities.

The growth of an enterprise is a manifestation of the types of its business activities.

Business activity can be based on three opportunities or types of growth:

Organic growth, i.e. intensive development using our own resources.

Acquisition of other businesses or integrated development (including vertical and horizontal integration);

Diversification - moving into other areas of activity.

3. Competitive strategies determine how the company can provide competitive advantages in the market in terms of greater attraction of potential consumers and what policy to choose in relation to competitors.

Depending on the role a company plays in the market (or market share), it can be classified as one of four: leader, challenger, follower, and nicher.

Functional marketing strategies are the basic marketing strategies that allow an enterprise to select target markets and develop a set of marketing efforts specifically for them.

There are three areas of marketing strategies at the functional level:

1. Segmentation strategies.

2. Positioning strategies.

3. Complex strategies.

1. Segmentation strategies help a company select the most attractive target market segments to satisfy the needs of these segments in the best possible way (with maximum profit for the company).

2. Positioning strategies make it possible to find an attractive position for the company’s products in a selected market segment relative to competitors’ products in the eyes of potential consumers.

3. The marketing mix strategy is formed by a marketing mix that provides the enterprise with solving problems of growing sales, achieving a certain market share and forming a positive attitude of consumers towards the enterprise’s products in the selected segment.

Instrumental marketing strategies allow an enterprise to choose how best to use individual components in the marketing mix to increase the effectiveness of marketing efforts on the market. target market.

Accordingly, four groups of marketing strategies can be presented at the instrumental level:

1. Product strategies determine the position of each type of product or combination of products in relation to competitors, which involves the choice of quality, price and prospects for the supply of goods

2. Pricing strategies communicate the value of a product to consumers.

3. Distribution strategies make it possible to organize for consumers the availability of the company’s goods “at the right time and in the right place.”

4. Promotional strategies convey information to consumers about beneficial properties all elements of the marketing mix.

Marketing strategy is part of organizational strategy. It is the consistent activity of a company in certain market conditions, which determines the forms of use of marketing in obtaining effective results.

For every marketing strategy, the execution plan is very important. The idea of ​​influence in planning was determined by the strategic understanding in the implementation of the company's work.

Marketing planning can serve as part marketing activities and is a continuous systematic analysis of market needs. It ensures the creation of products necessary for certain consumer groups. The functions of marketing strategy are to identify existing or potential product markets.

We can highlight the main marketing strategies that are aimed at achieving specific goals and determining the best positions of companies.

The company's marketing activities include:

Strategy for entering the consumer market. It is recommended to use this strategy when a company is marketing an already known product. It is effective when the market is growing or there is insufficient saturation of goods and is aimed at increasing sales through advertising intensity and various stimulating forms of product sales.

The product creation strategy is effective when new products appear. This strategy prefers traditional ways sales, using supporting marketing activities.

A market expansion strategy is effective in identifying market areas with acceptable sales demand and revenue generation. The definition of strategy depends on the company's capabilities and its ability to take risks. If an enterprise has significant resources, but does not want to take risks, then it can use a product creation strategy. In case of insufficient availability of opportunities, a market expansion strategy can be used.

Some basic marketing strategies may emerge due to the growth market value, it can categorize specific products into their market components in relation to competitors and sales growth rates.

Offensive strategy. It is an active, aggressive position of the company in the market, its goal is to gain and expand market share. Each product or service market has a so-called optimal market share, which ensures effective work and profit for the company. In cases where the company’s income is below an acceptable level, then the manager is faced with a choice, which is either to expand the company or to leave the market.

An offensive strategy is used in several variants: if the market share is significantly below the expected level, or, unable to withstand competition, has significantly decreased and does not reach the required level; the arrival of a new product consumer market; As a result of the loss of positions by competing firms, there is a chance to increase their share of the market.

A retention strategy that can maintain its market position. It is used: when the company has a stable position, when there are missing opportunities for an offensive strategy, as a result of caution before taking specific actions. This type of strategy requires a lot of study and attention to competing firms.

The retreat strategy is often necessary measure, not definable. In this case, the company independently reduces its market share. The rules of this strategy assume a gradual cessation of cases.

A public marketing strategy is a specific cost advantage. Using this strategy, the company is aimed at a wide target audience. Here you need to think about a product that is interesting to the largest possible number of consumers.

A differentiated marketing strategy, when a company can offer the consumer a new product that differs from its competitors. Through this differentiation, each firm can identify its target customer.

A focused marketing strategy allows companies to organize opportunities in a single market segment.

Marketing strategy is a system of measures developed for the future that provides guidelines for achieving set goals.

Mass Marketing Strategy

Differentiated Marketing Strategy

Concentrated Marketing Strategy

Mass marketing strategy. This strategy is used mainly by large companies with significant funds. It is justified only when large sales volumes are achieved.

In accordance with this strategy, one type of product is released to the entire market (regardless of its segmentation). The task of marketing in this case is to ensure its attractiveness in the eyes of consumers belonging to the majority of market segments.

To successfully implement a mass marketing strategy, the following conditions are necessary:

Most consumers should feel the need for the same product properties;

The company must have sufficient funds to organize mass advertising and mass sales;

The price range that a company applies for its product should be acceptable to most consumers.

Concentrated marketing strategy. When resources are limited (for example, in the case of small companies) this strategy is very attractive. The essence of the strategy is to concentrate all the company's resources and marketing efforts on one market segment (a specific group of consumers).

A small company, as a rule, cannot successfully compete with larger firms in the entire market, but it can achieve an advantage in a particular segment due to a high degree of individuality and a special approach to meeting the needs of its constituent consumers. A concentrated marketing strategy brings success to a company if the following conditions are met:

Marketing efforts are based on the exclusive nature of the company's products (the products or goods offered by the company must, due to their narrow specialization, satisfy the needs of consumers in the target segment better than the more universal products of competitors);

A company's marketing program must be better tailored to the target segment than competitors' programs that target multiple segments simultaneously.

A concentrated marketing strategy enables companies with few resources to compete successfully with larger companies in specialized markets. However, with this approach, the company is highly dependent on its small segment, and unfavorable events in it (for example, the entry of a new strong competitor into this market segment) can sharply worsen the company's position.

Differentiated marketing strategy. This is a compromise between the approaches described above. A company can select several target market segments, for each of which a separate marketing plan is developed.

A differentiated marketing strategy is appropriate under the following conditions:

The company must have sufficient funds to implement several independent marketing programs;

The company must be able to produce (purchase) several types of goods or several varieties of one product to promote them in different market segments.

Often, companies that start with a mass or concentrated marketing strategy eventually come to a differentiated marketing strategy, since in many cases this strategy gives the best results.

Marketing strategies require specification through the development of marketing programs.

A marketing program is a document that reflects the set of activities that need to be carried out to implement the chosen strategies.

Main sections of the marketing program:

Results of the organization’s activities for the previous period.

Characteristics of the market situation.

Brief analysis and forecast of the selected target market.

The main goal for the planned period of activity.

Justification of the marketing strategy.

Budget calculation.

Preliminary assessment of the effectiveness of activities.

Measures to monitor the progress of planned activities.

Strategy selection process

Determining the company's strategy. The strategy selection process includes the following main steps:

Understanding the current strategy;

Conducting business portfolio analysis;

Choosing a company's strategy and evaluating the chosen strategy.

Understanding the current strategy. Understanding current strategy is important because decisions about the future cannot be made without a clear understanding of where the organization is and what strategies it is pursuing. Various schemes for understanding the current strategy can be used. One possible approach is proposed by Thompson and Strickland. They believe that there are five external and internal factors that need to be assessed in order to understand the strategy being implemented.

External factors:

The scope of the company’s activities and the degree of diversity of its products, the diversification of the company;

The general nature and nature of the firm's recent acquisitions and sales of portions of its properties;

The structure and direction of the company’s activities over the last period;

Opportunities that the firm has been focused on recently;

Attitude to external threats.

Internal factors:

Goals of the company;

Criteria for the distribution of resources and the current structure of capital investments for manufactured products;

Attitude to financial risk, both on the part of management and in accordance with actual practice and implemented financial policies;

Level and degree of concentration of efforts in the field of R&D;

Strategies for individual functional areas: marketing, production, personnel, finance, Scientific research and development).

Analysis of a portfolio of businesses (products) Analysis of a portfolio of businesses is one of essential tools strategic management. It provides a clear picture of how the individual parts of a business are highly interconnected and that the portfolio as a whole is significantly different from the sum of its parts and is much more important to the firm than the health of its individual parts. Using business portfolio analysis, the following can be balanced: the most important factors business, such as risk, cash flow, renewal and death. It is safe to say that business portfolio analysis is the basis strategic planning. At the same time, it must be remembered that business portfolio analysis is only one of the strategic management tools, and it in no way replaces either strategic planning as a component of strategic management, or, of course, strategic management as a whole. After management considers the available strategic alternatives, it then turns to a specific strategy. A simplified methodology for determining the position of a firm and its products in relation to industry opportunities was developed by the Boston Advisory Group. Portfolio analysis compares the market share of a firm or its products with the growth rate of its overall business activity.

This conclusion has important methodological significance, since quite often the role of the business portfolio analysis process is significantly exaggerated. Here we consider only those issues of business portfolio analysis that need to be taken into account when choosing a business strategy. There are six steps to conducting business portfolio analysis

The first step is to select levels in the organization to conduct business portfolio analysis. A firm cannot perform analysis only at the firm micro level. It is necessary to define a hierarchy of levels of analysis of the business portfolio, which should begin at the level of an individual product and end at the top level of the organization.

The second step is to capture units of analysis, called strategic business units (SBUs), in order to use them when positioning them on business portfolio analysis matrices. Very often SEBs are different from production units. SUBs may cover a single product, they may cover several products that satisfy similar needs, and some firms may view SUBs as product-market segments.

The third step is to define the parameters of the business portfolio analysis matrices in order to have clarity regarding the collection of the necessary information, as well as to select the variables on which the portfolio analysis will be carried out. For example, when studying the attractiveness of an industry, such variables may include market size, degree of protection from inflation, profitability, market growth rate, and the degree of market penetration in the world.

Variables that can be used to measure business strength include market share, market share growth, relative market share relative to the leading brand, leadership in quality or other characteristics such as costs, profitability relative to the leading brand. When determining the size of matrices, a very important role is played by the choice of units of volume measurement, standards of reduction to a single base, time intervals, etc.

Careful consideration of all of the above factors in fixing the size of the matrices plays an extremely important role for a high-quality analysis of a business portfolio.

The fourth step - data collection and analysis is carried out in many areas, although four most important areas are highlighted:

The attractiveness of the industry from the point of view of the presence of positive and negative aspects of the industry, the nature and degree of risk, etc.;

The competitive position of the company in the industry, as well as the overall competitive position of the company, assessed on special scales for individual key characteristics of competitiveness;

Opportunities and threats to the firm, which are assessed in relation to the firm, and not to the industry, as is done in the case of assessing the attractiveness of the industry;

Resources and personnel qualifications, considered from the perspective of the company’s potential to compete in each specific industry.

The fifth step is the construction and analysis of business portfolio matrices, which should give an idea of ​​the current state of the portfolio, on the basis of which management will be able to predict the future state of the matrices and, accordingly, the expected business portfolio of the company. In this case, management must develop four possible scenarios for the dynamics of matrix changes. The first scenario is based on extrapolation of existing trends, the second is based on the fact that the state of the environment will be favorable, the third scenario considers what will happen in the event of a disaster, and, finally, the fourth scenario reflects the most desirable development for the company.

The development of the dynamics of change in matrices is carried out in order to understand whether the transition of a business portfolio to a new state will lead to the company achieving its goals. To do this, management must evaluate the overall health of the projected portfolio of businesses. In particular, the following characteristics of the projected portfolio state should be clarified:

Does the portfolio include a sufficient number of businesses in attractive industries;

Does the portfolio raise too many questions and ambiguities;

Is there a sufficient number of stable profitable products to grow promising ones and finance new products;

Does the portfolio provide sufficient income, both profit and cash;

Is the portfolio very vulnerable in the event of negative trends;

Are there many businesses in the portfolio that are weak in terms of competition?

Depending on the answer to these questions, management may come to the conclusion that it is necessary to form a new product portfolio.

The sixth step is to determine the desired business portfolio in accordance with which of the options can best help the company achieve its goals. Speaking of this, it is important to emphasize that business portfolio analysis matrices in themselves are not a decision-making tool. They only show the state of the business portfolio, which must be taken into account by management when making decisions.

Choosing a company strategy. The choice of a company's strategy is carried out by management based on an analysis of key factors characterizing the state of the company, taking into account the results of an analysis of the business portfolio, as well as the nature and essence of the strategies being implemented.

The main key factors that should be primarily taken into account when choosing a strategy are the following.

The state of the industry and the firm's position in the industry can often play a decisive role in determining a firm's growth strategy. Leading, strong firms must strive to maximize the opportunities generated by their leadership position and to strengthen this position. Leading firms, depending on the state of the industry, must choose different growth strategies. So, for example, if an industry is declining, then one should rely on diversification strategies, but if the industry is rapidly developing, then the choice should fall on a concentrated growth strategy or an integrated growth strategy.

Weak firms must behave differently. They must choose those strategies that can lead to an increase in their strength. If there are no such strategies, then they should leave this industry. For example, if attempts to become stronger in a rapidly growing industry through concentrated growth strategies do not lead to the desired state, the firm must implement one of the downsizing strategies.

Thompson and Strickland proposed the following matrix for choosing a strategy depending on the dynamics of product market growth (equivalent to industry growth) and the competitive position of the company:

Rapid market growth

Slow market growth

The company's goals give uniqueness and originality to the choice of strategy in relation to each specific company. The goals reflect what the company strives for. If, for example, the goals do not imply intensive growth of the company, then appropriate growth strategies cannot be selected, even though there are all the prerequisites for this both in the market and in the industry, and in the potential of the company.

The interests and attitudes of top management play a very important role in choosing a company's development strategy. For example, there are times when senior management does not want to reconsider decisions it has previously made, even if new prospects open up. Management may like to take risks, or, on the contrary, they may strive to avoid risk by any means. And this attitude can be decisive in choosing a development strategy, for example, in choosing a strategy for developing a new product or developing new markets. Personal likes or dislikes on the part of managers can also greatly influence the choice of strategy. For example, a course may be taken to diversify or take over another company, just to settle personal scores or prove something to certain individuals.

The firm's financial resources also have a significant impact on the choice of strategy. Any changes in a firm's behavior, such as entering new markets, developing a new product, or moving into a new industry, require large financial costs. Therefore, firms with large financial resources or easy access to them are in a much better position when choosing a behavioral strategy and have a much larger number of strategy options to choose from than firms with severely limited financial capabilities.

The qualifications of employees, as well as financial resources, are a strong limiting factor when choosing a development strategy. Deepening and expanding the qualification potential of workers is one of the most important conditions that ensure the possibility of transition to new production or to high-quality technological updating of existing production. Without sufficiently complete information about the qualification potential, management cannot make the right choice of company strategy.

The company's commitments to previous strategies create a certain inertia in development. It is not possible to completely abandon all previous commitments in connection with the transition to new strategies. Therefore, when choosing new strategies, it is necessary to take into account the fact that for some time the obligations of previous years will remain in force, which, accordingly, will restrain or adjust the possibilities for implementing new strategies. In this regard, in order to avoid the strong negative impact of old obligations, it is necessary to take them into account as fully as possible when choosing new strategies and incorporate their implementation into the process of implementing new strategies.

Degree of dependence on external environment has a significant impact on the choice of firm strategy. There are situations when a company is so dependent on suppliers or buyers of its products that it is not free to make a choice of strategy based only on the possibilities of more fully using its potential. In some cases, external dependence can play a much larger role in the choice of a company's strategy than all other factors. Strong external dependence may be due to legal regulation behavior of the company, as well as social restrictions, conditions of interaction with the natural environment, etc.

The time factor must be taken into account in all cases of choosing a strategy. This is due to the fact that both opportunities and threats for the company, and planned changes always have certain time limits. At the same time, it is important to take into account both calendar time and the duration of the stages of implementation of specific actions to implement the strategy. A company cannot implement a strategy at any time and not within any calendar period, but only at those moments and within the time frame in which the opportunity for this arises. Very often, success in implementing a strategy and, therefore, success in competition is achieved by the company that has better learned to take into account time and, accordingly, is better able to manage processes over time.

Evaluation of the chosen strategy. The assessment of the chosen strategy is mainly carried out in the form of an analysis of the correctness and sufficiency of taking into account the main factors that determine the possibility of implementing the strategy when choosing a strategy. The procedure for assessing the chosen strategy is ultimately subject to one thing: whether the chosen strategy will lead the company to achieve its goals. And this is the main criterion for evaluating the chosen strategy. If the strategy meets the company’s goals, then its further assessment is carried out in the following areas.

Compliance of the chosen strategy with the state and requirements of the environment. It checks to what extent the strategy is linked to the requirements of the main environmental actors, to what extent factors of market dynamics and development dynamics are taken into account life cycle product, whether the implementation of the strategy will lead to the emergence of new competitive advantages, etc.

Compliance of the chosen strategy with the potential and capabilities of the company. In this case, it is assessed how well the chosen strategy is linked to other strategies, whether the strategy corresponds to the capabilities of the personnel, whether the existing structure allows for the successful implementation of the strategy, whether the program for implementing the strategy is time-tested, etc.

Acceptability of the risk inherent in the strategy. The justification of the risk is assessed in three areas:

Are the assumptions underlying the choice of strategy realistic?

What negative consequences can a failure of strategy have for the company?

Does the possible positive result justify the risk of losses from failure to implement the strategy.

To summarize the above, it should be noted, we can say, if we combine the main directions of marketing strategies by the American marketer F. Kotler and the American economist M. Porter in two aspects - the choice of the target market and strategic advantage, then we can distinguish the following main strategies of the company:

Mass, undifferentiated, standard marketing strategy;

Differentiated marketing strategy for products;

Concentrated, targeted marketing strategy.

Depending on the market share, three types of marketing strategy are known - offensive, defensive, vertical integration strategy. These strategies are called military strategies in marketing.

The essence of a market economy is competition. In order to survive and succeed, businesses must know their competitors and their successes, especially when we're talking about key criteria. Since competitors directly and indirectly influence product sales and profit of the enterprise, it is necessary to carefully study them during market analysis.

Competition refers to rivalry between individuals and business units interested in achieving the same goal in some field.

When identifying competition, 5 questions are decisive:

• 1. Who is the competitor.
• 2. What is their strategy.
• 3. What are their strengths and weaknesses.
• 4. What is the way they react to changes in external conditions.
• 5. What are their goals.

Four levels of competition can be defined:

• 1. The company evaluates those who offer a similar product in the same price zone.
• 2. The enterprise extends the definition of a competitor to all sellers of the same product.
• 3. The enterprise extends the definition of a competitor to all firms that satisfy the same need.
• 4. The enterprise includes among its competitors enterprises that sell goods of the same purpose.

The seller selling the product is obliged to capture the attention of buyers and encourage them to purchase the product. Naturally, the consumer properties of goods are assessed by buyers: one of these goods is given preference, and these goods are purchased. The sales process may not take place if the goods produced do not meet the conditions for their sale and are not in demand. So, competition is characterized by:

• 1. The presence of several rivals.
• 2. The same field of activity.
• 3. Coincident target.

From a marketing perspective, there are 3 types of competition:

• 1. Functional competition. It is due to the fact that the need can be satisfied in a variety of ways. All products that satisfy a specific need are functional competitors. A typical example is products that satisfy the needs of spending time on the road (chess, books, maps, etc.). Functional competition is also typical for choosing concert events, visiting museums, etc.
• 2. Species competition. It is a consequence of the fact that there are goods intended for the same purpose, but differing from each other in some significant parameters and, accordingly, having different types (for example, bicycles of different brands, motorcycles, cars).
• 3. Subject (inter-firm) competition arises when firms produce essentially identical goods that differ only in manufacturing quality (or are identical in quality).

Methods of competition.

According to methods, competition is divided as follows:

1. Price competition. It lies in the fact that similar goods differ in price. The way to compete is to reduce prices. This method was typical for the early periods of market development.

Price competition can be direct or hidden. In the first case, firms widely notify the public about the reduction in prices for their goods; in the second, they bring them to the market new product with significantly improved consumer properties, but its price rises slightly.

2. Non-price competition. It is characterized by the fact that the quality of the product is higher than that of competitors. The product is being improved in the areas of reliability, design, comfort, with special attention paid to the price of consumption.

The competitive strategy for first place leads to the creation of modern goods on a knowledge-intensive basis. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account the significant importance of other factors of non-price competition.

Competition, competitors and their strategies are studied using the same methods as markets. All components are important for market success, but the following are especially significant:

• 1. The main factors of competitiveness of foreign goods.
• 2. Activities in the field of advertising and sales promotion.
• 3. Practice in product brands.
• 4. Attractive side of product packaging.
• 5. Organization of warranty and post-warranty service.
• 6. Sales and its organization.
• 7. Product distribution channels.

product marketing demand competitive

Competition (translated from Latin - competition) in a narrow sense is competition between individuals, different economic entities in any field in order to achieve the same goal.

Competition occupies a special place in the economic sphere. Competition forces entrepreneurs to reduce prices and constantly improve their products in order to maintain their position in the market.

From a marketing perspective, competition can be three types.

• 1. Functional competition arises because the need can be satisfied by several different ways. For example, various food products satisfy nutritional needs, various sports equipment solves nutritional needs. physical development of people.
• 2. Species competition occurs when there are goods intended for the same purpose, but differing in some important parameter for the consumer. For example, cars of the same class may differ from each other in efficiency (rear-wheel drive and front-wheel drive cars) or engine power (Volga, Moskvich, Tavria cars).
• 3. Subject competition arises in situations where different companies produce almost identical products, which may differ only in quality. The most typical example of such competition is televisions, which are made from almost the same components and components, and if they differ from each other, it is only in build quality.

In addition to the types of competition, there are differences in methods of competition.

• 1. Price competition- by changing the price (usually reducing it), the merchant attracts attention to his product and thereby increases its sales.
• 2. Non-price methods competition - the consumer properties of the product are brought to the fore: product quality, its novelty, reliability of design, design, packaging, conditions of warranty and post-warranty service, as well as various methods of influencing the consumer, including advertising.

There are four main competitive structures:

• 1. When monopolies There is only one manufacturer on the market. This may be a company that has a patent for a product. This could be a utility company, local power company, or transport company. A government monopoly (for example, a post office, a railway company, a subway) pursues goals that are not necessarily related to making a profit. It often sets prices below cost if the product or service is of public importance.
• 2. Oligopoly is the dominance of a small number of fairly large firms that account for the bulk of sales in an industry. This is especially evident in the automotive industry, in the market for information technology, household appliances.
• 3. Monopolistic competition occurs when there are a sufficiently large number of firms producing and selling differentiated products over a wide range of prices. Firms try to achieve a distinctive advantage for their products and offer customers different variants products for different consumer segments. In addition, firms make extensive use of branding, advertising, packaging variety, and personal selling techniques.
• 4. Pure competition exists when a large number of firms sell identical goods (agricultural products, raw materials, metals, securities) to many buyers. In such a market, prices and goods are the same. In these conditions, firms should strive to create a reliable reputation and a policy of selling at the lowest possible prices, attracting more intermediaries and traders.

Price competition dates back to the times of free market competition, when even homogeneous goods were offered on the market at a wide variety of prices.

Reducing prices was the basis by which the industrialist (merchant) distinguished his product, attracted attention and, ultimately, won the desired market share.

In the modern world, price competition has lost such importance in favor of non-price methods of competition. This does not mean, of course, that modern market“price war” is not used; it exists, but not always in an explicit form. The fact is that the “price war” in open form is possible only until the company exhausts its reserves for reducing the cost of goods. In general, competition in an open form leads to a decrease in the rate of profit, deterioration financial condition firms and, as a result, to ruin. Therefore, firms avoid conducting price competition in an open form. It is currently usually used in the following cases:

• - outsider firms in their fight against monopolies, with which outsiders have neither the strength nor the opportunity to compete with them in the sphere of non-price competition;
• - to penetrate markets with new products;
• - to strengthen positions in the event of a sudden aggravation of the sales problem.

At hidden price competition firms introduce a new product with significantly improved consumer properties, and raise the price disproportionately little.

Non-price competition highlights the higher consumer value of the product than its competitors (firms produce goods of higher quality, more reliable, provide a lower consumption price, and have a more modern design).

Non-price methods include all marketing methods of company management.

TO illegal methods non-price competition includes:

• - industrial espionage;
• - poaching specialists who know production secrets;
• - production of counterfeit goods, outwardly no different from genuine products, but significantly worse in quality, and therefore usually 50% cheaper;
• - purchase of samples for the purpose of copying them.

The following main ones can be identified directions of the company's competitive activity:

· Competition in the field of raw materials markets for gaining positions in resource markets in order to provide production with the necessary material resources, promising materials, highly qualified specialists, modern technology and technology to ensure higher labor productivity than competitors.

The competitors of an enterprise in the commodity markets are mainly manufacturers of analogous products that use similar material resources, technology, labor resources;

• · Competition in the field of sales of goods and/or services On the market;
• · Competition between buyers in sales markets.

Depending on the intensity of competition in this environment, the company predicts prices for certain goods and organizes its sales activities.

In conditions saturated market Buyer competition gives way to seller competition. In this regard, among these three areas of competitive activity of the company, the greatest interest, from a marketing point of view, is the competition of sellers in the field of sales of goods and / or services on the market. The remaining two areas are buyer competition.

Since competition in marketing is usually considered in relation to the consumer, different types of competition correspond to certain stages of consumer choice.

After identifying and assessing its major competitors, a company must develop competitive marketing strategies that will best position its offering relative to its competitors' offerings.

Each company must determine which strategy is best for it, given its position in the industry, as well as its goals, capabilities and resources. Even within the same company for various types activities or products may require different strategies.

Companies maintain their position in the market by making competitive moves aimed either at attacking competitors or to protect themselves from the threat posed by competitors. The nature of these moves varies depending on the role that companies play in the target market - leader, challenger to leader, pursuer of leader, or the role of a company serving a market niche.

Main features of the strategies:

• · Companies maintain their position in the market by making competitive moves , aimed either at attacking competitors, or to protect oneself from threats posed by competitors.
• · Most industries have a recognized leader that has the largest market share and typically outpaces other companies in price changes, new product introductions, product distribution footprint, and sales promotion spending.
• · Strategy for maintaining your position: find opportunities and means to increase aggregate demand; seeks to further increase market share even if market size remains unchanged; constant cost reduction must remain strong point; protecting your current market share through defensive and offensive actions.
• · A company challenging a market leader must first define its strategic goal. The strategic goal is chosen depending on which competitor the company chooses as its rival.
• · A company following a leader can gain many benefits: a follower company can learn from the leader's experience, copy or improve his products and marketing programs, investing significantly less money and can achieve quite significant levels of profit.
• · The mastering company builds its policy using the leader’s products and his marketing programs, often improving them. The explorer may choose other markets for his sales in order to avoid confrontation with the leader.
• · Companies that focus on serving niche markets try to find one or more niches that are reliable and profitable. The ideal market niche should be large enough to be profitable and have the potential for growth.

Maximum moment acting in the section of the ring element

Section modulus

According to the assortment, we accept a rib in the form of channel No. 12 with W x = 50.6 cm 3

Chapter 1. Theoretical analysis competitiveness

The essence and concept of competition in marketing

In the marketing system, a company operating in the market is considered not on its own, but taking into account the entire set of relationships and information flows connecting it with other market entities. Conditions environment, in which the company operates, is usually called the marketing environment of the company. Kotler F. defined the marketing environment of a company as follows: “The marketing environment of a company is a set of active subjects and forces operating outside the company and influencing the ability of the management of the marketing service to establish and maintain target clients relationships of successful cooperation." The marketing environment of a company consists of a microenvironment and a macroenvironment. The microenvironment is represented by forces that are directly related to the company itself and its ability to serve clients, i.e. suppliers, marketing intermediaries, customers, competitors and contact audiences. The macroenvironment is represented by the forces of a broader social plan that influence the microenvironment (factors of a demographic, economic, natural, technical, political and cultural nature). Thus, competitors are an important component of the company’s marketing microenvironment, without taking into account and studying which it is impossible to develop an acceptable strategy and tactics for the company’s functioning in the market. There are many definitions of competitors; here are the most commonly used ones. As noted above, competitors are subjects marketing system, which through their actions influence the company’s choice of markets, suppliers, intermediaries, the formation of a product range and the entire range of marketing activities (which entails the need to study them). The presence of competing firms gives rise to such a phenomenon in the economy as competition.

Competition (clash) is the struggle between producers of goods and services for the most profitable terms production, purchase and sale of goods and at the same time a mechanism for regulating the proportions of social production.

Competition arose in ancient times in conditions of simple commodity production. Until about the middle of the 19th century, the economies of developed countries were characterized by perfect (free) competition. In the 20th century, competition develops into imperfect competition, i.e. it began to be regulated by monopolies and the state.

Competition is the main condition for the development of entrepreneurship. It serves the interests of sellers and buyers. In a competitive market, manufacturers strive to reduce costs in order to increase profits. As a result, production efficiency increases and prices decrease. Competition also encourages manufacturers to improve product quality and expand the range of products. Manufacturers must constantly invent new products and services to capture a larger share of the market. In the end, customers and society as a whole benefit.

Economists refer to the conditions under which market competition occurs as “market structure.” The structure of the market is determined by the number and size of firms, the nature of the products produced, the ease of entry and exit from the market, and the availability of information. Whether an enterprise belongs to a particular type of market structure determines its behavior in the market, pricing features, and relationships with other competing enterprises.
The law of supply and demand operates most effectively in conditions perfect competition . It is characterized by the following features: firstly, sellers accept prices as data and cannot consciously influence them; secondly, access to the industry for new sellers is unlimited; thirdly, sellers do not develop a joint strategy; fourthly, buyers are not able to influence prices; fifthly, all trading participants have complete market information. Conditions of perfect competition in their pure form are extremely rare. However, in some industries the market is approaching such conditions. For example, products Agriculture(wheat, corn, meat, etc.) are often bought and sold under conditions of perfect competition. Perfect competition is a certain ideal to which the market should strive, because it achieves the highest efficiency.
The opposite of perfect competition is monopoly(imperfect competition). A pure monopoly is characterized by the following features: firstly, the monopolist is the only seller of a product that has no close substitutes; secondly, sellers dictate prices; thirdly, the entry of new firms into the industry is completely blocked; fourth, buyers accept prices as given.
The concept of pure monopoly is an abstraction. Even the complete absence of competitors within the country does not exclude their presence abroad. Therefore, we present pure monopoly rather theoretically.

Table 1. Types market structures(see attachments)

There are two forms of competition - price and non-price.

Price competition carried out around the prices of goods and their components (costs, profits). Reducing costs at the same price means increasing profits. Reducing prices due to a decrease in the profit share can lead to an increase in sales volume and ousting competitors from the market. Price competition is primarily associated with a cost-based approach to pricing. The closer the market model is to the model of free competition, the greater its scale. With a decrease in the number of sellers in the market and the effectiveness of price competition, it is believed that price determines the level of quality of goods.

In the modern world, price competition has lost such importance in favor of non-price methods of competition. This does not mean, of course, that “price war” is not used in the modern market; it exists, but not always in an explicit form. The fact is that an open “price war” is possible only until the company exhausts its reserves for reducing the cost of goods. In general, competition in an open form leads to a decrease in the rate of profit, a deterioration in the financial condition of firms and, as a consequence, to ruin. Therefore, firms avoid conducting price competition in an open form. It is currently usually used in the following cases: 1) by outsider firms in their fight against monopolies, for which outsiders have neither the strength nor the capabilities to compete with them in the sphere of non-price competition; 2) to penetrate markets with new products; 3) to strengthen positions in the event of a sudden aggravation of the sales problem. With hidden price competition, firms introduce a new product with significantly improved consumer properties, and raise the price disproportionately little.

Non-price competition is predominant and is carried out on the basis of changes in the properties, quality and range of products. Priorities also include the production of new types of products or services, the formation of new needs and the creation on this basis of a new demand structure, accelerating the obsolescence of goods, and the creation of new pre-sale and after-sale services. This form of competition should be associated with value-based forms of pricing. Non-price competition methods are used more widely, the more prices in the market are regulated by its participants. The main forms of non-price competition are product (service) differentiation, improvement of its design and consumer properties, and advertising. Each of these forms of competition has its own advantages and disadvantages. Non-price competition brings to the fore the higher consumer value of a product than its competitors (firms produce goods of higher quality, more reliable, provide a lower consumption price, and have a more modern design).

Non-price methods include all marketing methods of company management. · Development and release of new products · Comprehensive market research and marketing planning · Organization of sales apparatus · Advertising and sales promotion · Improvement of products · Pricing policy · Improvement organizational structure· Selection of the most effective channels of distribution · Reduction of distribution costs · Credit policy and financing Illegal methods of non-price competition include: · industrial espionage; · luring away specialists who know production secrets; · release of counterfeit goods, which outwardly are no different from · original products, but significantly of the worst quality, and therefore usually 50% cheaper; · purchasing samples for the purpose of copying them.

The competitiveness of an enterprise is its advantage in relation to other enterprises in this industry within the country and abroad. Competitiveness is not an inherent quality of a company; this means that the competitiveness of a company can only be assessed within a group of companies belonging to the same industry, or companies producing similar goods (services). Competitiveness can only be revealed by comparing these firms with each other both on a national scale and on a global market scale.

Thus, the competitiveness of a company is a relative concept: the same company within, for example, a regional industry group can be recognized as competitive, but not within industries of the world market or its segment. Assessment of the degree of competitiveness, i.e. identifying the nature of a company’s competitive advantage compared to other companies consists, first of all, in choosing basic objects for comparison, in other words, in choosing a leading company in the country’s industry or abroad. Such a leading company must have the following parameters:

• commensurability of the characteristics of manufactured products according to the identity of the needs satisfied with their help;
• commensurability of the market segments for which the products are intended;
• commensurability of the life cycle phase in which the enterprise operates.

The competitive advantage of one enterprise over another can be assessed when they satisfy identical customer needs in related market segments. Moreover, they should be in approximately the same phases of the life cycle. If these conditions are not met, the comparison will be incorrect.

Further, based on the fact that competitiveness reflects the productivity of the use of enterprise resources, to evaluate it it is necessary to select criteria for the productivity of resource use. In the event that its activities are related to making a profit, and total resources are valued in monetary terms, the productivity of resource use can be assessed by an indicator of production profitability, i.e. the ratio of the profit received in a particular period to the resources spent in the same period, assessed as production costs. In addition, to objectively assess the competitiveness of an enterprise, its management needs the ability to monitor the market, especially outside the country.

The complexity, and sometimes complete lack of access to information about the activities of competitors, can create an unfounded opinion among enterprise management about superiority over competitors, lead to complacency and a weakening of efforts related to maintaining the required level of competitive advantage of their enterprise.

Currently, in order for an enterprise to be competitive in the struggle, completely new approaches to organizing production and management are required than those that managers focused on in the past. And above all, new approaches are needed in investment policy, when carrying out technical reconstruction at an enterprise, in the process of implementation new technology and technology.

The competitiveness of an enterprise depends on a number of factors that can be considered components (components) of competitiveness. They can be divided into three groups of factors:

• technical and economic;
• commercial;
• regulatory

Techno-economic factors include: quality, selling price and costs of operation (use) or consumption of a product or service. These components depend on productivity and labor intensity, production costs, knowledge intensity of products, etc.

Commercial factors determine the conditions for the sale of goods in a particular market. These include:

• market conditions (intensity of competition, the relationship between supply and demand for a given product, national and regional features market, influencing the formation of effective demand for a given product or service);
• provided service (availability of dealer and distribution points of the manufacturer and service stations in the buyer’s region, quality Maintenance, repairs and other services provided);
• advertising (the presence and effectiveness of advertising and other means of influencing consumers in order to generate demand);
• company image (popularity trademark, reputation of a firm, company, country).

Regulatory and legal factors reflect the requirements for technical, environmental and other (possibly moral and ethical) safety of using a product (product, service) in a given market, as well as patent legal requirements (patent purity and patent protection). If the product does not comply with the norms and requirements of standards and legislation in force during the period under review, the product cannot be sold on this market. Therefore, assessing this group of factors and components using the coefficient of compliance with standards is meaningless.

High competitiveness of the company is a guarantee of obtaining high profits in market conditions. At the same time, the company has the goal of achieving a level of competitiveness that would help it survive over a fairly long period of time. In this regard, any organization faces the problem of strategic and tactical management of the development of the enterprise’s ability to survive in changing market conditions. Competitiveness management involves a set of measures to systematically improve a product, constantly search for new sales channels, new groups of buyers, improve service and advertising. The basis of an enterprise's competitiveness is the competitiveness of its products (goods, services).

1.1.1. Formation of a competitiveness strategy

Fundamental changes in the system of economic relations associated with the transition from administrative-command management methods to market mechanisms predetermine the need for changes in business methods. At the same time, the issues of forming a strategy reflecting the long-term perspective of the enterprise’s behavior in the market in the emerging conditions of fierce competition are brought to the fore.

Unfortunately, not all managers are aware of the need to develop a strategy. Russian enterprises. For the most part, even understanding the importance of strategy, they consider it impossible to develop it in the conditions of risk and uncertainty inherent in the economy.

However, by citing such uncertainties as frequent changes or the absence of the necessary legislative framework, managers are only trying to justify their inability to think strategically and see the prospects for the development of the enterprises they manage. In such cases, practice comes to the rescue. modern marketing and management: vision, mission, basic values, enterprise policy.

In order to increase the competitiveness of an enterprise, based on identified competitive advantages, it is necessary to formulate its competitive strategy, which is understood as a set of actions of the enterprise aimed at providing the buyer with greater value. It is also a process of decision-making about the goals and priority directions for the development of an enterprise based on the identification and effective use of competitive advantages. Its development is carried out on the basis of the use of analytical information, conducting marketing research and assessing the human, material, technological and financial resources. Thus, the enterprise strategy depends on the goals and the chosen method of achieving competitive advantage.

The algorithm for forming a strategy for increasing the competitiveness of an enterprise is presented in Fig. 1 (see appendices)

Based on basic growth strategies and competitiveness strategies, the enterprise forms its development strategy based on market share and the level of production diversification.

The presented proposals and developments can serve as the basis for further research in the field of theory and practice of enterprise competitiveness management, and have also been tested in small and medium-sized businesses in the formation of their strategies for increasing competitiveness.

Competitive strategy, as opposed to corporate strategy, must determine competitive look organizations. When developing a strategy, there are two main questions to consider:

v Why will customers buy products and services from us and not from competitors?

v How to ensure the sustainability of a company's competitive advantages?

To answer these questions you need to:

1) Clearly understand why criteria buyers make purchasing decisions.

2) Think about competitive advantage in in relative terms, i.e. as a result of comparison with competitors.

3) It’s good to know what ours is competitive advantage, and where we lag behind our competitors.

4) Strive to have a lot of competitive advantages, and if only a little, then according to the most important criteria for buyers.

5) Identify key success factors, contributing to the achievement of sustainable competitive advantages.

6) Assume that competitive conditions and consumer preferences over time change.

Trying to answer these questions, we inevitably come to the conclusion that the central concept competitive strategy- This is the concept of “competitive advantage”. Essentially, the choice of a competitive strategy is a conscious choice of competitive advantages.

1.1.2. Competitive advantages of the enterprise

Competitive advantages are the basis for ensuring the competitiveness of an enterprise in a market economy. In turn, with the active development of competition, the strategic success of a company and the strength of its competitive position depend on the possession of a long-term and sustainable competitive advantage, the duration of which is determined by the enterprise’s ability to maintain and protect its existing competitive advantages and generate new ones, faster and more efficiently than competitors. Moreover, the latter is becoming increasingly important in conditions of market saturation and a significant excess of demand over supply.
The conducted research in the economic literature allows us to propose the following classification of the competitive advantages of an enterprise. (Fig. 2 see attachment)

This classification involves dividing the competitive advantages of an enterprise in accordance with the following identified characteristics:

- degree of stability

- possibilities of use;

- scale of implementation

- based on the competitiveness of the enterprise.

The degree of sustainability of competitive advantage is determined by the sources of competitive advantage and the possibilities for their continuous improvement and expansion. In this regard, according to the degree of stability of the checkpoint, we can distinguish: checkpoint with a low degree of stability. This type of competitive advantage is easily accessible to competitors. For example, competitive advantage in cost work force or raw materials, economies of scale from the use of technology, equipment, etc.
- Gearbox with an average degree of stability. It is advisable to include competitive advantages maintained over a longer period of time into this type. For example, patented technology, differentiation based on unique products or services, company reputation, established product sales channels. Achieving such benefits requires intensive and long-term investment in production capacity, R&D and marketing research, specialized personnel training.
- Gearbox with a high degree of stability. This type of competitive advantage requires a combination of large investments in innovative projects with high quality their implementation.
If possible, it is advisable to divide competitive advantages into:

- real competitive advantages that determine the current competitive position in the industry;

- potential competitive advantages focused on the desired competitive position.

Depending on the scale of implementation of the enterprise’s checkpoint, we can distinguish:
- local checkpoints that are achieved within the enterprise’s home environment;

- national checkpoints are determined by the advantages of the country in which the enterprise is located;

Global checkpoints related to entrepreneurial activity enterprises of a particular country on the world market.

Based on the characteristics of the competitiveness of an enterprise, commodity and non-commodity checkpoints can be distinguished. The first group of competitive advantages characterize the result of production and economic activities - the products of the enterprise and are directly related to the characteristics that make up its competitiveness: the quality and price of product consumption, packaging, after-sales service, as well as the range of products manufactured by the enterprise. In turn, competitive advantages of a non-commodity nature are determined by the potential and quality of the organization and implementation of the enterprise’s activities: the brand of the enterprise, the level of development of production, the system of organization of enterprise management. Thus, in contrast to the competitive advantages of a product attribute this type advantages are determined directly by the characteristics of the production processes and sales of the enterprise's products.
A model defining the competitive advantages of an enterprise was proposed by the American scientist M. Porter .

The basic idea is that the company's attention is focused not only on satisfying the needs of customers, but also on the so-called competing forces of the market. To achieve above-average profits, a company must have a strong position relative to its competitors. M. Porter identifies only two types of competitive advantages: lower costs and specialization. True, the meaning put into these terms is different than one might assume.

By lower costs we mean not just a lower amount of production costs than competitors, but the ability of a company to develop, produce and sell a product more efficiently than its competitors. In other words, to achieve this type of competitive advantage, a firm must be able to organize at a lower cost and in a more efficient manner. short time the entire cycle of operations with a product - from its design development to sale to the final consumer.

The understanding of the essence of the type of competitive advantage that is denoted by the word “specialization” is not as clear as it might seem at first glance. This is not at all a concentration on the production of only a certain range of goods, but the ability to satisfy the special needs of customers and receive a premium price for this , i.e. the price is on average higher than that of competitors. In other words, to ensure this type of competitive advantage, a company must learn the art of standing out from the crowd of competitors (the principle of differential advantages is implemented), offering customers a product that is noticeably different or high level quality at standard set parameters that determine this quality, or a non-standard set of properties that are really of interest to the buyer.

Fig.3. Porter's Competitive Advantage Model

Professor Michael Porter identified 5 forces that affect a company in an industry (its profit):

New competitors - new players in the market;

Existing competitors;

- “competitors” offering substitute products;

Power of suppliers;

The power of buyers;

Let's take a closer look at each of Porter's “5 forces”.

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