Pet Drink Case Study

First time business owners with little background in basic organizational functions may not realize the importance of effective marketing. However, larger companies recognize the substantial growth that can be made from incorporating a marketing team, either by creating their own department, or contracting the team from another firm. Marketing is a balancing act between improving customer satisfaction and accomplishing the organization’s goals. Therefore, actions made within the marketing sector of the company should both promote the entity’s objectives, while focusing on the customers wants and needs. Differentiation, customer influence and awareness of competitors are just a few key strategies that make a considerable impact. We will call

Creating a new market is different from the traditional thinking of putting your brand on a product which already has 500 variants (Ries & Trout, 1993) . Labeling a similar product with a brand that is already successful in other product areas no longer suggests it will do well producing other items (1993). Well-developed and innovative ideas flourish when given this advantage of creating a new market, however many fail from lack of understanding needs of consumers. If only someone would have told this to pet beverage producers in the early to mid 1990’s. Pet Drink Co. the original producer of flavored pet drinks created an interesting niche of products (Liesse, 1994). They began production in Florida, making beef and fish flavored pet water. Bandwagon brands like The Hill quickly jumped on the pet drink board by creating vitamin enriched pet water. Hill believed that if people enjoyed flavored water, pets would too (1994). However, they missed the mark on who did the grocery shopping. Even if the cats or dogs enjoyed the water, they couldn’t tell their owners. They certainly couldn’t drive down to the local grocery store and purchase some for themselves either. Thus, market research is important when inventing new products. However, if you are able to create a product or service

First we must identify our competitors. Clearly they are the brand which others are choosing over yours, but don’t be too quick to neglect makers of potential replacements (Ries & Trout, 1993). For example, Disney is a direct competitor of Pixar and DreamWorks’s studios. Yet, they are in the entertainment industry, which means they are also competing with video game producers and television shows. Once they have been identified, don’t be so quick to be on the attack. Study what makes them great, and see if the same idea or concept can be applied within your organization (Murray, 2006). Areas that may be observed but are not limited to include customer service skills, fluidity of operations and how they allocate resources. If the company has reviews online, investigate those so you can see exactly what consumers like and dislike about the entity. The focus of the competitive market is specific for each industry. For example, viewing your competitors as platforms for learning instead of demeaning is important within healthcare facilities. Especially since these facilities work together in providing an array of different treatments. Therefore, competition should be driven within customer service, technology and