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 M188597 Knowledge Nzombe 0772 973 009
 M186646 Patricia Ruduve0782 391 292
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GROUP ASSIGNMENT QUESTION:

 
Competitive positioning strategy
Competitive advantage through innovation
Customer relationships
Introduction
 Competitive positioning is the foundation of
strategic marketing and should influence brand
strategy, pricing and messaging. A good positioning
strategy requires a careful evaluation of market
research. In the spirit of explaining competitive
positioning, a case study of Kodak and Fuji shall be
taken on board in an endeavour to bring an
understanding of the subject Having defined key
terms, competitive positioning strategies will then
be explained.
Motivational Quote
.

Opportunities are missed by most

people because they are dressed in
overalls and appear like work
(M. Edison)
Case study

Versus
Objectives

By the end of the presentation students should be

able to:
 Define and understand competitive positioning
 Determine what influence competitive positioning
 Come up with possible competitive positioning
strategies for different cases
 Be able to link customer relationships with
competitive positioning
Definition of key terms
Competitive positioning
 Positioning refers to creating a mental image of the product

offering and its differentiating features in the minds of the target

market. This mental image can be based on real or perceived
differences among competing offerings( Ferrel, 2014).
 Kotler (2012:310) defines competitive positioning as the act of

designing the company’s offering and image to occupy a

distinctive place in the minds of the target market.
 The two definitions reflect that competitive positioning is what

shapes your product, service and company apart from your

competitors. It is simply about being unique and different from
others thus producing unique products and services.
.

Competitive advantage

 It is how much more value do you deliver than your

competitors(Pieterson, 2010)
Innovation
 Michael (2015:147) defines innovation as the creation of the

new or the re-arranging of the old in a new way.

 According to Kotler(2012) it is the process of creating a

product or service solutions that delivers significant new

customer value.
 In other words innovation is not the result of thinking

differently rather it is the result of thinking deliberately

about existing problems and unmet needs.
Influences on competitive positioning

A good positioning strategy is influenced by :

a) Market profile
b) Customer segments

c) Competitive analysis
d) Method of delivering value
Market profile

 There is need to document the size of the market, identify the major
competitors and how they are positioned. The organization must
also determine whether the market is in the introductory, growth,
maturity or declining stage of its life cycle. This life cycle stage
affects the entire marketing strategy.
 Fuji’s major competitor was Kodak which covered 80% of the
market share whilst Fuji at 20%. Since the company was on the
growth stage of the industry life cycle, it introduced the penetration
pricing. This helped Fuji to gain market share. It is said Fuji began
slashing prices by as much as 25%. Over the previous year Fuji
increased its share of the US film market to nearly 16% from 10%
while Kodak’s share reduced from 80% to 75% (pg 587).
Customer segments

 The company should understand the problems that

the market is facing. A research should be conducted
that will uncover the true wants and needs of the
prospects. Prospects should be grouped into
segments depending on their needs and wants eo that
the organization can efficiently market to each
group.
 Based on the case study, Fuji managed to provide its
products to both the street film markets and big
photo processing laboratories in USA (pg 587).
Competitive analysis

 This is the process of evaluating competitors. Apart

from rating competitors, self rating is encouraged
basing on operational efficiency, product leadership
and customer intimacy.
SWOT ANALYSIS

Strength
 Strong financial background

 They had a vision- the CEO who came up with innovative

strategies. It was led by a no nonsense Chairman and CEO

(pg 588).
Weaknesses
 Their aggressive positioning strategies led them to enter into

unfair trading practices. In the early1990s, the US commerce

department integrated changes that the Japanese company
dumped photographic paper in the US market. Fuji
subsequently lost most of its 20% market share (pg 588).
Opportunities
 Ability to takeovers at the right time- in 1984, Kodak
refused to pay $1million far below the $4million
flow for sponsorship that Ueberroth had established.
Fuji saw the opportunity and took up the offer (pg
588).
 The fact that Costco ditched Fuji for Kodak gave
Fuji an opportunity to slash its prices which came up
as a competitive advantage because slashing prices
helped to gain market share and increase its shares
(pg 587).
Threats

 A mob of nearly 2 dozen camera, computer and

consumer electronics companies trying to get in the
same space
 Canon and Casio were taking up a bigger share of
the market.
 The challenge of the photographic paper and
processing from Canon, Epson and HP.
Method of delivering value

 An organization should specify how it is going to

deliver value to the market at the highest level. Fuji
had all the resources which were expected to
produce quality products. As it is alluded in the
case, the companies that win in digital photograph
will need marketing and product smarts,
technology and not least money. Fuji had all of
them.
Competitive advantage through Innovation

 Low cost leadership- this is when a company

projects itself as the cheapest manufacturer or
provider of a particular product or commodity. Fuji
unloaded the film at a steep discount to other
distributers.
Competitive advantage through
Innovation…….continued

 Acquisitions-to ensure a market for their paper both

companies invested heavily in the third line of business
developing by buying up big film companies. Fuji
acquired Wal-Mart’s 6 wholesale photo labs in 1986.
 Flooding the market in with their products-Fuji’s long
term strategy was to transplant as much film and paper
production as possible into US soil.
 Opening new markets- Fuji opened a highly automated
300 million dollars photographic paper plant in
Greenwood
Competitive advantage through Innovation…….continued

 Producing quality products- Fuji became known for

producing quality products
 Differentiation- Fuji also acquired a hipper, more
technologically oriented making image to
differentiate itself from the sentimental Kodak
style.
 Research and development- Spending 7% of sales
on research and development.
Customer relationship management, (CRM)

 This is the process of managing detailed

information about individual customers and
carefully managing all customer touch points to
maximize customer loyalty (Kotler, 2012:152).
…..continued
 According to Ferrell, (2014), it is a business
philosophy aimed at defining and increasing
customer value in ways that motivates customers to
remain loyal. In essence CRM is about retaining
the right customers. CRM does not focus solely on
end customers but rather involves a number of
different groups that is customers, employees,
supply chain, partners and external stakeholders.
….continued
With reference to the case study, the following can be learnt
 Low prices to customers-
 Building customer loyalty- Fuji offered quality services to
customers at low cost(value for money)
 Understanding customer needs- Fuji invested in R and R
thereby understanding customer needs.
 Managing feedback- Fuji was more responsive to market
demands
 Fuji opened new and more distribution channels to ensure
the products reached many consumers.
Conclusion
It should be borne in mind that competition is
business is there to stay and as such organizations
should keep abreast of the many factors which
are important in strategic positioning. Customer
Relationship should be managed strategically.
Concluding motivational quote
.
 “Success is 20% skills and 80%
strategy. You might know how to
succeed, but more importantly,
what’s your plan to succeed?”
Jim Rohn
References

 Ebbers, W.E., Pieterson, W.J. and Noordman, H.N., 2008.

Electronic government: Rethinking channel management
strategies. Government Information Quarterly, 
 Ferrel D and Michael O, 2014: Marketing Strategy , 6th
Edition, South Western cengage Learning
 Kotler P and Keller K, 2012: Marketing Management. 12th
edition. Pearson. Prentice Hall.
 Pieterson W, 2010: Defining Competitive advantage: The
European Business Review. John Willie and Sons Publishing.
 Richard MS and Colin G, 2005: Strategic Marketing
Management; 3rd Edition, Jordan Hill, Oxford.
The End!!!!