Developing a Market Strategy

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 What is the Hole in the Market
 Expectant women are experiencing discomfort during gestation
period when the baby inside the mothers womb is growing and
developing.
 The normal mattresses and pillows are rigid and offer less firmness.
 This prompts an opportunity to produce more comfortable, flexible
and supportive pillows.
 The existence of this gap caught the attention of the Maternal
Solutions Limited Company to grant comfort of expectant mothers.
 The company has introduced u-shaped pregnancy pillows that ease
discomfort by supporting the mothers knees, back, hips, head and
neck (Sun et al., 2021)
 Value of Creating this Product
 Improving Product Mix: Differentiated sizes and shapes are
meant to meet diverse customer tastes and preferences.
 The pillows are designed with fabric material which eases
breathing when breathing through the pillow (Nusraningrum
& Gading, 2021).
 The inner fillings make the major component of the pillow;
the maternal solutions company has made its pregnancy
pillows more comfortable by filling them with polyester
fillings which are light, offer elegant support and are
protective to allergic reactions.
 The Product will be cost effective.
 Benefits of the Pregnancy Pillows

 Comfortable sleeping is essential throughout the pregnancy.

 Pregnancy pillow is a masterpiece to enhance mothers
pregnancy and growth of the unborn child.
 Careless activities of the mother during gestation period may
directly or indirectly affect the unborn child negatively; for
instance, inappropriate sleeping position.
 Maternal solutions company has introduced this product for the
following values:
 Cont’
 Benefits to the mother:
 Reduces pressure around the hips by maintaining parallel position
of the legs.
 Aligns legs, back and , head during sleep
 Prevents accidental roll-overs when deep sleeping.
 Ease adjustments to a new sleeping position
 Overall, the pregnancy pillow is basically essential to the unborn child
for healthy growth.
 Pregnancy pillow can also be helpful during the breastfeeding stage.
 They provide comfort for both the baby and the mother.
 Target Market for the Product

 The target market is the pregnant and lactating mothers.

 The reason behind is that nursing and expectant mothers face a lot of
challenges hence use of these pregnancy pillows promote support and
comfort during the motherhood period.
 The group has unique needs that are of priority to the maternal solutions
company.
 Pregnancy pillows are therefore marketed as sleeping aids to promote
quality sleep among pregnant mothers.
 Greatest risks when producing this
product
 Acceptability by the market is a potential risk regarding the fact
that pregnancy pillow is anew product to the market.
 If pregnancy pillows are not produced in the right quality and
technology, they might raise safety issues. For instance use of
flammable materials in production of the pregnancy pillow may
pose threats to the users.
 Pregnant and lactating mothers are sensitive to allergic materials as
a result of changes in production of hormones in their bodies.
 Cont’
 Many people lack awareness of the significant of some products and how they are
used.
 Lack of awareness of the product limits achievement of higher sales heights.
 Ineffective functionality
 Failure to deliver the intended benefits will hinder the pregnancy pillow from gaining
popularity in the market, hence increasing the survival chances for the competitors.
 Pregnancy pillows are intended to create comfort otherwise customers will show
dissatisfaction with the product if some products do not show comfort
 Introduction of a new product come with regulatory measures by the government and
obligations to meet the required standards of production.
 Expectant mothers require special care and handling; therefore products intended for
them need to absolutely comply with the standards otherwise, legal measures may
take course.
 Closest Competitors

 The market and production of pregnancy pillows is gradually progressing to

employing the best technology and evolving towards customer and market
satisfaction.
 the emergence of inflatable pillows, beds and coaches has been witnessed.
 These inflatable products are mobile and portable as compared to the ancient
pregnancy pillows.
 The company producing these products is becoming a very close competitor
because the technology is extremely marvelous and potentially might outdo
the maternal solutions company.
 Considering buoyancy of the inflatable pillows, they might probably be more
comfortable than pillows with polyester fillings.
 How to differentiate the product to compete
with these competitors

 Maternal solutions company is working to ensure their product remain at lead.

 To compete with the closest competitors the following measures would work perfectly:
 Educating customers on the importance and benefits of using polyester filled
pregnancy pillows over the inflatable ones (Olson et al., 2021).
 The information can be shared through creating blogs and websites fed up with
informational content for access by potential customers.
 Creating partnerships with retailers and other intermediaries.
 Availing the product to the local markets will attract more sales therefore competing
favorably with the competitors.
 Cont’
 Price of the commodity is another factor to use as a tool of competing.
 Setting a competitive price will be achieved by conducting thorough
market research so as to gauge the prices of the competitors.
 Polyester-filled pillows are already differentiated products from the inflatable
pillows.
 However, more differentiation in terms of the durability, maximum
comfort and support and effectiveness should be emphasized on.
 Branding products works well as competition tool.
 Branding is proportional to the reputation of the company.
 Painting a good picture to the public through being quality and efficiency
oriented will attract more customers to buy polyester-filled pregnancy
pillows.
 Which of Michael Porter’s strategies, covered
in Unit 2, will you use to market this product?

The product will follow two main strategies of the

Porter’s Five Model which include the following:
 Bargaining Power of Buyers: Buyers will have
the power when they are few in number and will
have many sellers to choose from. Switching costs
will also be considered when determining the
bargaining power of the buyers (Islami et al.,
2020).
 Competitive Rivalry: Since there will be little
differentiation between rivals, the product will be
perceived as a commodity and the buyer will
purchase solely on price.
 Reason for Selecting Competitive Rivalry

 Just as the general rule of the differentiation strategy,

pregnancy pillow has unique qualities which make it more
efficient to market through this strategy.
 These spectacular features separate our product form those of
the competitors.
 In addition, the maternal solutions company, has a well
understanding of its own products and that of the
competitors, therefore competition is based on a great
understanding of products from both sides.
 Why this strategy is the most suitable

 The differentiation strategy has competitive advantage whereby through offering

unique product the market the re will be minimal competition.
 The uniqueness of the polyester-filled pillows escalates recognition of the brand and
customers loyalty to the product.
 Additionally, differentiation will help the maternal solutions company focus on
specific target customers hence enabling them tailor goods according to the customers
tastes and preferences, attracting more sales.
 The price sensitivity when using this strategy is low as compare to other methods.
When the product is perfectly unique the customers focus less on the price of the
product.
 Therefore since the polyester-filled pillows are unique, the strategy is expected to
work perfectly and succeed in convincing customers to buy the pillows without much
bothering on the price.
 Cont’

 The uniqueness and efficiency of the pillow will change the

customers perception to speaking good of the company helping
painting the company a good.
 A differentiation strategy allows a company to position its product as
unique and distinct from competitors.
 This uniqueness can attract customers who are seeking something
different or are willing to pay a premium for added value.
 By highlighting specific features, qualities, or benefits that set the
product apart, it creates a strong value proposition that appeals to
target customers.
 References

 Islami, X., Mustafa, N., & Topuzovska Latkovikj, M. (2020). Linking Porter’s
generic strategies to firm performance. Future Business Journal, 6, 1-15.
 Nusraningrum, D., & Gading, D. K. (2021). Purchase Intention of Pregnancy
Pillow: Price, Brand Awareness, and Brand Image. Psychology and
Education, 58(2), 4536-4550.
 Sun, Y., Luh, D. B., & Zhao, Y. L. (2021). The design of sleep pillow based on
human physiological curvature. In Advances in Ergonomics in Design:
Proceedings of the AHFE 2021 Virtual Conference on Ergonomics in Design,
July 25-29, 2021, USA (pp. 681-685). Springer International Publishing.
 Olson, E. M., Olson, K. M., Czaplewski, A. J., & Key, T. M. (2021). Business
strategy and the management of digital marketing. Business horizons, 64(2),
285-293.