Marketing Mix of Huawei – Huawei Marketing Mix

Huawei is a private company of Chinese origins and has its headquarters in Shenzhen situated in China. This multinational corporation is associated with telecommunication industry and deals in networking and equipment. Currently, it is the largest equipment manufacturer in telecom industry after overtaking Ericsson in the year 2012. Huawei was founded in the year 1987 by Ren Zhengfei to help in modernising telecommunication infrastructure of his country. Some of the main competitors of this global company are as follows

Sony Ericsson
Cisco Systems
Alcatel-Lucent
ZTE Corporation
Apple
Samsung

Table of Content

1 Product Mix in the marketing mix of Huawei
2 Place in the marketing mix of Huawei
3 Price in the marketing mix of Huawei
4 Promotions in the marketing mix of Huawei

Product Mix in the marketing mix of Huawei

Huawei started its product line by making phone switches and later it earned a contract to build telecommunication network for an army. In the year 1997 company was able to gain its first contract in overseas market and provided fixed-line networking products. Later it launched GSM-based wireless products and eventually UMTS and CDMA. In the year 2011 company announced that it would be providing cloud-computing solutions, data centre, wireless and fixed communication and network infrastructure for global customers. Currently, product portfolio of Huawei core business includes

Telecom networks that include solutions and technologies like fixed and mobile soft-switches, Internet-protocol-Multimedia-Subsystems and home location register. It also facilitates mobile infrastructure, service provider switches and routers and broadband access.
Global services of Huawei offer telecommunication operators necessary equipment for building and operating network. It also provides engineering and consulting services for the improvement of operational efficiencies and it comprises of network integration services for fixed and mobile network, learning services like competency consulting and assurance services like network safety.
Device division of Huawei offers to its content service provider white-label products that include wireless modems, USB modems and wireless routers for connectivity through mobile Wi-Fi, wireless gateways, embedded modules, mobile handsets, set-top boxes and video products. The company also sells devices under its own brand names like smartwatch, tablet PCs and smartphones.

Place in the marketing mix of Huawei

Services and products of Huawei are deployed in nearly one hundred and forty countries across the globe and it serves five largest operators of the telecom industry in the global market. The company has 170,000 employees to provide efficient working and out of these 76,000 are engaged to work in its research and development division. Huawei has 21 institutes of R&D in various countries like China, Canada, United States, Pakistan, Germany, Sweden, Colombia, Turkey, Russia and others. Distribution channel of Huawei has always been very effective. It believes in developing joint ventures with local authorities and under this relationship it provides dividends in exchange of using products from Huawei. 

Currently, brand Huawei does not deal directly with customers as it believes in cultivating appropriate channel of distribution that includes distributors, sales networking team, enterprise and consumers. Providing an accurate number of products on a given day at a particular place has become very important for the company. Place signifies location, market coverage, mobile phones and online market. It has two vital channels. First is seller’s channel that set up an office in target markets for direct sales of products and second is a joint venture for building further brand channels.

Price in the marketing mix of Huawei

Pricing policy of Huawei is unique and is dependent on various factors like its product range, market and prevalent economic conditions of that particular place and desire and ability of people to spend money on a product. The company has decided to follow a product pricing policy for some of its products. It is dependent upon corporate brand strategy as it has launched numerous products with variable prices, for example, an Honor mobile of Huawei brand can be bought at Rs 10,000 and even at Rs 20,000.

The difference is not in its brand value but the products as it contains different specifications. Huawei is blessed in earning great revenues as it is a Chinese company and its labour cost is minimum compared to other countries. Cheap labour is one of the important reasons for forming reasonable pricing policies that help in earning greater revenues as its low-priced and qualitative products are in great demand in international markets.

Promotions in the marketing mix of Huawei

Huawei has undertaken various promotional activities to attract and maintain a healthy consumer base. Its marketing policies include high-level advertising on a large scale. On international platform, the company has deployed a veteran company of British origin to guide itself during various stages of promotion. It has also taken help of print media like magazines and newspapers to print about its products. Online marketing has proved very profitable for this international brand as its flash sales of various products have been appreciated by consumers.

Nowadays people tend to buy through online sites and hence Huawei has maximised its promotional activities through online channels. Brand Huawei has taken special care to employ educated people who have professional ability and knowledge to understand and implement the actual desires of a customer. It has announced sunshine mileage club for members who are dedicated and who have proven their worth by earning extra points. Based on individual performances they earn points and are rewarded accordingly.

Marketing Mix Of Ericsson – Ericsson Marketing Mix

Lars Magnus Ericsson founded Ericsson almost 140 years ago in Sweden. Ericsson is a publicly traded company with presence in more than 180 countries, it also employees an impressive number of 110,000 people.

During 2012 Ericsson had a handsome hold over the 2G/3G/4G market; the share of Ericsson accounted somewhere near 35 percent, which literally made it the authoritative leader in the telecommunication vertical.

Ericsson is headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden and has more than 35000 patents to its name in the field of telecommunication, Information Protocol services and Broadband. Huawei, Samsung, Motorola and Apple Inc. are some of the top competitors of Ericsson in the international market.

Table of Contents
1 Products in the marketing mix of Ericsson
2 Places in the marketing mix of Ericsson
3 Pricing in the marketing mix of Ericsson
4 Promotions in the marketing mix of Ericsson

Ericsson had to face tough competition from Bell Group in the United States of America whereas it expanded to countries like Australia with great ease.

Products in the marketing mix of Ericsson

Well, Ericsson is among one of those elite group of companies that deals in almost every sphere of a particular sector. When it comes to Ericsson, the sector it deals in completely is telecommunication and broadcasting.

Here are all the services and products provided by Ericsson to people of more than180 countries:

Information and communication technology
Mobile and fixed broadband
Video systems
Cable television
Operations and business support services
IPTV
Ericsson had 35% of 2G/3G/4G covered in 2012 because of the quality services it started providing before the competitors came into existence.Marketing Mix Of Ericsson

Places in the marketing mix of Ericsson

Ericsson was founded in Sweden and sooner it started to expand globally; it was only around 2000-2002 when Ericsson established itself as a known global enterprise and provided people from around the world with access to the best of services.

Some of the facts related to international expansion of Ericsson are listed here:

UK and Russia were the early international market Ericsson decided to expand to
Ericsson expanded to colonies of UK with great ease. Other countries had to adopt Ericsson technology and products because their parent countries were using it
Ericsson failed to set its foot in the United States because of the fierce competition from Bell Group and Automatic Electric.
Today Ericsson has established its foot in more than 200 companies; gone are the days when people used to go gaga over the handsets from Ericsson but the love for its backend telecommunication tools and support continues to grow.

Pricing in the marketing mix of Ericsson

Ericsson continues to stun the market by producing remarkable technology and technological gadgets. The enterprise continues to empower telecommunication industry for a better tomorrow. There was a time when Ericsson was ruling the market but globalisation has forced it to limit its expansion. The growth of local and veteran enterprises has forced it to cut down prices and limit expenditure.

Lately, Ericsson has started taking the Internet seriously and now it is expanding its operation over the Internet. Enterprises and local vendors from around the world are getting in touch for business alliance and partnership. The growth is continually increasing but at a limited pricing for Ericsson.

The technological breakthrough and startup culture continually force Ericsson to keep its pricing under control and lure customers.

Promotions in the marketing mix of Ericsson

Once upon a time, Ericsson was an enterprise that used to produce really smart and quality cell phones but with competitors like Samsung and Motorola taking over its market share; Ericsson decided to pivot and concentrate more on telecommunication and broadcasting business instead of manufacturing.

Ericsson used to indulge in extravagant marketing with cell phones in a market but today the marketing has been reduced to bare requirements and initials. With almost inconspicuous marketing Ericsson is targeting a different customer base; that is more saturated and into business development instead of a loud consumer base.
Promotions are a subject that depends on upon the customer base you decide to target with only broadcasting and telecommunication support services for enterprises, Ericsson is left with no customer base to target.

Marketing Mix of Goldman Sachs – Goldman Sachs Marketing Mix

Goldman Sachs is an American based multinational investment banking and securities firm. It was founded in 1869 by Marcus Goldman. It is headquartered in New York with the offices in different centres. It is a systematic and organised banking and financial institutions providing qualified services to corporate, government and individuals. The company was listed in New York exchange in the year 1896. For the first time in history, in the year 1999, Goldman entered into the realms of public offering with its own IPO.

With the urban development of financial needs and advice, there are leading bank institutions established internationally aiding the diversified culture of banks that leads to tough competition for Goldman Sachs. Here are few of the competitors:

Morgan Stanley, an American-based financial service Headquartered in Morgan Stanley.
UBS, it is a global financial company headquartered in Basil, Switzerland.
Credit Suisse, a Swiss financial company headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland.
Barclays, a wealth investment and final assistance company headquartered in London.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a multinational company of finance headquartered in New York.

Table of Contents

1 Product in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs
2 Place in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs
3 Price in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs
4 Promotions in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs

Product in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs is a one-stop banking solution for corporate, Organization, Financial institutions, Government and individuals. It works under the broad segments of Investment banking, Institutional client services, Investing and lending and investment management, which provides diversified services to the different clients.

Investment banking includes advisory services of financial structuring, real estates and acquisitions and mergers, and equity and debt underwriting.
Trading and principal investments include Commodities exchange, currency exchange, Bank Loans, equities etc.
Securities and assets services of Bank are broadly providing with the services like security trade, Brokerage, assets management to corporations and individuals.
Research services of the bank widely deal with the substantial advice in the field of commodities, currencies and investments.
Engineering the need of the international markets Goldman provides solution services and training programs to the fresher and interns. 

Place in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs

It is headquartered in Manhattan, New York with the global branches in different nations. The global presence of Bank has somehow affected the growth of the bank. Traversing through the anti-U.S. policies Goldman looks for the greater opportunities in the European market that will lead to increased business generation for a bank. Focusing on the Asian continent Bank is concentrating on the corporate structuring and assets management to have fruitful returns. Across, the globe Goldman Sachs is aiding the women entrepreneur to develop a strong business foundation for them which hints at the social impact image of the bank.

Price in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs

To generate the positive revenue for the bank, the medium of stabilised long return earnings and equities are focused. Well, with the multitude of services and advisory works bank approaches towards the economical and premium pricing policy to generate revenue. The 2008 slow down was a good lesson for the bank giving them the insight to work on the policy of investment banking, asset management and securities in the international market. Strategically, the pricing policy of bank focuses on the market phenomenon to drive revenue and to fix to price for policies, research and advice.

Promotions in the marketing mix of Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs has resorted much to the digital marketing scheme. Almost 90% of its marketing activities are completely digital based. The major strategy plan by Goldman Sachs is the tie up with the local media houses with the narrative advertisement policy. Through, the use of social media platforms like Google+, LinkedIn, youtube, and twitter etc. they are trying to make a global outreach to the targeted set of consumers.

Social media promotion mix is one of the recent adaptions to the Goldman Sachs but with time they are looking forward to strengthening the aspect. Every year through the business committee reports the development and growth are analysed for a future cause of action. To add value to the services highly qualified and experienced professionals are added to the team.

Marketing mix of Coca Cola – Coca cola marketing mix

Coca cola is the brand with the highest brand equity. No doubt it has gone through the ups and downs of business to reach that position. The marketing mix of Coca cola has been changing over time with more and more products being added such that today it has 3300 products. So what is the marketing mix of Coca cola? Read on.

Table of Contents
1 Product in the Marketing mix of Coca cola
2 Price  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola
3 Place  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola
4 Promotion  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola

Product in the Marketing mix of Coca cola

The company has the widest portfolio in beverage industry comprising of 3300 products. Beverages are divided into diet category, 100% fruit juices, fruit drinks, water, energy drinks, tea and coffee etc.  As per Nielson’s data, Coca cola is the No.1 brand in sparkling beverages, juice, and retail packaged water in 2010. Coca cola has its market presence around 200 countries. Coca cola brands in India are Fanta, Maaza, Limca, sprite, Thums up, Minute Maid, Nimbu fresh, Nested iced tea etc.

Price  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola

Due to the availability of wide range products the pricing is done according to the market and geographic segment. Each sub-brand of coca cola has different pricing strategy. Their pricing strategy is based on the competitors pricing, Pepsi is the direct competitor to coke. Beverage market is said to be a oligopoly market (few sellers and large buyers), hence they form into cartel contract to ensure a mutual balance in pricing between the sellers.

Place  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola

Coca cola is the world’s most favorite brand and is available all over the world. The distribution system of coca cola follows the FMCG distribution pattern. The effective distribution network of coke has almost eroded the small and middle level players in the market. In India they have captured even the rural market by extensive distribution and have eroded the market share of Bovonto, Kalimark etc.

Promotion  in the Marketing mix of Coca cola

Coca cola adopts various advertising and promotional strategies to create an increased demand in the market by associating with life style and behaviour and mainly targeting value based advertising. You are more likely to see a coke ad individualised for a particular festival or in with a general positive message. Coca cola uses CSR as its marketing tool to gain emotional benefits in consumers mind. The current promotions through CSR include “Support my school” campaign  with NDTV. It has many brand ambassadors like Shahrukh khan, Hrithik Roshan, South Indian Actor Vijay and Trisha , Ghambir, Aamir khan etc and has signed contract recently with Imran khan. It allows price discounts and allowances to distributors and retailers in order to push more products into the market. It employs both push strategy through promotions and pull strategy through advertisements and campaigns.

Marketing Mix of Facebook – Facebook Marketing Mix

Facebook was invented by Mark Elliot Zuckerberg of Havard University in February 2004. Since invention, Facebook has ‘changed’ the world in many aspects. Today, Facebook is larger than many countries put together and has more than 1 billion users online every month.

Before its invention, the only mediums of communication were email, (a different form of letter writing), Orkut which was good but to a certain limit, sometimes hanging out with close friends and relatives. This situation has since changed and now the world is interconnected with the World Wide Web. In fact, there have literally been revolutions which were planned on Facebook.

With Facebook, all one needs is an account which after login, you are connected with people in different geographical locations all at the same time. Again, with its marketing mix of four variables i.e. Price, Product, Place and Promotion, Facebook has a defined and fulfilled target audience with whom the company’s objective has been achieved. Facebook has a lot of social media competitors. Some of them include;

Instagram (bought over by Facebook)
Whatsapp (bought over by Facebook but speculated to be larger than Facebook)
Twitter
Pinterest
Linkedin
Snapchat
Google’s Google+
Its four p’s of marketing that has facilitated efficiency in reaching the target market are as below;

Table of Contents

1 Product in the Marketing mix of Facebook
2 Place in the Marketing mix of Facebook
3 Price in the Marketing mix of Facebook
4 Promotions in the Marketing mix of Facebook

Product in the Marketing mix of Facebook

As a social media, Facebook is basically known for social networking. This marketing component identifies it to the target market. The basic Facebook service products can, therefore, be identified as;   

Display advertising
Online social media
Gaming
Apps
Being an online business, Facebook is widely known for social media services that have been made available through mobile applications and website networking. Again, Facebook Company not only manages but also operates Instagram and Whatsapp (another social media service and instant messenger respectively).

With these services, more people are attracted depending on their social nature. Facebook, therefore, utilises the popularity of social media services for display advertising. The more the social networking website is accessed by more people, the more the display advertising service gains more traffic. This, therefore, indicates that Facebook’s marketing mix is solely dependent on the number of users of its online platform.

Marketing Mix of Facebook

Place in the Marketing mix of Facebook

Facebook is an online technology firm. This, therefore, means that its services are provided primarily via the internet. The distribution channels through which its products are provided include;

Mobile apps and
Social media website
Facebook’s social media services are provided via its websites i.e. Instagram and Facebook. The same services can also be accessed through corresponding mobile phone applications. The same websites and applications are utilised by advertisers for various advertising services and relevant data. Facebook, therefore, uses digital technologies for not only efficient but also reliable and effective worldwide access to its products.

Price in the Marketing mix of Facebook

For its online display advertising, Facebook employs different pricing strategies as below;

Pay whatever you want strategy
Market-oriented pricing
With pay-what-you-want strategy, Facebook lets advertisers decide on the amount to pay in addition to the set minimum price.

Alternatively, with market-oriented pricing; Facebook prices its display advertising by taking into consideration the competitors’ prices which are typically applied per click or per view.

The two types of pricing bring flexibility which as a factor attracts lots and lots of advertisers to the Facebook’s platform.

Promotions in the Marketing mix of Facebook

Marketing Mix of Facebook 2

For more memberships and sign ups to a Facebook platform, Facebook Embraces promotions to create global awareness of its products. In addition to proper marketing and communication to target customers, Facebook considers the below promotional activities.

Advertising
Viral marketing
Public relations
Direct marketing
Of the above, Viral Marketing is regarded as the most important and it involves word of mouth. I.e. new users sign up to the platform because of persuasion from close friends. In fact, viral marketing has been considered a very critical form of promotion globally.

Direct marketing is another successful form of promotion. I.e. a firm can directly recommend an advertising campaign to Facebook page owners. This act will, however, involve showing a sample to page owners so as to pay Facebook for display advertising on its mobile phone applications and social media platforms

Additionally, Facebook does advertisements on various display advertisement networks e.g. Google. Again, its corporate citizenship (corporate social responsibility) program greatly promotes its services and brand as a whole. Viral marketing is therefore very important to Facebook’s global success

Dr. Philip Kotler Answers Your Questions on Marketing

1. Which megatrends do we have to consider for the future?

The economic landscape has been fundamentally altered by technology and globalization.  Companies anywhere can now compete anywhere, thanks to the Internet and more free trade.

The major economic force is hyper-competition, namely companies are able to produce more goods than can be sold, putting a lot of pressure on price.  This also drives companies to build in more differentiation.  However, a lot of the differentiation is psychological, not real.  Even then, a company’s current advantage doesn’t last very long in an economy where any advantage can be copied rapidly. 

Companies must pay attention to the fact that customers are getting more educated and have better tools such as the Internet at their disposal to buy with more discrimination.  Power has been passing from the manufacturer to the distributor, and now is passing to the customer.  The customer is King.

2. In your books, you have pointed out that globalization, hyper-competition and the Internet reshape markets and businesses.  What effect are these dynamics having on marketing?

All three forces act to increase downward pressure on prices. Globalization means that companies will move their production to cheaper sites and bring products into a country at prices lower than those charged by the domestic sellers. Hyper-competition means that there are more suppliers competing for the same customer, leading to price cuts. And the Internet means that people can more quickly compare prices and move to the lowest cost offer. The marketing challenge, then, is to find ways to maintain prices and profitability in the face of these macro-trends. No country’s industry is going to hold on to its customers if it can’t continue to lead in offering the most value. And the answer has to be: better targeting, differentiation and branding.

At the same time, various world regions are becoming more integrated and more protective.  The members of a region are seeking preferential terms from the other members of the region.  But artificial trade preferences cannot last long against a substantial deterioration of value.

3. What is Marketing?

Marketing is the science and art of exploring, creating, and delivering value to satisfy the needs of a target market at a profit.  Marketing identifies unfulfilled needs and desires. It defines, measures and quantifies the size of the identified market and the profit potential. It pinpoints which segments the company is capable of serving best and it designs and promotes the appropriate products and services.

Marketing is often performed by a department within the organization. This is both good and bad. It’s good because it unites a group of trained people who focus on the marketing task. It’s bad because marketing activities should not be carried out in a single department but they should be manifest in all the activities of the organization.

In my 11th edition of Marketing Management, I describe the most important concepts of marketing in the first chapter.  They are: segmentation, targeting, positioning, needs, wants, demand, offerings, brands, value and satisfaction, exchange, transactions, relationships and networks, marketing channels, supply chain, competition, the marketing environment, and marketing programs.  These terms make up the working vocabulary of the marketing professional.

Marketing’s key processes are: (1) opportunity identification, (2) new product development, (3) customer attraction, (4) customer retention and loyalty building, and (5) order fulfillment.  A company that handles all of these processes well will normally enjoy success.  But when a company fails at any one of these processes, it will not survive.

4. What would you consider among the chief misconceptions about effective marketing that are still operating in today’s companies.  Who isn't "getting" it?

Marketing is a terribly misunderstood subject in business circles and in the public’s mind. Companies think that marketing exists to support manufacturing, to get rid of the company’s products. The truth is the reverse, that manufacturing exists to support marketing.  The company can always outsource its manufacturing. What makes a company is its marketing offerings and ideas.  Manufacturing, purchasing, R&D, finance and the other company functions exist to support the company’s work in the customer marketplace.

Marketing is too often confused with selling. Selling is only the tip of the marketing iceberg.  What is unseen is the extensive market investigation, the research and development of appropriate products, the challenge of pricing them right, of opening up distribution, and of letting the market know about the product.  Thus, Marketing is a far more comprehensive process than selling.

Marketing and selling are almost opposites. Hard sell marketing is a contradiction. Long ago I said: “Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make.  Marketing is the art of creating genuine customer value.  It is the art of helping your customers become better off.  The marketer's watchwords are quality, service, and value.”

Selling starts only when you have a product.  Marketing starts before there is a product.  Marketing is the homework the company does to figure out what people need and what the company should make.  Marketing determines how to launch, price, distribute and promote the product/service offering in the marketplace. Marketing then monitors the results and improves the offering over time. Marketing also decides when to end the offering.

All said, marketing is not a short-term selling effort but a long-term investment effort.  When marketing is done well, it occurs before the company makes any product or enters any market; and it continues long after the sale.

5. When did marketing first appear?

Marketing started with the first human beings.  Using the first Bible story as an example (but this was not the beginning of human beings), we see Eve convincing Adam to eat the forbidden apple.  But Eve was not the first marketer. It was the snake that convinced her to market to Adam.

Marketing as a topic appeared in the United States in the first part of the 20th century in the teaching of courses having to do with distribution, particularly wholesaling and retailing.  Economists, in their passion for pure theory, had neglected the institutions that help an economy function.  Demand and supply curves only showed where price may settle but do not explain the chain of prices all the way from the manufacturer through the wholesalers through the retailers.  So early marketers filled in the intellectual gaps left by economists. Nevertheless, economics is the mother science of marketing.

Marketing is more of a craft and profession than an art form.  The American Marketing Association and the British Chartered Institute of Marketing are independently working on professional credentials for professional marketing.  They believe that tests can be constructed that can distinguish between qualified marketers and phony marketers.

At the same time, many people will originate brilliant marketing ideas who are not trained marketers.  Ingvar Kamprad was not a marketer and yet his IKEA company is phenomenally successful in bringing good quality, low-cost furniture to the masses.  Creativity is a big part of marketing success and is not limited to marketers.

But science is also important to marketing.  Marketers produce interesting findings through marketing research, market modeling, and predictive analytics.  Marketers are using marketing models to make decisions and guide their investments. They are developing marketing metrics to indicate the impact of their activities on sales and profits. 

I would not say that marketing is more of an art, a craft or a science but rather that it has all these elements operating.

6. What is the mission of marketing?

At least three different answers have been given to this question.  The earliest answer was that the mission of marketing is to sell any and all of the company’s products to anyone and everyone.  A second, more sophisticated answer, is that the mission of marketing is to create products that satisfy the unmet needs of target markets. A third, more philosophical answer, is that the mission of marketing is to raise the material standard of living throughout the world and the quality of life. 

Marketing’s role is to sense the unfulfilled needs of people and create new and attractive solutions. The modern kitchen and its equipment provide a fine example of liberating women from tedious housework so that they have time to develop their higher capacities. 

7. You say that marketing must play the lead role in shaping business strategy. Do you think that business executives are fully aware of the role that marketing can play in helping the company succeed? 

CEOs tend to see marketing as a department that comes into play after the product has been made and the remaining job is to sell it.  We argue instead that marketing must be seen as setting the strategic direction for the firm.  Peter Drucker stated it well over thirty years ago:  “A company has only two basic functions: innovation and marketing.”

8. You have said that if a company’s marketing department can’t propose any new opportunities, they should be fired.  But are there many good opportunities still left? 

Granted that the absolute number of opportunities in an economy will vary with the business cycle and the technology cycle.  Opportunities will be scarcer during recessions and when new technologies have not yet emerged. 

But there are always opportunities!  Just look at the new products that continue to appear in catalogs such as Sharper Image or Innovation or Fascination. Any company with a product or service should be able to think of new ways to modify it, combine it, offer different sizes, or add new features or services. 

Not only can an offering be reshaped for different markets but the offering can also be seen in a new context.

I published Lateral Marketing (co-author Fernando Trias De Bes) which offers a creativity approach that differs from using vertical marketing (i.e., segmentation) to finding new ideas.  Vertical marketing works within a given market;   lateral marketing instead visualizes the product in a new context. Many examples can be cited. Today we can buy food at gas stations; we can do our banking in a supermarket; we can get access to a computer at cybercafes; we can take pictures with our cell phone; we can chew medical gum to ingest certain medicines in our body; we can eat cereal in the form of a candy bar. I can’t believe there aren’t opportunities.  I can only believe that some marketers lack the ability to see opportunities.  Marketing doesn’t have to fail during a recession, only marketers fail who lack an imagination.

9. What significant business opportunities would you identify in the evolving economy?

Here is my list of significant business opportunities:

• Biotech (e.g., rational drug design, biometric measurement for security)
• Mobile phones (e.g., micropayments through the phone, wireless devices)
• Security (corporate and home security)
• Niche businesses (e.g., a bank for Latinos)
• Outsourcing
• Storage systems
• Automation (e.g., highway passes through toll gates)
• Health care and medical devices
• Robots

With any perceived opportunity, ask the following questions:

1. Is there a substantial market?
2. What is the competitive landscape?
3. Can you develop a profitable business model?
4. Can you scale up quickly?