In many ways, the marketing policy of any company depends on the state of demand in the market. Potential buyers may have a different attitude to the brand itself and its products. In one case, it is necessary to dispel prejudice and change the negative attitude, and in the other - on the contrary, to reduce the demand for "scarce" goods. However, the most interesting in this regard is developmental marketing. What is it and in what cases is it used? Let's try to figure it out.
general characteristics
"Developmental marketing is associated with what demand?" - This question is often found in examinations of economic universities. The correct answer is with the emerging and / or hidden. In simple words, this means that consumers have a need for a particular product or service when the product itself is not yet on the market.
We give an example. In 1983, one of the first graphical operating systems appeared - the Apple Lisa Office System 1. Until then, all OSs were exclusively textual - in order to perform any action, one had to enter the appropriate command. Despite the fact that there was nothing similar to the usual “windows” in those years, people needed them, that is, the demand for such systems arose much earlier than the first prototypes of graphic systems. It is not surprising that as a result, such developments brought billions to their creators.
Thus, the goal of developmental marketing is to turn potential (hidden) demand into real, to identify the unmet need of the consumer and create an offer that can satisfy it. In this case, we are talking about creating a completely new product, which until that moment did not exist on the market.
Main tasks
Developing marketing is based on dissatisfaction with existing products and services. It is focused on solving the problems and tasks that life puts forward before the individual consumer or some branch of the economy.
Based on this, we can conclude that developmental marketing includes two main tasks:
- Market analysis, identification and identification of the hidden needs of customers.
- Creation of new products / services capable of satisfying them.
In addition, it is necessary to develop an appropriate set of promotion and advertising (marketing mix), which will inform potential buyers about the product and stimulate them to make a purchase.
What affects the formation of demand?
Considering the features of developing marketing, it is important to understand how exactly the demand for various goods and services is formed. This process is influenced by many factors:
- economic (population incomes, price level, level of development of production of goods);
- demographic (population, the ratio between rural and urban population, age and sex structure, migration);
- social (professional composition of the population, level of education, level of development of science);
- natural and climatic factors, living conditions, traditions;
- political situation, unforeseen emergency situations, etc.
An important nuance: unlike other types of marketing, development does not involve artificial actions to create demand, but offers to work with needs that have formed "on their own."
Identify hidden needs
In many sales textbooks and trainings, almost half of the time is devoted to this topic.It is believed that the ability to identify the hidden needs of the client is the key to success. If we talk about developing marketing, then the situation is the same. The only difference is that in this case we need to determine the needs of not the individual person, but the market as a whole.
What is the starting point in this case? All needs can be divided into 2 large groups: functional and emotional (which, in turn, include psychological and social).
Functional needs
Functional or basic - these are the needs associated with the desire of the buyer to improve their physiological condition. This may include the desire to satisfy the feeling of hunger, get rid of pain, or, say, quickly get from point "A" to point "B".
In most cases, functional needs are closely related to emotional ones. When buying a product of a certain class, a person seeks to create a certain image, seeks the opportunity for self-expression, wants to receive recognition and admiration from others.
Emotional needs
Allocate internal and external emotional needs. Internal are connected with personal fears and experiences of the consumer - the desire to be confident in the future, the fear of acquiring low-quality goods, the desire to look attractive. External needs (they are also called social) are connected with a person’s desire to belong to a certain social group, to create a certain image (a successful businessman, a caring mother, etc.).
To create a successful campaign, it is recommended that you create a detailed map of consumer needs. It can be used as a kind of "core" in the development of new products.
It must be emphasized that unmanifest, hidden demand exists in almost all sectors. So, which of the smokers would not want to produce cigarettes that are not harmful to health? However, for a business it is important not only to detect unmet needs, but also to understand which of them can bring real commercial benefits.
Methods for determining potential demand
Developing marketing is based primarily on in-depth market analysis and competent forecasting. An entrepreneur who managed to discover a latent need in time and figure out how to satisfy it will be “on horseback”.
An important step in the planning of activities is the assessment of potential demand. For this, various methods and tools are used:
- Testing. The release of a limited trial batch is the best way to find out if an audience really needs a given product, what percentage of potential customers are ready to buy it “here and now”.
- Conducting surveys. After analyzing the reviews, you can find out what consumers lack in existing analogues, how, in their opinion, the product should look and what functions it should have.
- Comprehensive market analysis. It is extremely important to have an idea of competitors, their strengths and weaknesses, as well as understand the general trends of the selected market.
The more information the company collects about this industry and its potential customers, the higher its chances of success.
Development Marketing Methods
The key feature of this type of marketing is that the bulk of the work is not at the stage of advertising and marketing of products, but also at the development stage. This trend is also observed in the list of the main methods used. These include:
- development of new unique products that can satisfy the hidden needs of the market;
- use of communication tools of all levels and types;
- mastering a radically new quality level;
- creation and development of a brand focused on the current needs of the consumer.
Developing marketing is used in a situation where you need to give people what they are already looking for. Often existing problems are discussed openly - it is only important to learn how to notice and analyze this.
Developmental Marketing: Case Studies
Nowadays, almost all new goods and services that appear in our lives are the result of using the above methods. Developing marketing is used in a situation when it is necessary to create a new product based on the current needs and desires of consumers.
An example is the market for pest control products. Until recently, truly effective and at the same time 100% safe methods of dealing with them simply did not exist. However, a few years ago, inventors from the Swedish city of Gothenburg released a rather interesting device. At first glance, this is an ordinary garden lamp, but in fact the design emits special impulses that repel insects. In this case, neither the soil nor the plants themselves are affected.
Another interesting example is the Spanish company Homipsa. She discovered and occupied a rather complicated niche related to the provision of military food. The unique hermetic casing developed by Homips allows extending the shelf life of food by tens of times - for example, recently released bread can be stored without stale for almost 2 years. Here we observe the same picture: the need has always existed, and the company has found the opportunity to satisfy it even more efficiently.
But in the space industry, one of the most necessary inventions was made by employees of KBTM (Design Bureau of Transport Engineering). For many years, cosmodromes remained "dead zones", as the earth was poisoned by nuclear waste. However, thanks to the absorption-catalytic installation created in KBTM, now toxic substances deposited upon rocket launch can be decomposed into ecologically clean water, carbon dioxide and nitrogen. Since every year we send more and more spacecraft into space, this development will not only not lose its relevance, but will also be more and more in demand.
Other types of marketing based on demand
When planning the activities of the enterprise, it is always necessary to take into account the current level of demand for certain goods and services. This will allow building a competent campaign and choosing the most effective promotion tools.
Various types of marketing make it possible to coordinate activities in certain market situations:
- Conversion. It is used in case the demand is negative (for example, the company issued an unsuccessful product that caused general disapproval of goods). Here it is necessary to clearly determine the reasons for the negative attitude to the product, and then eliminate them (modify the product, reduce the price, etc.).
- Stimulating. Somewhat similar to the previous one, however, in this case, consumers are completely indifferent to the product, demand is zero. This happens if we are talking about a completely new product that no one else knows about, or if the market was chosen incorrectly.
- Remarketing It is applied when demand begins to fall. The task is to extend the product life cycle (LCT) or to find new markets.
- Synchrome Marketing. It is relevant when working with seasonal goods, the demand for which is constantly fluctuating. For alignment, various incentive methods, flexible prices, etc. are used.
- Supporting. Used when demand is equal to supply, in order to maintain equilibrium.
- Demarketing It includes a set of measures to reduce demand (increase prices, stop advertising campaigns, etc.). Used if demand is excessive, that is, the company can not produce the required amount of products.
- Counteracting. It has for the most part a social bias. It is aimed at completely destroying irrational demand (for immoral and harmful products - drugs, pornography, weapons, etc.).In this case, the tasks are reduced to making the product inaccessible, disseminating information about potential threats, promoting a healthy lifestyle.
As you can see, developing marketing is fundamentally different from all other types. It is this type that is a powerful driving force stimulating the progress of mankind, as well as a potential source of huge profits for those who are able to notice in time what people really lack.