Originally Published MX July/August
2002
BUSINESS PLANNING & TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT
Product- or Market-Oriented?
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Many companies are driven by a need to be known to their customers by the products they offer. The driving force for other organizations is service to targeted markets.
An organization that tends to identify itself with its products will continue to manufacture and deliver products similar to those it already does. Products developed in the future will have characteristics very like those of current products. This type of company will focus on penetrating more thoroughly its current markets and the particular market segments or customer groups it serves. It will seek new markets and market segments as well, but only where there is a need for the sorts of products it already makes. Well-known companies whose strategies are based on the products they offer include Black & Decker, the Ford Motor Co., Dell Computer, and the J. M. Smucker Co.
While product-identified companies are always looking for new markets for existing products, market-oriented businesses search for new products to sell to their existing markets. They will provide a range of products to satisfy current and emerging requirements of the market segments or customers group they serve. They will constantly be looking both for alternative ways to fill the needs they are currently filling and for emerging new needs in markets where they enjoy a strong franchise. Well-known companies driven by a markets-served force include Disney Corp., Playboy Enterprises, Ralph Lauren, and Wal-Mart.
Companies that truly know what they’re all about have the best chance of becoming household names to their customers, whatever the field of enterprise.
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