Eric Mann's Blog

  • Acquisitions

    Corporate acquisitions, a phenomenon that is increasingly prevelent in today’s news media.  Companies will buy up smaller competitors.  Others will buy related businesses to leverage the competitive advantages of each.  In a heavily saturated market, acquisitions are one way to get ahead, but only if pursued correctly. Buying a competitor just to reduce competition is […]

  • Red Ocean Islands

    If a move into a new blue ocean is impossible, consider setting yourself up as an island in your red ocean.  There are techniques you can use to establish yourself as the market leader and provide a level of insolation from attack. Never be satisfied with your current products – Always fight for new product […]

  • Blue Ocean Strategy

    My first article was a recycled business strategy essay on Blue Oceans.  I wanted to recap on that by explaining once again what they are and how they can be useful to businesses in existing markets. I competitive market saturated with successful companies is best compared to an ocean heavily populated with sharks.  After a […]

  • Telling Your Own Story: Part II

    On Monday, I proposed we analyze a market entry situation.  We have three market segments to consider and must determine who our perfect customer (story teller) would be: Dock Dwellers, City Slickers, or Locals. Considering that fishing is a seasonal activity, we need to focus on customers who will be around year-round: the Dock Dwellers […]

  • Telling Your Own Story

    We have discussed story tellers at length, but most of that discussion applies to established business and not to entering a new market.  The concept, however, applies to both.  To understand this, it is easiest to refer back to our tackle shop example from before. Rather than already owning the tackle shop, assume we want […]

  • Comparative Advantage

    If your market is saturated, it might be difficult to find a competitive advantage over others.  Your products are likely identical, and your prices very much the same.  Production is as optimized as it can be, and there are few to no differences between your and your competitions’ company structure. What you need is a […]

  • Staggered Entry

    Any entry into a new market needs to be taken in steps – the first of which is brand advertising.  You need to build brand awareness and demand for your products long before you make your first sale.  This can be costly, but not nearly as much as a premature product launch. Previously, I talked about […]

  • TOWS

    As you have probably learned by now, marketing is an on-going process of both self- and competitive- analysis.  You need to understand who your company is, who your customers are, and who you are competing with – information that can stay fairly constant over time, or suddenly change overnight without warning.  Analysis must start from […]

  • Landscaping

    The first thing any entrepreneur looking to enter the market must do is survey the landscape.  While standing atop a hill and peering down at the city might sound like a fun activity, this has nothing to do with the landscape I’m talking about. There are three questions you have to answer in detail before […]

  • Public Relations

    PR can be a powerful weapon, but it is also a two-edged sword.  Good PR can build your reputation in the community and better your chances at scoring new customers.  Bad PR can damage your existing customer base and cost you much needed sales throughout the year.  You can’t really predict what kind of PR […]