Pioneer Vs Follower – Winning Marketing Strategies
Which one is the Best Marketing Strategy? There is a theory that does the round that being the first in a new market would get all the business and the king’s share of the market. This is likely to be a sub-section of the proposition that earnestly appeals all businesses to innovate successfully and continuously in their endeavour to be out there in the market with a brand new product that would take customers by storm. After all, hasn’t this been the very approach of such companies as 3M, which is known for its innovation and has filing for patents almost as a separate business unit?
The First Mover Advantage: The first mover has his advantages. The pioneer creates a market and promotes the new product as his own, so much so that sometimes, customers tend to identify the product with the brand. It took a lot of effort for competitors to undo the association that Xerox brought about with its photocopying machines, which customers started identifying as the ”Xerox” machine. Or, how often do you “Google” the internet for new phrases and keywords, rather than using the “Search Engine”?
No matter how hard the new photocopying machine manufacturers and new search engines try, the association that the pioneers struck with the technology or the product is almost irreplaceable and can not be replicated. So, is having the first-mover advantage the ultimate business advantage that one can get in business?
The Pioneer Vs Follower: A clause in the first mover advantage theory states that the first-mover advantage is sustainable only if the pioneer in the market maximises his leverage by providing quality products and services and continues to innovate and stay at the top of the pile. The Followers, though they may lack the first mover advantage and all the associated benefits, have all the time to watch the moves of the pioneer and see how the market pans out. When the pioneer has ‘created’ the new market, the follower can afford the luxury of improvising on the product and taking off from where the pioneer had left. MySpace dominated the social networking only to go into virtual oblivion – Facebook, that started much later, took its time and became a dominant force in the social networking industry.
While first-movers and pioneers do have a distinct inimitable advantage, unless they sustain their market leadership with strategic moves and constant innovations, the followers are likely to strike back and take the wind out of the pioneer’s sails, laughing all the way to the bottom line bank.
