Should You Be Doing Cannibalization Marketing? The Pros and Cons
5.00/5At first glance, this term may seem like a scary concept. But as it turns out, market cannibalization is a valuable tool for companies looking to take their business to the next level.
So what exactly is market cannibalization?
Simply put, it’s the process of producing and marketing products that compete with your own.
This can be a good thing if you target different market segments and want to expand your reach. The downside? It can also take away from the sales of your original product or service. This is why it’s so important to have a solid understanding of your target audience and what makes them tick.
Market cannibalization is also helpful for smaller companies. These companies want to expand into new markets but don’t currently have the resources. For example, you want to start selling t-shirts with your company logo on them but don’t have the means (or the necessary capital) to do so.
You could choose to make t-shirts for another company instead. This way, you can build up your production capabilities while simultaneously getting your name out there in the process.
Effects of Cannibalization Marketing
Cannibalization is marketing that causes people to buy a new product by telling them that it’s better than their old one. Cannibalization can be a powerful tool to help you sell your products. However, it can also backfire and cause some damage when not implemented.
Cannibalizing your existing product can fragment your customer base and confuse what they should buy. Customers may think they need the new and old versions of the product, which will lead to some dissatisfaction and fewer sales overall. This can be risky if you decide to discontinue the old version of the product after launching the new one.
Customers may not understand why they cannot purchase something that was available days ago. This may lead them to believe that it has been discontinued for no reason.
Another problem with cannibalizing products incorrectly is it might not be clear what exactly is being offered. Consumers may not know which of your products is better, so they might hesitate to purchase anything at all.
If you have multiple products in your line or different versions of each product, it can be unclear for customers and retailers who don’t want to carry all the different versions of the product on their shelves.
Is Market Cannibalization Needed?
Marketing is the key to success in many different industries. Marketers work to identify potential customers, analyze their needs, and determine how to create a product or service that will fill those needs.
Market cannibalization is the act of marketing a new product or service that will cause customers to stop purchasing the old product or service. For example, when Netflix first started, it was marketed as a DVD rental company. When they began streaming movies, they cannibalized themselves by making it so people no longer rented DVDs from them.
Is this necessary? Market cannibalization is unnecessary if the company has an established customer base and does not rely on new customers for revenue. However, if there’s no customer base and all the revenue comes from new customers, it might be necessary for the company to cannibalize itself to grow its customer base.
Replacing Your Existing Product
Market cannibalization is a term that can be used when a company is trying to replace an existing product with something newer and better strategically. There are many ways in which this can happen, but the most common way to occur is through marketing.
Cannibalization can also be used in other cases, such as when a company launches a new product. The primary purpose of the new product is to target one of their existing products.
This can be tricky for a company because they risk losing sales of their existing product, which is an essential part of their business. However, there are times when it’s the right decision to make.
Many companies have certain products that they have been selling for a very long time and have made a lot of money. However, the market has changed, and if they don’t want to lose customers to smaller companies, then they need to update the product.
The product that’s being replaced can then be marketed as an entry-level or lower-cost version of the new product. There are many reasons why market cannibalization can be good or bad for a company.
The main reasons why it would be beneficial is if your company has too much focus on one particular product or you want to replace a lower quality version with a higher quality version. It can also be beneficial since you could reach customers you may not have been able to purchase before due to higher price points.
There are many potential downsides, including losing sales from existing customers because they might feel that you are trying to replace them with newer customers. It could also hurt your brand image because customers might feel like your new product does not stand up against the competition anymore and therefore lose trust in your brand overall.
The bottom line is if there’s no way around it, then market cannibalization can be beneficial on some level. Still, it should only be done strategically, and with caution, so no damage is done to your business in the process.
Targeting The Same Customers
Cannibalization is the process in which one business takes sales from another business within the same industry. Cannibalization can be caused by direct competition, indirect competition, or a company creating a new product.
This new product may be more appealing to customers than their existing products, which causes customers to buy less of the original product.
Cannibalization can also happen with your customers if you target them with similar products after they have purchased from you. This is where targeting the same customers after market cannibalization comes into play.
You can use this strategy to target customers who haven’t bought anything from you yet but are still interested in your products. This strategy is most effective when combined with other strategies. Some of these strategies include email marketing and social media marketing.
Recover Lost Sales With Cannibalization Marketing
Market cannibalization is a term used to describe the process of marketing one product. This is done by emphasizing its similarities to another. This marketing is often used when a company has multiple products with overlapping features or appeal to the same customer base.
Market segmentation is a method for dividing a market into people who share similar needs and wants. This is done to develop more effective marketing strategies for each segment and increase the company’s market share. Market segmentation can be used in different ways. This includes analyzing customer behavior to develop new products.
FAQs
What Does Cannibalization Mean in Marketing?
Cannibalization is a term used in marketing to describe a situation where a company’s new product can hurt sales of its existing products. For example, Apple releases an update to their iPhone that has many of the same features newer Android phones have. People might be more likely to buy an Android phone rather than an iPhone. This would hurt Apple’s sales.
What Is Market Cannibalization?
To better understand what market cannibalization is, let’s take a look at the example of Coca-Cola. The well-known beverage company has plenty of products unrelated to their flagship beverage. This includes Sprite, Powerade, and Dasani water.
Even though these products are sold alongside Coke products in stores, they aren’t direct competitors since they target different markets. This allows Coca-Cola to increase its brand recognition among consumers who may otherwise be unaware of its offerings.
What Does Cannibalism Mean in Business?
The term cannibalism is often used metaphorically. It refers to a company, person, or group consuming another company, person, or group. This can be done for several reasons, such as acquisition (like buying a competitor).
What Is Cannibalization in Digital Marketing?
Cannibalization is the act of one product or service eating into the demand for another. This can happen when two products are similar, and one product is seen as an improvement over the other.
It can also happen when there is a sudden change in marketing strategy. This can take away from the demand of a previous marketing strategy. For example, you have been using Google Adwords to generate traffic to your website.
On the other hand, you used Google Places to drive traffic, and you choose to stop using Google Places. In that case, the demand for Google Adwords will increase as it’s now your only marketing strategy.
As you can see, market cannibalization can be highly beneficial for businesses. This is for businesses that want to expand their reach without taking away from what they already have going for them. It can also help small businesses get started by offering their services or products. They can do this on behalf of other companies until they can grow enough on their own.
So whether you choose to use this strategy or not is entirely up to you. However, if it seems like something worth exploring, there’s no harm in giving it a shot.
