Market development means seeking increased sales by taking newspapers, either print or digital, into the new markets. This strategy is less costly and less risky when compared with other senior grand strategies like concentration strategy.
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By this market development, a media house enters into new markets by producing contents that appeal to the sought market segments. The newspaper house may also enter into a new geographical areas through local, regional, national or international expansion.
Media houses that open offices or send their newspapers to new places or states are practicing market development. Companies that present newspapers but with slight modifications like changing of headlines in order to suit the sought markets are also developing markets.
Market development may seem to be a profitable opportunity to a company under the following conditions thus:
When new channels of distribution are available, reliable, inexpensive and of good quality.
When the media house is highly efficient and effective at what it does.
When new untapped or unsaturated markets exist.
When the company has needed capital and human resources to manage expanded operations.
When the media house has excess or surplus production capacity.
Meanwhile, before there can be a market development, there must be a newspaper development that will come into being as a result of findings in the market through a scientific marketing research.
Newspaper development refers to seeking increasing sales by inclusion of what that can attract sales in both current and potential markets. A media house can come up with certain sections in the entire package after a very strong findings. Newspaper development will be effective under the following situations thus:
When the media house wants to prolong the life cycle of its current newspaper.
When the media company competes in an industry that is characterised by rapid technological developments.
When the major competitors offer better quality, pagination, etc at comparable prices.
When the media house competes in a high growth industry that is strategically attractive.
When the media house has a very strong research and developments capabilities.
When the media house wants to take advantage of its favourable reputation and brand name.
By way of example, a newspaper that inserts a special pull-out in its edition or the one that creates a special section in its existing newspaper is practicing newspaper development strategy.
Newspaper market development is a function of a business opportunity. Business opportunity is therefore a favourable challenge posed by the environment which may lead media owners to enjoy differential advantages like profits, market share, survival, potential, etc.
It is interesting to note that the Nigerian business environment is saturated with lots of challenging opportunities. It may be wrong for anybody to think or say that the “good old days” of business are gone forever. Those who say this presuppose that business today does not offer the same opportunities it offered at some past period of Nigerian history.
The bitter truth is that opportunities still abound as never before. There are more business opportunities than job or career opportunities for top managers. The need for top managers is so pressing that media owners are now raiding, pirating, enticing or uprooting accomplished executives of well managed newspapers houses. This is because executives with well-rounded and complimentary skills are scarce. A critical analysis of staff in media houses show that the same personnel in virtually all departments are being recycled.
Opportunity is not something that appears on a calculated operation like new moon. It is always ever there, waiting for someone to pluck it. To take advantage of them, someone must hunt or prospect for them, perceive, capture and realize them.
A profitable opportunity may stand in front of thousands of men and yet may not be seen by any of them. They may all lack the necessary ability, will, vision and experience to take advantage of it. No one has the right to complain about his lack of opportunity, or to defend his mediocrity by claiming that he never had a chance. Those who consistently cannot find opportunities are those who are unprepared to take advantage of them. There will never be opportunities for the untrained of little will power and no worthwhile experience.
It is also erroneous to think that opportunity is mostly a matter of luck. Luck, if it enters the picture at all, plays an infinitesimal role in the unfolding of opportunity. Luck and opportunity are not closely related. The essential element of luck is chance and it is a mathematical certainty that chance is no respecter of persons. It helps the wicked and the good, the efficient and the inefficient, the lazy and the energetic. A person born lucky cannot inherit luck, he must still earn it.
Meanwhile, the following are the investment opportunities in the media houses thus: vending, direct sales of newspapers in strategic locations, supply of newspapers to corporate organizations, marketing/selling of specialized sections in the newspapers, air/land freighting of the newspapers, sales of unsold copies, conversion of unsold copies into other usages i.e tissue papers, egg trays, etc, public relations,marketing consultancy, editorial consultancy, paper bag i.e packaging of second hand clothes, wrapping of staple food items, etc.
In conclusion, in the case of newspaper business, opportunities are not in short-supply, but entrepreneurs capable of capitalizing on existing business or of creating new ones are in short supply.
Abiola Ayankunbi is MD/CEO at AbingMO3 Marketing Management Consultancy.
0802 305 1315.
abiolaayankunbi@yahoo.com.
