How Products Are Developed to Sustain Competitive Advantage in Adidas Company:
In business, competitive advantage can be defined as the strategic advantage that one business entity has over its rivals within the same competitive industry. Achieving a competitive advantage puts the business in a stronger position within its business environment. For this we need to develop our products and services day by day according to our customers’ needs and wants.
There are several ways in which a business might think about developing a product in order to sustain or build a competitive advantage:
• Staged release into the market: It could be considered beneficial to hold back certain developments you have made to a product so that you can release an improved version of the product periodically, rather than release it once and then fail to improve upon the product thereafter. The staged 'improvement' of the product can make it appear dynamic and exciting to the customers, whereas rival products might be perceived as static and boring in comparison. We need the customers to feel that our company is dynamic and won’t stay the same the whole time.
• Differentiation and positioning: If we can differentiate our product from that of our competitors, we can afford to get their attention easily and glow out in the market. If we can provide unique and special benefits to our customers that no one else can provide them, then we are in well-position to refer to them as loyal customers. We just need to focus on creating new inventions and keeping them in good position, which will appeal to our customers within a short period of time.
• Research and marketing: The development of new products has to be based on the wants and needs of the customers. Rather than simply releasing a product and waiting to see if the demand is there for it, firms should be conducting market research beforehand in an attempt to find out whether there is:
a) A demand for a product and
b) A gap in the market for the particular product if the firm releases it.
Through marketing
There are several ways in which a business might think about developing a product in order to sustain or build a competitive advantage:
• Staged release into the market: It could be considered beneficial to hold back certain developments you have made to a product so that you can release an improved version of the product periodically, rather than release it once and then fail to improve upon the product thereafter. The staged 'improvement' of the product can make it appear dynamic and exciting to the customers, whereas rival products might be perceived as static and boring in comparison. We need the customers to feel that our company is dynamic and won’t stay the same the whole time.
• Differentiation and positioning: If we can differentiate our product from that of our competitors, we can afford to get their attention easily and glow out in the market. If we can provide unique and special benefits to our customers that no one else can provide them, then we are in well-position to refer to them as loyal customers. We just need to focus on creating new inventions and keeping them in good position, which will appeal to our customers within a short period of time.
• Research and marketing: The development of new products has to be based on the wants and needs of the customers. Rather than simply releasing a product and waiting to see if the demand is there for it, firms should be conducting market research beforehand in an attempt to find out whether there is:
a) A demand for a product and
b) A gap in the market for the particular product if the firm releases it.
Through marketing