An analysis of businesses as a portfolio of niches

Abstract

In the current economic state of the world, companies need to fully understand their consumers much more than ever before. With economic turmoil pushing consumption further down, it is necessary for companies to cater to the needs of consumers at a very personal level. This is exactly what niche marketers do and that is why we believe that niche marketing will be a very important and attractive marketing strategy for companies in the near future. In this CCS, we plan to understand the dynamics of niche marketing and the various strategies that companies can adopt to pursue niche marketing successfully. In general, companies adopt niche marketing strategies primarily to avoid head-on competition with market leaders or due to a lack of resources. When a company enters a niche, it enjoys a quasi-monopoly as the market is too small to attract competition. Once the niche matures, the company generally tries to expand that niche and makes it mainstream. However, this approach is fraught with danger as it could invite competition. Eventually, the company might end up losing its dominance in the niche or even the entire niche. During the course of this study, we have utilized a variety of web sources, newspaper articles, company annual reports, analyst presentations and textbooks for relevant information.