Tailored Strategies Double Market Share in Developing Countries

Situation

The company was marketing its advanced infrastructure software globally. Within most of the developed world, the company enjoyed a commanding market share. Not so in the developing world, where its main competitor had more than twice the sales volume of the company.

The challenge

Realizing that increasing its already large market share in the developed world would be hard, if not impossible, the company needed to know how it could successfully grow in the developing world.

Findings

Not only were the purchase patterns different in the developing vs. the developed world, but the features that most influenced willingness to pay were different. Furthermore, in the developing world, a different pricing structure would lead to an increase in sales.

Results

The company changed what features it pushed in marketing and its pricing structure to meet the buying preferences of the developing world. According to the company's annual report, the company now, four years later, has doubled its market share in the developing world while retaining its commanding share in the developed world.