Lateral Marketing

PHILIP KOTLER is the S. C. Johnson Distinguished Professor of International Marketing at Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management. Considered the father of modern marketing, he is the author of twenty-five books, including Marketing Insights from A to Z, also available from Wiley. He has worked as a consultant to corporations such as IBM, Bank of America, General Electric, and AT&T. FERNANDO TRIAS DE BES is founder and Partner of Salvetti & Llombart, a firm specializing in consulting and market research with an international scope and clients such as PepsiCo, Sony, Hewlett-Packard, McKinsey & Co., Nestlé, and Dannon. He is also a consultant on innovation in marketing. He is an Associate Professor of the Marketing Department at ESADE Business School in Barcelona.

• Introduction. 1.The Evolution of Markets and the Dynamics of Competition.1.1 In Consumer Packaged Goods, Distribution Concentration Has Increased Greatly.1.2 The Number of Competitors Has Been Reduced, but the Number of Brands Has Strongly Increased.1.3 Product Life Cycles Have Been Dramatically Shortened.1.4 It Is Cheaper to Replace than to Repair.1.5 Digital Technology Has Provoked a Revolution in Many Markets.1.6 The Number of Trademarks and Patents Is Increasing.1.7 The Number of Varieties of a Given Product Has Increased Radically.1.8 Markets Are Hyperfragmented.1.9 Advertising Saturation Is Reaching Its Highest Levels, and the Fragmentation of Media Is Complicating the Launch of New Products.1.10 The Capacity of Obtaining Space in the Mind of the Consumer Has Been Reduced.Conclusion: Markets Are Much More Competitive.Summary.2.Strengths and Weaknesses of Traditional Marketing Thinking.2.1 Needs Identification as the Starting Point.2.2 Mark et Definition.2.2.1 Selecting a Market.2.2.2 Adoption of a Market Category and Subcategory by Marketers.2.2.3 Adopting a Market as Something Fixed Leads to Segmentation.2.3 Segmentation and Positioning as Competitive Strategies.2.3.1 Segmentation.2.3.2 Positioning as a Strategy for Generating Competitive Advantages.2.4 The Development of the Marketing Mix: The Only Thing That Is Seen.Summary.3.Innovations Originated from Inside a Given Market: The Most Common Way of Creating Innovations.3.1 Innovations Based on Modulation.3.2 Innovations Based on Sizing.3.3 Packaging-Based Innovations.3.4 Design-Based Innovations.3.5 Innovations Based on Complements Development.3.6 Innovations Based on Effort Reduction.Summary.4.Innovations Originated Outside of a Given Market: An Alternative Way to Create Innovation.4.1 The Case of Cereal Bars.4.2 The Case of Kinder Surprise.4.3 The Case of 7-Eleven Japan.4.4 The Case of Actimel, from Dannon.4.5 The Case of Food Stores inside Gas Stations.4.6 The Case of the Cyber Café Concept.4.7 The Case of “Be the Godfather of a Kid”.4.8 The Case of “Big Brother” TV Contest.4.9 The Case of Huggies Pull-Ups.4.10 The Case of Barbie.4.11 The Case of Walkman.Summary.5.The Need for Lateral Marketing to Complement Vertical Marketing.5.1 Basis of Vertical versus Lateral Marketing.5.2 How Lateral Marketing Works versus Vertical Marketing.5.3 Effects That Lateral Marketing Provokes in the Markets versus Vertical Marketing.5.4 Source of Volume.5.5 Situations Where Each Type of Marketing Is More Appropriate.5.6 Responsibility of Creating in the Markets.Summary.6.Defining the Lateral Marketing Process.6.1 Lateral Marketing Definition.6.1.1 Objectives of Lateral Marketing.6.2 Logic of Creativity.6.3 Similarities between Humor and Creative Thinking.6.4 Importance of Understanding the Logic of Creativity.6.5 The Three Steps of Lateral Marketing.6.5.1 Choosing a Product or Service.6.5.2 Step 1: Choosing a Focus in the Marketing Process.6.5.3 Step 2: Generating a Marketing Gap.6.5.4 Step 3: Making Connections.6.6 Final Outputs of the Lateral Marketing Process.6.7 Examples from Chapter 4 under the Lateral Marketing Framework.7. Lateral Marketing at the Market Level.7.1 Change of Dimension as the Most Practical Technique.7.2 Dimensions to Be Changed: Concept and Examples.7.2.1 Changing the Need: Trying to Cover Another Utility.7.2.2 Changing the Target: A Person, Persons, or a Group.7.2.3 Changing the Time: Choosing New Moments.7.2.4 Changing the Place: Move Your Product into a New Setting.7.2.5 Changing the Occasion: Link Your Product to an Event.7.2.6 Changing the Activity: Place Products into Experiences.7.3 Connecting the Product with the New Dimension.7.3.1 Connections Made without Altering the Product.7.3.2 Connections Made by Altering the Product.7.4 A Complete Case: Proposing a New Business Concept.7.5 Ancillary Techniques for Displacing the Market Level.7.5.1 Combining the Dimension “Place”.7.5.2 Reordering the Dimension “Time”.7.5.3 Exaggerating the Dimension “Place”.7.5.4 Inverting the Dimension “Need”.7.5.5 Inverting the Dimension “Target”.7.5.6 Eliminating the Dimension “Time”.8. Lateral Marketing at the Product Level.8.1 Philosophy behind Applying Lateral Marketing at the Product Level.8.2 Dissection of the Product.8.3 Selecting the Entry Doors.8.3.1 Selecting Natural Anchors as Entry Points.8.3.2 Selecting Other Elements as Entry Points.8.4 Applying Lateral Displacements: Concept and Examples.8.4.1 Substitution.8.4.2 Combination.8.4.3 Inversion.8.4.4 Elimination.8.4.5 Exaggeration.8.4.6 Reordering.8.5 Connecting a Possible Market with the New Product.8.5.1 Finding a Possible Setting.8.5.2 Extracting the Positive Things.8.5.3 Imagining the Purchase Process.8.6 The Product May Need to Be Adjusted.8.7 A Complete Case: The Double-Decker Car.9. Lateral Marketing at the Marketing Mix Level.9.1 Effects of Lateral Marketing at the Mix Level.9.2 Lateral Marketing for Diversifying Our Marketing Mix: “Taking the Mix of Other Products”.9.2.1 Pricing.9.2.2 Distribution.9.2.3 Communication.9.3 Lateral Marketing for Finding New Marketing Mix Formulas: The Rest of the Lateral Displacements.9.3.1 Combination.9.3.2 Inversion.9.3.3 Elimination.9.3.4 Exaggeration.9.3.5 Reordering.9.4 The Product May Need to Be Adjusted.9.5 A Complete Case: Steel Shops.10. Implementing Lateral Marketing.10.1 The Three Systems of an Innovative Company: The Gary Hamel Model.10.1.1 An Idea Market.10.1.2 A Capital Market.10.1.3 A Talent Market.10.2 Next Step: Managing the Whole Process.Appendix: Quick Reminder of the Lateral Marketing Framework.Index.

“…He is challenging the conventions; coaching marketers to broaden our horizons; delivering a new set of solutions; thinking the unthinkable…” (Interactive Marketing, Vol 5, No 4, April/June 2004) These two marketing innovators provide effective and practical concepts and tools to help readers create new products and services based on thinking across rather than within markets. Understand the power of marketing creativity and how "lateral marketing" can expand thinking and profits. (Best Business Books 2003, Library Journal, March 15, 2004)