Thinking about the different economic markets that we have learned about – monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and free market – it is interesting to see how the marketing of products in markets that requires product differentiation may or may not differ from ones in markets that do not have product discrimination. In general, monopolistic competition and free market are two market types with intense competition, therefore, firms work extremely hard to differentiate their product from competing producers. Product differentiation relates strongly to marketing as it involves all four Ps of the marketing mix. Comparing the marketing of shoes (monopolistic competition) and sugar (oligopoly) we can see that the effort to advertise those products differ immensely, however, it is also interesting to ponder why in the same market structure (an oligopoly) we can also observe intense marketing campaigns that is put forth by telecommunication companies such as Bell and Rogers. One may suggest that communication is closely related to the media therefore giving us more exposure to their marketing, nevertheless, it could still be said that the marketing of sugar comes no where close to the level of intensity and investment put into the marketing of telecommunications in Canada.
Categories