CRM, CX, UX Opinion South Africa

There is no such thing as market saturation

There is no such thing as market saturation, just first-base thinking. First-base thinking is when we do the bare minimum that's required to exist in an industry or category.
Image credit: Franki Chamaki on Unsplash.
Image credit: Franki Chamaki on Unsplash.

For example, imagine two competing bakeries that are adjacent to each other and they both do the same thing and offer a similar service. This is when price becomes the differentiator. When price becomes the differentiator, that market has no real value.

Retailers - give me an (even basic) experience!
Retailers - give me an (even basic) experience!

  10 Jul 2019

This is first-base thinking – where there is nothing that distinguishes two companies. Now, take the two competing bakeries and stretch them across a city, a province and a country.

Some brands or businesses exist just to meet the bare minimum required to be in that industry.

Elevate beyond the expected

How many soccer players are there? When we are talking soccer or football, a handful of players come to mind – some have pure talent, but most combine talent with hard work; elevating the value they bring to the field of play.

To be sought after, not just to stand out, not just to be different for the sake of being different, but to be seen or perceived as the only option with no other alternative, requires you and your brand to elevate beyond the expected.

If you are a brand that exists in a “saturated” market, please note that the market is not saturated, the market is filled with the same or similar thinking.

Change how you do things. Do things that create novelty for your brand. Do things that make the experience of your brand more memorable. Do things that mean something to your customers. Do things that add value and equity to your brand.

Do things beyond what is expected.

Be the anomaly, dissolve the market

Your brand’s biggest battle is not with other players, it is your customers’ minds. Be the anomaly to be the monopoly.

In a saturated world, where there’s a million options of everything, it is back to brand-building basics. Win the heart and mind and you will dominate.

As human beings, we love habits. Equally, we love novelty too.

So, if you and your brand can appear to be the only one doing something, you stand a good chance to be perceived as the only option for that particular thing that serves a particular need and, if you do it consistently, you will be the only option for more things.

Anybody can create exponential value for their brand, thereby dissolving the competitive saturation.

The saturation of a market is not necessarily due to the number of players in a given industry or category, but rather, the saturation of the same thinking.

Don’t do what your competitors do. Do what you need to do.

Let's do Biz