Grow, grow, grow

Nearly every marketer wants to stimulate growth in sales and profits. But what are your options? Glad you asked--here's a quick guide to the four main growth strategies for your marketing plan:

1. Sell more of your existing products in existing markets or market segments. This can mean getting current customers to buy more in each transaction, or getting current customers to buy more often. Thornton's, for example, is looking to encourage chocolate buying not just at Easter and Christmas but on other occasions, as well.
2. Sell existing products in new markets or segments. Audi, the German automaker, is doing this by seeking to expand in India beyond the biggest cities to smaller areas.
3. Sell modified or new products in existing markets or segments. McDonald's does this all over the world, constantly adding new menu items, such as Chicken McBites, which started in McDonald's in Australia and are being tested in the US.
4. Sell new products in new markets or segments. Also known as diversification, this strategy can be implemented by distributing through existing channel arrangements in the new market, starting new marketing activities in new markets, or acquiring a company or product in a new market. Not easy, and often risky, but potentially rewarding for the business that has sufficient financial strength to diversify and hold on until a brand has been established--or has the intelligence to leave a market if competitive pressures are too high (or consumer acceptance is too low).