Established Market Demand: Implications For Product Management

Product managers must adjust their activities to reflect the market context for an established market offering. Succeeding with an established market offering requires a deep understanding of direct competitors. Product managers must identify capabilities that can ease perceived or actual switching costs.

In the B2B world, established market demand is created when the need for a product or service is already accepted by the majority of target organizations (see So, What’s Your [Demand] Type?). Because buyers are already addressing the problem with a similar competitive offering, budget for the product or service already exists. There are three potential approaches to compete in this type of market: Reduce costs and compete on price; innovate to create a new paradigm; or differentiate by providing added value (e.g., unique features or services). In this report, we discuss how product managers should adapt to support established market offerings with a value-add strategy.