Why has this artist been so successful? What are her key
sources of sustainable competitive advantage?
· Think about her unique resources and core competencies,
think about how she has responded to changes in the external environment , why
is she difficult to imitate ?
Madonna understands the current trends and changes in the
market .She knows when to change her genre of style in order to develop new fan
base in the, at the same time the ability retain her original fan base that
grew up with her original image. For example
the table below shows her image and how she managed to change it with the
changing taste of audience of different era.
At the same time in order to keep people talking about her
and to generate interest in her name, she creates just enough controversy to
stay marketable.
Besides changing of her persona and her genre of music she
managed to take full control of her image rights and even managed to diversify
herself and starred in the more Evita as a leading role. Once again she was able to change herself and
imaged herself as a saint like figure instead of her usual erotica image.
The key sources of her competitive
advantages are
- Voice and looks
- Dance and style
- Sex appeal
- Skilled support
- Scandal management
2.
Competencies
- Versatility (ability to change her image )
- Brand Madonna
What strategy directions could
the artist purse over the next ten years to continue her commercial success
During the era of her early years of
her career there was no trend of digital download and hence all of the income
did come from her album and CDs sales . But now with the changing of technology
system of buying music has moved from buying artist album from the brick and mortar
shop to downloading of music from digital shop. We can safely say that Madonna
can focus to sell her resources to sell music online, instead of selling album
in shops as it now dying out.
Even though the trend of purchasing digital
music online is new and its market share is increasing, it is relative small
and sometimes is still questionable whether it will be wise to invest fully on
this. As live music , endorsement and merchandising is more lucrative for her.
And as far as Madonna is concerned she has just signed a 10 year contract with
Live Nation, the largest concert promotion company.
Ansoff Matrix
Existing
Products
|
New
Products
|
|
Existing
Markets |
Market Penetration
·
Album
and CD sales
|
Product Development
·
Online digital media shop
|
New
Markets |
Market
Development
· Live shows
|
Diversification
·
Merchandising
· Endorsement
|
Market Penetration :- The CDs and albums she produce is an already existing product, and she has already existing market for it. Although CDs medium of music has almost reached its saturation point, Madonna should still ensure her market penetration of this medium should still be high
Product Development :- Compared with CDs and albums the digital online media is still a new product, as there is already existing market for music particularly her fans, Madonna now should focus on develop a proper medium of distribution of her music online. The new product maybe form of online music store
Market development :- Her music (existing product) is very popular among her fans , and since sales of her album has reached its saturation point she should also focus on new market. Live music and live show is a new market that she can explore with her already existing product (her music). She can perform in different venues to generate even more income and increase her band image
Diversification :- After from her regular music and shows, Madonna in future can diversify herself and use her marketable image to promote others. She can enter the market for endorsement of new products that is totally different from
her current market (music) . She can even start to cash in her image by merchandising her brand name
Refernces
H.I. Ansoff, Corporate Strategy, Penguin, 1988, Chapter 6
Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 7]
Product Development :- Compared with CDs and albums the digital online media is still a new product, as there is already existing market for music particularly her fans, Madonna now should focus on develop a proper medium of distribution of her music online. The new product maybe form of online music store
Market development :- Her music (existing product) is very popular among her fans , and since sales of her album has reached its saturation point she should also focus on new market. Live music and live show is a new market that she can explore with her already existing product (her music). She can perform in different venues to generate even more income and increase her band image
Diversification :- After from her regular music and shows, Madonna in future can diversify herself and use her marketable image to promote others. She can enter the market for endorsement of new products that is totally different from
her current market (music) . She can even start to cash in her image by merchandising her brand name
Refernces
H.I. Ansoff, Corporate Strategy, Penguin, 1988, Chapter 6
Johnson, Whittington and Scholes (2011) Exploring Strategy, 9th Edition, Pearson Education, Chapter 7]
