Jeffery David Whippo Discusses the Conditions That Might Justify a Company to Deal in Multiple Products

1. Jeffery David Whippo Discusses the Conditions That Might Justify a Company to Deal in Multiple Products Jeffery David Whippo, a business educator and leadership expert with many years of success leading business organizations feels that businesses that introduce multiple products into a market do so for two main reasons. 1)Multiple products may be introduced in an effort to seek growth by offering varied products in different market segments. 2)Businesses introduce multiple products to avoid competitive threats to a single brand. Jeffery David Whippo shares the example that Toyota not only sells small sedans, it also sells several sizes of trucks, energy efficient cars, mini-vans, and luxury model vehicles. Another example he says would be that of the sports company Wilson, in that they do not focus on a single sport, like baseball, they also sell sports gear for basketball, football, tennis, hockey, and various other sports. In order to compete, these companies must be able to meet the different needs of their customers and not just focus on a niche product. Jeffery David Whippo reiterates that while launching multiple products into different segments of the same market is an accepted avenue to growth, the brands must be positioned within the market so that they don’t compete with each other and create an environment of product cannibalization. Whippo further says that companies must

2. determine what level of cannibalism is accepted. Differences in cannibalism rates, he describes, show that things, like cost structure, market maturity, and the competitive appeal of competitive offerings affect cannibalism sales and their importance to the sales and profitability of a product line. To Jeffery, product positioning is then more important than ever to ensure that the product is introduced through a method of design and promotion that’s specific to a particular market segment. On the word of Jeffery David Whippo, in order for businesses to be able to introduce multiple products into the market, they must have sufficient managerial and financial resources. If the company doesn’t have the resources for supporting the launch of multiple products, they should stick with a single brand. He goes on further to indicate that companies also need to ensure that they aren’t violating any antitrust laws if by introducing an additional brand increases its share of the market significantly. According to Jeff Whippo if all bases are covered and the resources needed are sufficient, then as a strategy, the introduction of multiple products into the market can lead to increased market share, growth, and profitability.