Michael E. PorterÆs competitive strategy framework provides an excellent basis for analyzing the marketing strategy requirements of any industry. Porter, a business administration professor at Harvard Business School, is an expert on business strategy with a facility for formulating strategy in the realm of technology. Strategy is a universal concept, not necessarily linked specifically to technology, but since technology changes frequently, marketing strategies are often updated frequently. However, Porter points out that ôTechnology changes, strategy doesnÆtö (Hammonds 150). Porter ôis fed up with CEOs who claim that the world changes too fast for their companies to have a long-term strategyö (Hammonds 150). His answer for them is categorical: ôIf you want to make a difference as a leader, youÆve got to make time for strategyö (Hammonds 150).
Virtually any industry could benefit from PorterÆs astute marketing strategies, and the trendy digital-music MP3 industry is no exception. MP3 has been revolutionizing the way people listen to music ever since it came out (Wang). There are more than 300 digital music services worldwide, and there were 40 million MP3 players sold in 2004 alone, so this industry is flying to the top of the charts leaving forecasters to wonder whether it will ever plateau (Wang). Furthermore, the number of different MP3 players available to consumers in the market has undergone a huge increase in the past year. MP3 players are ôhot,ö and the industry is fertile ground for new development and marketing strategies.
Michael Porter developed a model that shows an industry as being influenced by five forces: supplier power, threat of substitutes, degree of rivalry, buyer power, and barriers to entry (ôPorterÆs Five Forcesö). Each of these five forces is analyzed in terms of its influence on rivalry (ôPorterÆs Five Forcesö). Porter points out that if all rival firms did was compete on t...