Home topics small-business-resources growth-import-export Growth | Import | Export Managing Growth | Import | Export Maintaining your market share Ian Murray March 27, 2009 These may be troubled times, but that’s no reason to shy away from doing everything you can to maintain your market share, writes Ian Murray. People who know that I have a background in marketing with major international companies often ask me, “Why do you have to have to advertise that product, when everyone knows about it?” The fact is, brands need constant promotion to maintain market share. When one considers for a moment how much it costs to develop and launch a new product, how long it takes to turn a profit, and the investment made to gain market leadership, it’s not hard to see why large marketers rarely pull back from the advertising and promotion roundabout. It’s simply part of the game: maintain market share at any cost and, if you are market leader, stay there and beat competition into the ground. Interestingly enough, it remains much the same even when things get tough. Markets might decline, but share and market leadership must be maintained in good times and bad. But can the same be said for export markets? The sheer cost of getting into overseas markets is horrendous and servicing them is costly, so maintaining your position even in a declining market is just as important. The questions are: how tough is it? And: what should I do? Two recent studies undertaken by