ifferent in style to be appealing and public relations, which have to be more nimble to deal with emergencies. (For example, when Intel went from a specialist to a publicly visible firm they had to learn very fast just how much it was important to react appropriately to negative consumer sentiment when it was revealed that they had a defective product with their first Pentium class microprocessor). CompetitionThe competition for the mass market is much more aggressive than anything that TPF is likely to have had to deal with so far. Moreover, they are likely to respond much more quickly to a new entrant than TPF may be anticipating. Just as Coca-Cola responded quickly to the success of specialist water and juice entrants by introducing a very successful line of Minute Maid juices and Dasani water, and used their powerful and established distribution network, the incumbent dog food producers may be able to mimic the Tyler Pet Food product, produce it more cheaply, and market it more effectively. Most ominous for TPF is that the incumbents will be able to spend large sums researching exactly what aspects of Tyler Pet Foods are popular with consumers and focus on providing a product with those aspects highlighted. Minute Maid juice, for example, is perceived as being good quality when in fact its really ordinary and even low quality and Dasani water is hardly imported from France, so it has a better profit margin, and is well marketed and distributed, so sales are strong.Stage of Life CycleThe newness of TPFs product Show Circuit Frozen Dog Dinner is a strategic advantage over the competition. TPF will have certain first mover advantage if, indeed, there is a mass market for it. Moreover, the product has the advantage of being well field tested through years of real-life experience with professional breeders. On the other hand, it is possible that the needs of the mass market are so different that the experience that TPF has could ...
