Gulfways current position in the market in terms of its retail counterparts is that of a moderately low priced scuba equipment provider that offers excellent financial incentives such as a low credit line and the absence of an inventory (see appendix #1). This creates a competitive advantage with its competitors through the use of price and purchasing benefits. This is a good beginning to develop a dominating image on the perpetual map of the scuba equipment market. As Gulfways moves thru the introduction stage of the product life cycle and on to the growth stage, the company needs to begin to think about how to reposition their product in the minds of the consumer in order to increase

In order to effectively reposition Gulfways product towards the consumer, the company must assess their weaknesses as perceived by the consumers. Quality is a perceived weakness from the retail-purchaser perspective, therefore, it is a perceived weakness by the end consumer. In order to improve the image of quality for Gulfways products, they can offer a guarantee or warranty to the consumer for a number of years on their products. This type of offer proves to the consumer that Gulfways is not substituting quality for price. Quality may not be the only thing that the customer perceives as a weakness. In order to find out, Gulfways can simply send out surveys to their customers asking them to rate their product in comparison to their competitors. Asking retailers if they have had any complaints or suggestions for improvement on their products is another way of finding out what needs to be improved. Once this information is obtained, Gulfways can reposition their product by benchmarking the top companies in their industry in order to find the best strategy for favorably changing the image of their products to the level of their top competitors.

It is important for Gulfways to reposition their product to stress quality without de-emphasizing price or other benefits. This can be accomplished by creating a differential advantage from its co

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Approximate Word count = 916
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page double spaced)