Identifying fundamental marketing challenges of innovative companies niche markets(Case study: Companies producing health-oriented plant-based food products)

In today's competitive markets, there are specific brands that have created small and less competitive markets by providing attractive and meaningful social identities to meet the specific needs of consumers, in these markets, focusing on meeting the needs of a group of customers who have unique and special needs. In terms of marketing challenges for innovative companies, there is ample evidence from around the world that although a large number of technology development researches have been technically successful, only a small percentage of them have been commercialized. This indicates the complexity of the commercialization process and the need for further study in this area.Many researchers in the past have extensively studied the mass markets and the challenges of marketing and innovation in different markets and industries, but despite the growing relative interest in innovation and niche market strategy, the challenges of innovative companies in these markets have been less studied. Understanding the challenges that innovative companies that want to operate in niche markets face can be so important and vital to them that even by studying these challenges, companies can be able to prevent major financial threats and losses. To earn. Based on this theoretical gap, in recent years a series of researches in the field of innovation and niche markets have been conducted and the number of such studies is increasing. In fact, so far little research has been done on the challenges companies face in entering niche markets as well as the relationship between innovation and it.Herbal soybean companies with a focus on producing health-oriented products with an emphasis on vegetarianism produce products that are considered as innovative products in the niche market. By producing soy-based food products without the use of animal products, the company can make a significant contribution to community health as well as environmental health. Despite the lack of competition in this area, they face major marketing challenges. Given the unmet needs in this market, as well as the great problem of marketing and identifying customer needs in domestic companies, the purpose of this study is to identify the basic marketing challenges of innovative companies in the production of health-oriented plant products and these companies help to meet the needs of customers in niche markets.

This research is applied in terms of purpose; Because the findings of this study can lead to a deeper view of the company's challenges in innovative companies that intend to operate in niche markets and especially in health-based plant-based food companies, and help the managers of these companies to better plan and make decisions. The method of this research is qualitative, which was done by reviewing previous researches, in-depth interviews conducted by the researcher.The statistical population in this study includes experts as well as managers, officials, loyal customers and owners of stores supplying the products of Bekr Company, which produces vegetable protein products from soy. The sampling method performed in this research is purposeful (judgmental) sampling. First, 33 people were interviewed, including experts, as well as managers, officials, customers, and store owners of Bekr or similar products, as well as managers of several companies active in the field, until the extracted data was saturated. With the presence of the researcher in the active companies in the statistical community, important questions in the research were asked in the form of in-depth interviews. In interviews with company executives, an attempt was made to cover potential marketing issues by asking general questions about marketing concerns and challenges. The interview began with general questions about the "overall state of the economy and its impact on innovative companies" and "the most important current concerns of companies" and continued until the researcher determined that the answers were saturated. Interviewees in this study include 2 CEOs, 1 Board Member, 4 Mid-Range Managers, 3 Technical Specialists, 3 Leading Innovative Food Distributors, 7 Store Owners Who Supply Special and Innovative Food Products Were 11 loyal and old customers of the company, and finally 2 were scientific experts. At the beginning of the interview, the purpose of the interview was generally mentioned by the researchers and it was emphasized that the interview information is used only for research purposes and the identities of the interviewees will not be published in the research reports.In this study, theme analysis method was used to analyze qualitative data. Theme analysis method is a systematic method for analyzing qualitative data as a meaningful and tactical method in order to reduce and better manage large volumes of data without losing the basis of the subject, immersing and drowning in data, organizing, summarizing and focusing. Data interpretation is used. This is because the interviewees had a lot of conversations and information and concerns to present, and this led to a very large amount of data, and because on the one hand it was necessary to extract an organized pattern from these topics, this method of organizing, summarizing And the interpretation of the data helped a lot.

73 Key indicators of major challenges for innovative companies in niche markets using in-depth interviews with the research statistical community (including experts as well as managers, officials, loyal customers and store owners of becker products ") were identified and categorized into 10 general factors. These factors are: factors related to product and production, law, sales and customer, advertising and packaging, innovation and knowledge, competition, environmental changes, cost and price, human resources, distribution Research findings can be important for managers of innovative companies operating in niche markets. Factors related to product and production, law, sales and customer, advertising and packaging, innovation and knowledge, competition, environmental changes, cost and price, human resources and distribution; These are the most fundamental challenges that innovative companies must adopt in order to survive and succeed. In this study, the marketing challenges of innovative companies were identified and identified in the form of 10 factors. It is suggested that researchers in future research examine the impact of each of the 10 factors on the marketing performance of innovative companies separately. It is also suggested that researchers in future research be more specialized in how and on what basis each of the 10 identified factors of marketing challenges of companies operating in niche markets, especially in Iran. Future researchers are advised to conduct a study on the extent to which the main marketing challenges of innovative companies in niche markets (the results of the present study) with the basic marketing challenges of non-innovative companies in non-niche markets to determine their differences.