Harlequin's

WHAT IS HARLEQUIN'S CORE COMPETENCE?

The main core competence of Harlequin is the fact that it offers escape and entertainment for a distinct target audience of women, with a cheap monthly book. Paperback could be chosen from a variety of series under the Harlequin umbrella.

2. WHY WAS HARLEQUIN SO SUCCESSFUL IN ITS GROWTH OF BOOK SALES?

Examine a)Product Line, b)Pricing, c)Distribution, d)Marketing,

e)Consumer f) Competition

The product line revolved around romance fiction series and has a mass variety of titles. This creates the ability to target specific audience who could identify with one of the heros of the 12 titles that were published. Each book had a shelf life of one month, which created turnover of titles and increased purchases. However, this was also attributed to high return rate.

Harlequin produced only paperbacks By standardizing production and distribution methods for all their titles, Harlequin were able economies of scales which help to reduce the price of its book. Most of the titles were priced at $2.95 in 1992 which was lower than many women magazines.

Harlequin books were not distributed only to traditional bookstores but also through food, drug and discount stores. The titles were very easy to recognize and often were displayed on it’s own Harlequin display racks.

Marketing emphasize the Harlequin brand names rather than titles or author name and by that create a constant build of its brand awareness. The editors segmented the romance fiction market market by segmentation and then target that group with tailored content.

As Harlequin defined all women over the age of 15 as their target audience, the market had millions of potential customers.

Harlequin was a pioneer and a market leader in the romance fiction book publishing, indirectly it faced competition through best seller books, and women magazines. As it offered escape and relaxation, other media outlets that offered entertainment and escapism such as movies, and television...