Differentiation Strategy (Your first-ever Business e-Coach)

Твой первый Бизнес e-Тренер - ОТКРОЙ ТАЙНЫ синергетикИ и ИЗМЕНИ МИР!

Ты Твой бизнес Венчурное финансирование Менеджмент Лидерство Организация Стратегии роста Инновации Эффективность Маркетинг Конкуренция

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Winning and Retaining Customers:

Competitive Strategy

Differentiation Strategy

How To Survive in the Era of Hypercompetition

by Vadim Kotelnikov, Founder, The first-ever BUSINESS e-COACH for Innovative Leaders, 1000ventures.com

"Spectacular achievements come from unspectacular preparation" - Roger Staubach


Two Basic Ways to Compete and Prosper in Any Market
To have a strong differentiation strategy To be a low-cost producer If you aren't different, you'd better have low prices
Three Parts of Your Differentiation Strategy³
Positioning: Have a simple idea that separates you from your competition Trust Building: Have the credentials or the product/service that makes this concept real and believable Awareness Creation: Build a program to make your customers and prospects aware of this difference
Four Steps of Your Differentiation Strategy¹
Make Sense in the Context of the Category: Arguments are never made in vacuum. You numerous competitors are trying to make arguments of their own. Your message has to start with what the marketplace has heard and registered from your competition - get a quick snapshot of the perceptions that exist in mind, not deep thoughts. Focus on the perceptual strengths and weaknesses of you and your competitors as they exist in the minds of the target group of customers. The timing for your differentiating idea should be right - if you are too early or too late you'll go nowhere. Find the Differentiating Idea: There many ways to set your company, product, or service apart. Your differentness does not have to be product related - it can be anything that separates you from your competitors. The trick is to find that difference and then use it to set up a benefit for your customer. Have the Credentials: Claims of difference without proof are just claims. Consumers are skeptical. You must have the credentials to support your differentiating idea if you wish to build a logical argument for your difference. It's like being in the court of public opinion. If you have a product/service difference, you should be able to demonstrate that difference, which in turn, becomes your credentials. Communicate Your Difference: Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products. "Better products don't win. Better perceptions tend to be winners. Truth will not out unless it has some help along the way. Your cannot overcommunicate your difference - every aspect of your communication should reflect it. A real differentiating idea is also a powerful motivational tool.

Why Differentiate?

The concept of being unique or different is far more important today than it was ten years ago. The key to successful marketing and competing is differentiation.

Hypercompetition is a key feature of the new economy. What used to be national markets with local companies competing for business has become a global market with everyone competing for everyone's business everywhere. With the enormous competition markets today are driven by choice - your targeted customers have too many choices, all of which can be fulfilled instantly. Choosing among multiple options is always based on differences, implicit or explicit, so you ought to differentiate in order to give the customer a reason to chose your product or service. Thus, "differentiation is one of the most important strategic and tactical activities in which companies must constantly engage. It is not discretionary".¹

Differentiation - Step 1 in Building Your Brand

Differentiation - distinguishing your brand from all others - is about the life and death of your brand. It is how your brand is born and how it may die if differentiation declines.

Harnessing the Power of Psychology

You don't need a degree in psychology to compete successfully in the marketplace, but you do need some way to figure out the different styles of interaction different people prefer to use.

People tend to lead their decision-making process decisions with one of the four functions: intuition, thinking, feeling, and sensing. Vividly differentiated differences that are anchored to a product and engage the above functions can enhance memory of your current and prospective customers...More

Bibliography:

"Differentiate or Die", Jack Trout with Steve Rivkin, 2000
"Extreme Management", Mark Stevens, 2001

"The Power of Simplicity", Jack Trout, 1999

"The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing in Asia", Al Ries, Jack Trout and Paul Temporal, 2003.

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