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Differentiation Strategy

The full title of this often overlooked strategy book by Shiv Mathur and Alfred Kenyon is

Creating Value: Shaping Tomorrow’s Business“.

In my review at Amazon.co.uk, I rated this book as worthy of Five Stars. This means it is Excellent and Very Highly Recommended to appropriate readers.

Here is my book review.

A highly original look at how to differentiate products

This book could be the best strategy book you’ve never heard of.

It’s a fiercely original intellectual work which will challenge many of the traditional ways of thinking about business strategy. Unfortunately both authors have died so it can’t be updated beyond the second edition but Creating Value has lots of insight for any business strategist and especially anyone who is interested in differentiation.

It’s not the easiest of reads because it is so challenging to the mind. [continue reading…]

in 3 – Your Strategic Positioning, Best Business Books

Crackerjack Positioning by Don Reynolds – 5 Stars

The full title of this book by Don Reynolds is

Crackerjack Positioning: Niche Marketing Strategy for the Entrepreneur“.

In my review posted on Amazon.co.uk, I gave the book Five Stars. This means I think it is Excellent and it is Very Highly Recommended.

Here is my book review.

This is inspiring, even if it doesn’t tell you how to do it

I thought this was a super book when I read the hardback version and wrote my review on my Differentiate Your Business Blog on May 3, 2011.

Since then, I saw it was going cheap as a Kindle and I bought it again although I can’t yet comment on the quality of formatting for Kindle.

This book is a very enjoyable, interesting and thought-provoking read for any small business owner who wants to build a unique position in a niche market. [continue reading…]

in 3 – Your Strategic Positioning, Best Business Books

Blue Zebra Strategy – What’s In A Name & Image?

“I like your new blog (Differentiate Your Business now defunct), I think of it as blue zebra strategy” someone emailed me yesterday.

I can see that other people will also think of my blog as the blue zebra strategy blog and a quick search of the Internet shows that I’m not found for “blue zebra strategy”.

That’s a problem which I’m trying to fix.

There’s been a lot of rubbish written about branding and an enormous amount of money spent creating and changing brands. Branding is interesting when you see it as the position you hold in someone’s mind.

The Purpose Of The Blue Zebra – It’s Easy To Remember

Paul Simister is an unusual name which in some ways is good but like all unusual names, it can be difficult to remember.

That’s a branding problem although once you remember my name, the link to business strategy and differentiation should be strong.

Differentiate Your Business “does what it says on the tin” but like all generic names, it runs the risk of not creating a strong and lasting imprint on the mind. That’s another branding problem although the focus and benefits are clear.

I’ve written about the underlying meaning in zebra marketing. That’s about how “me-too marketing” can dazzle your potential customers into confusion, just like the problem that lions have when they look at a small herd of zebras. This phenomenon is recognised in the natural world because the collective noun is called a dazzle.

I believe that the dazzle of zebras is a powerful and interesting analogy that transfers nicely from nature to business.

The blue zebra stands out proud and gets noticed.

And remembered.

You want your business to stand out and to be remembered so you need to follow the ideas of blue zebra strategy.

What Do You Think About The Blue Zebra Analogy?

I’d like to know what you think. Does the blue zebra help to create a picture of the idea of differentiation in your mind and help you to remember my blog and whether or not you’ve visited before?

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There’s a little silent refrain that goes on in people’s minds whenever you bring up differentiation. I think that for many business owners, it’s almost an excuse. “It’s different in my industry; it’s hyper-competitive and it’s such a mature industry, it’s a waste of time pursuing differentiation”.

I want to introduce you to a concept I call the 4P framework, and it’s very simple.
This framework is made up of 4 elements.

People, problem, process, passion

People represents the customer profile, the target market segment that you choose to do business with. It’s the first element in your overall differentiation.

The 2nd P represents Problem. What problem of the people you chose will you be solving… So let’s say that you and I both decided on starting a new business working with dentists. That means that the people, our P would be Dentists…for both of us.

But if I’m a business growth consulting firm, and you’re a dental office design firm, then we’re solving 2 different problems for the same people. Now even though we’re serving the same market, we’d be complementary businesses rather than competitors.

Now since we’re talking about differentiation, this example is probably a little too easy so let’s step it up a bit.

What if you and I were both business growth consulting firms and we were both targeting Dentists. Here’s where the 3rd P would come in as a differentiating element.

The 3rd P represents Process – And by process I mean your unique process or approach to solving your target customer’s problem or delivering your ultimate benefit. If business growth is our ultimate benefit, your primary lever or tool might be strategic marketing and mine might be business networking.

To explore just how much power of differentiation you get by layering the 3 Ps, let’s look at a different target market.

Let’s say our 1st P was mid-sized networking technology companies and you and I were concerned with their business development and growth needs.

My Unique Process might be to show these mid-sized networking technology companies how to leverage internet marketing in their business-to-business marketing, while you may concentrate on how they can grow their business through improved performance from their sales force. So while I would be offering comprehensive internet marketing consulting, you might be offering sales training or sales management consulting programs.

This differentiation by offering a different process or solution has so many different variables that you should never seriously run out of options for differentiating your business. Even if you and I were decided to compete in the Sales training niche, I might differentiate myself by highlighting a branded and proprietary teaching system, learning method, or what have you, or I might differentiate myself by the medium of delivery – maybe all our training is done online through multimedia webinars and Teleseminars, while you go the traditional route with on-site training.

These are just a very few of the ways you can differentiate through method focus, delivery method, areas of emphasis, etcetera

Let’s go on to the 4th P which is Passion
Passion here is the ultimate icing on the cake when it comes to differentiating your business. Passion has to do with the unique way in which your business injects emotional selling into your branding and marketing communications. Years ago, the Government Employees Insurance Company had a brand profile that was as boring as it gets. Today, GEICO is recognized for the Geico Gecko’s continuous insistence that 15 minutes can save us 15% or more on car insurance, and for their highly entertaining campaign that repeats that switching to GEICO is so easy a caveman can do it.

Passion is where so many small businesses make a mistake and turn their natural advantage into a distinct disadvantage. So many small business owners are mistakenly led to believe that branding means a lack of personality, and a transition to slick but faceless marketing that marks so much “Big business advertising”.

Countless research studies have shown that people make their buying decisions based on emotion, and then supports that decision by logical arguments.

Some of the simplest ways to inject emotional selling into your marketing communication is to articulate a core emotional epic. Mary Kay built a half-billion dollar business on the back of her touching story of being a single mom and entrepreneur struggling to make it at a time when women were barely allowed in the workforce.

Another way to differentiate yourself with emotional selling is to personalize your marketing. Put some kind of human face on your company. Even a company as big as Southwest has been able to stay personal. Recently, they launched a “Bags fly free” TV campaign that made lovable heroes out of their grounds crew and bag handlers. If it’s good enough for Southwest, why isn’t it good enough for you?

One last note on emotional selling is that it should still answer a “What’s in it for me?” for the clients. Note in the earlier GEICO example that the underlying promise is still – Convenience, savings, and easy!!

Note that the Southwest commercials were still highlighting the convenience and savings of having “bags fly free”.

If you study these 4 elements – People, Problem, Process and Passion, you’ll find multiple points of potential differentiation for virtually any business activity you want to undertake. Whether you’re starting a new business, contemplating a change in business strategy, or rolling out a new product or service.

Review this video, apply these lessons to your business, then go out there and stand out from the crowd.

Gogo Erekosima, The Small Business Digital Coach is the CEO and Lead strategist at Denver Internet Marketing Specialists, Idea Age Consulting.

He recommends the resources at www.TurnAttentionIntoDollars.com for small businesses (and professionals) seeking to leverage the internet to attract clients, build profitable email lists, generate internet traffic, win influential partners and grow sales in record time.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Gogo_Erekosima

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/4824436
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Differentiate Or Die…or Differentiate And Prosper

Differentiate or Die!”

That’s a dramatic phrase isn’t it and it’s one I’ve seen a few times since I decided to specialise in helping small businesses to differentiate themselves effectively.

Differentiate or Die is also the title of a popular book by branding and positioning expert Jack Trout. I’ve seen it in the bookshops but I’ve been put off by comments that it is a rewrite of earlier books like Positioning by Jack Trout and Al Ries and the 22 Immutable Laws Of Marketing.

But is the phrase right?

Is it true to say that you either have to differentiate or be prepared for your business to die?I am biased and I believe in differentiation as a great way to profit but let’s not get too carried away.

I make it clear in my free report, The Profit Tipping Point, that there are five pathways to profit.

The first two relate to being an attractive industry where competitors are sensible and rational. Harvard Professor Michael Porter made in clear in his classic book, Competitive Strategy that there are good and bad industries depending on how the competitive forces apply.

If you’re in the right market at the right time, you can do well with little competitive advantage.

Indeed, I have to admit that in some markets, it does make sense to do what the best-selling competitors are doing and if possible do it a little better and sell it a bit cheaper.

What matters is winning customer preference and that doesn’t have to be by much – it’s like the old adage that the difference between an Olympic gold medal and silver is often a fraction of a second.

In this situation differentiate or die is an exaggeration.

Of course things do get more difficult when the market gets shaken up and demand no longer exceeds supply, if a new low cost and low-priced competitor enters the market with a good enough quality product or if customer needs change.

Returning to the work of Professor Michael Porter, if you don’t find yourself working in an unusually attractive industry where it’s easy to make good profits. Then you need a competitive advantage.

That competitive advantage is either:

  • a cost advantage applied to a broad or focused market
  • a differentiation advantage applied to a broad or focused market

There’s a clear message there too. You don’t need to differentiate if you have a cost advantage and trying to, could get you into the stuck in the middle problem. Ideally you’d want to be comfortably the lowest cost operator in your market but even being one of the lowest cost suppliers can be enough to give a good profit.

It is a hard life, scrimping and saving money in everything you do and that’s one of the big reasons why I believe that differentiation is a better way to work.

But with a clear cost advantage over the average competitors, it’s not differentiate or die.

The phrase “differentiate or die” is hyperbole.

It’s too dramatic.

The leopard hasn’t changed its spots.

I believe you should differentiate your business.

Even if you’re in an attractive industry where most firms can make good money, you’ll do better escaping the commodity trap and shifting focus away from price.

It’s also a much nicer way to build and run a business.

Differentiating a business focuses on giving your customers more of what they want and building a business to be proud of.

Logically and emotionally it makes sense to differentiate your business.

Differentiate or die? No.

But why make life and work more difficult than it needs to be?

Why encourage customers to be disloyal because you don’t do anything special?

It’s much better to think…

Differentiate and prosper.

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