Strategic Marketing Basics

Differenciation is a key challenge of modern marketing. In a context of fierce competition, faced with more demanding customers overexposed to a number of information sources, being kept in mind is indeed a great challenge. How not to be burried in the mass of informations ? How to stand out of the crowd ? All brands, companies, even people ask these questions.

 

To find a differenciating positioning concept, you can think about 3 ways:

 

• Choose a non occupied field of leadership  

Your company can be the leader in visibility, service, consumer friendliness, prestige, technology, tradition, technical quality, modernity, fashion... Being leader means focusing all your resources, know how and energy in order to always stay ahead  of competition in that field. It should be your mantra, become an obsession and translated into reality. You hope to be recognized by your target customers as the indisputable leader in your chosen field.

 

• Target and cherish a free segment: specialize

If you become the specialist of a niche, a new recently discovered segment  or neglected or badly covered one, you can be different ! Using this approach, you are different because your clients are different.

 

• Invent new rules of the game

If you choose and if you're able to implement radically innovative products, services or practices, you can create a breakthrough in the market and be recognized as unique. This was the case of companies like Benetton, IKEA, Apple, Cirque du Soleil... The name of Blue Ocean strategy is sometimes used to name these strategies as it allows these types of companies to "swim in a sea free of bloody competition"