Posts Tagged ‘positioning’

Conducting a Competitive Analysis

Thursday, June 4th, 2020

Competitors are a fact of life for businesses of all types and sizes. Even if you think you have no competition (and some companies do think this), you do! We like to define competition, broadly, as “any available alternative to what you have to offer.” For instance, I worked in the healthcare industry for a number of years, leading the organization’s marketing efforts. We had direct competitors (other hospitals and clinics) serving the same market we served. We also had indirect competitors—Google search for instance. How often have you gone online to find information about some medical issue rather than make an appointment to see the doctor?

The point is, we all have competition. (more…)

What Beer Companies Can Teach Us About the Dangers of Publicly Attacking Competitors

Tuesday, May 28th, 2019

The growth strategyand corresponding marketing strategyof a company has a lot to do with the nature of its industry. When a new market is developed or discovered, we say there is a blue oceanan unmet demand in a market that isn’t served or is vastly underserved. Market share and sales can be increased by simply letting consumers know that a product or service exists and convincing them that they want the product. By contrast, in a red ocean, the market and the major players are already established, and the market is saturated. The only way to increase market share is to take market share from a competitor. That can be exceedingly difficult to do. (more…)

Yes! You DO Have Competitors!

Tuesday, May 6th, 2014

Every once in a while, we work with a client who believes that they do not have any competition–they are unique or their product is so exceptional that there is just nothing that competes. Those client conversations are always just a little bit awkward because, in reality, every organization of any size has competition of one form or another. Even an organization that is introducing a truly unique and innovative new product will deal with “indirect competition” (literally, “any other alternative” to what they have to offer). Acknowledging competition can be tough, but it’s a critical step in determining how to best “position” and sell what it is that you have to offer.

One way to think about this is to ask yourself the question: (more…)

STP: A Useful Marketing Acronym

Thursday, October 17th, 2013

One of the marketing concepts that I find many people struggle with–even marketing professionals–is defining a target audience. Seems pretty simple but, in fact, most people tend to cast a very wide net when determining who to target their marketing messages to. Much of this is because, I’m sure, we all have a tendency to believe that our product or service could appeal to a large segment of the market. So we attempt to reach the masses and, as a result, fail to effectively position our product or service within the minds of an audience that is most likely to respond. (more…)

Want to Excel at Generating Response From Your Market? Focus!

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Client question: “What’s the best way to communicate with the under-35 market?”

It’s a legitimate question and certainly marketers need to think carefully about how they will communicate with their market, recognizing that markets are different. The only problem with this question (and it’s one that most marketers ask in one form or another) is that it doesn’t go far enough to identify a specific market focus. The group of individuals who are under 35 is a very, very broad group, after all. What is the likelihood that there would be a single, “best” communication strategy for them?

When it comes to targeting marketing messages, the advice I offer, regardless of what you are attempting to sell or what response you are attempting to attain, is to (more…)