1. Marketing Strategy Achieving A Competitive Advantage

2. Marketing Strategies must… • be geared to the needs of the consumer • be geared to the strategies of the competitors • reflect the business size and industry position • begin with an in-depth competitor analysis

3. comparison of “value” assessment of level of “customer satisfaction” monitoring of competitors (WHO) understanding competitor strategies/objectives identifying strength/weaknesses guess at competitive “response” to business decisions Competitor Analysis includes...

4. Marketing Strategy vs Industry Position • Market Leader - dominate market and set pace • Market Challengers - aggressively but strategically attack and/or follow • Market Followers - follow the lead of competitors to ensure market stability • Market-nicher - specialize in overlooked areas or ignored by competitors

5. Competitive Strategy and the Marketing Mix • Marketing Mix - controlled use of Price, Product, Promotion and Place to meet the needs of the target market • Remember: Price is related to the buyer’s perception of VALUE!

6. Market Positioning • A product’s position is the way the product is defined by the consumer on attributes important to them • your product vs the competing ones

7. A product’s position combines... perceptions, impressions and feelings which can be influenced by the marketing mix

8. Positioning Strategies • Product attributes - price, performance • Need fulfillment or benefit • Directly against competitor • Away from competitor

9. Three Steps In Positioning ... • Identify possible competitive advantages • select the correct one(s) • communicate and deliver

10. Competitive Advantage • Offering the consumer greater “Value” than the competition based on the consumer’s needs and buying criteria

11. Creating The Difference... • Product Differentiation can include quality, features, performance, style and design, consistency, durability, reliability, repairability

12. Creating the Difference.. • Service Differentiation can include speed, convenience, delivery, installation and repair, customer training and consultant/sales support

13. Creating The Difference... • Personnel Differentiation comes from careful selection of customer-contact people and consistent training

14. Creating The Difference... • Image Differentiation is a product of everything the company does from sponsoring events to logo design, colour and celebrity choice

15. Important to the target buyer’s perception of value/benefit Distinctive from the competition Superior customer benefit over competition Easily communicated Not easily copied Affordable to buyer Can be introduced profitably Select The Difference…

16. Remember:To be successful, the company must do a better job than its competitors of satisfying target consumers.