Entrepreneurial marketing
Summary
Module 1-X
Timo Verkade
,Module 1
- Positioning
- Upstream & downstream activities
- Refining your offering and positioning
Reading
Positioning Myopia: Many use the word, positioning, but few seem to see it clearly
Positioning = how you differentiate yourself in the mind of your prospects & is a body of work on
how the mind works in the communication process.
5 most important elements in the positioning process
Minds are limited
The mind does not accept what you put into it. It rejects new info which do not match prior
knowledge or experience. It doesn’t have much either.
You must be aware what is already in the mind of the customer about you and your competition.
Minds hate confusion
Learning is the way we acquire new information, which we retain with memory. Keep it simple in
order to be retained in the memory. Simplify. Complicated info doesn’t help anyone.
Minds are insecure
Minds tend to be emotional, not rational. Nobody knows why they have made a purchase accurately.
People don’t know what they want. They buy what they think they should have.
Minds don’t change
We are more impressed by what we already know/buy than by what’s “new”. What are we familiar
and comfortable with? In order to change attitude, it is necessary to modify the information on which
the attitude rests (= changing a person’s beliefs, eliminate old beliefs and introduce new one’s).
Minds can lose focus
You need to be careful with extending your brands image because it can weaken your brand.
As a brand, be clearly perceived by your customer. They need to have a clear picture of what you’re
all about.
The well-focused specialist is usually the winner. It can focus on 1 product, 1 benefit and 1 message.
This sharp pointed message quickly drives it into the mind. Another great weapon is the ability to be
perceived as the expert or best. As a last weapon, the specialist can become the generic for the
category.
,When marketing is strategy
It is not about “what else can we make”, but “what else can we do for our customer?”. The center of
gravity for most companies has tilted downstream.
Upstream activities = sourcing, production, logistics.
Downstream activities = reducing customers’ costs and risk/delivering a product for specific
consumption circumstances.
Rethink of long-standing pillars of strategy
1. Sources and locus of competitive advantage now lie outside the firm and advantage is
accumulative.
2. The way of competing changes over time. It now is about the needs and your position
relative to their purchase criteria.
3. Pace and evolution of markets are now driven by customers’ shifting purchase criteria (rather
than by improvements in products or technology).
Q: Must competitive advantage be internal to the firm?
A: You can tell which activities of a firm they consider a competitive advantage by how well protected
they are. Downstream advantage in contrast resides outside the company (external linkages with
customers, channel partners, etc. These linkages create stickiness (unwillingness to switch).
Q: Must you listen to your customers?
A: Yes, the voice of the customer reigns, but more are finding success by defining what customers are
looking for and shaping their criteria of purchase. Influence how consumers perceive the relative
importance of various purchase criteria and to introduce new, favorable criteria.
Q: Must competitive advantage erode over time?
A: For downstream competing companies, it is accumulative.
Q: Can you choose your competitors?
A: Some decisions can be determined: How you position your offering in the mind of the customer,
how you place yourself vis-à-vis your competitive set within the distribution channel and your
pricing. Differentiate in packaging and marketing.
Q: Does innovation always mean better products or technology
A: No, it is important, but depends on what customer base you are serving.
Q: Where else does innovation reside?
A: You can also innovate in selling better (in bad economies), and in a lot of other areas.
, Q: Is the pace of innovation set in the R&D lab?
A: You don’t need to match every innovation, but you have to go with those that attempt to wrest
control of the customers’ criteria of purchase. High failure rates for new products suggest that
companies are continuing to invest heavily in product innovation but are unable to move customers’
purchase criteria.
Summary
Module 1-X
Timo Verkade
,Module 1
- Positioning
- Upstream & downstream activities
- Refining your offering and positioning
Reading
Positioning Myopia: Many use the word, positioning, but few seem to see it clearly
Positioning = how you differentiate yourself in the mind of your prospects & is a body of work on
how the mind works in the communication process.
5 most important elements in the positioning process
Minds are limited
The mind does not accept what you put into it. It rejects new info which do not match prior
knowledge or experience. It doesn’t have much either.
You must be aware what is already in the mind of the customer about you and your competition.
Minds hate confusion
Learning is the way we acquire new information, which we retain with memory. Keep it simple in
order to be retained in the memory. Simplify. Complicated info doesn’t help anyone.
Minds are insecure
Minds tend to be emotional, not rational. Nobody knows why they have made a purchase accurately.
People don’t know what they want. They buy what they think they should have.
Minds don’t change
We are more impressed by what we already know/buy than by what’s “new”. What are we familiar
and comfortable with? In order to change attitude, it is necessary to modify the information on which
the attitude rests (= changing a person’s beliefs, eliminate old beliefs and introduce new one’s).
Minds can lose focus
You need to be careful with extending your brands image because it can weaken your brand.
As a brand, be clearly perceived by your customer. They need to have a clear picture of what you’re
all about.
The well-focused specialist is usually the winner. It can focus on 1 product, 1 benefit and 1 message.
This sharp pointed message quickly drives it into the mind. Another great weapon is the ability to be
perceived as the expert or best. As a last weapon, the specialist can become the generic for the
category.
,When marketing is strategy
It is not about “what else can we make”, but “what else can we do for our customer?”. The center of
gravity for most companies has tilted downstream.
Upstream activities = sourcing, production, logistics.
Downstream activities = reducing customers’ costs and risk/delivering a product for specific
consumption circumstances.
Rethink of long-standing pillars of strategy
1. Sources and locus of competitive advantage now lie outside the firm and advantage is
accumulative.
2. The way of competing changes over time. It now is about the needs and your position
relative to their purchase criteria.
3. Pace and evolution of markets are now driven by customers’ shifting purchase criteria (rather
than by improvements in products or technology).
Q: Must competitive advantage be internal to the firm?
A: You can tell which activities of a firm they consider a competitive advantage by how well protected
they are. Downstream advantage in contrast resides outside the company (external linkages with
customers, channel partners, etc. These linkages create stickiness (unwillingness to switch).
Q: Must you listen to your customers?
A: Yes, the voice of the customer reigns, but more are finding success by defining what customers are
looking for and shaping their criteria of purchase. Influence how consumers perceive the relative
importance of various purchase criteria and to introduce new, favorable criteria.
Q: Must competitive advantage erode over time?
A: For downstream competing companies, it is accumulative.
Q: Can you choose your competitors?
A: Some decisions can be determined: How you position your offering in the mind of the customer,
how you place yourself vis-à-vis your competitive set within the distribution channel and your
pricing. Differentiate in packaging and marketing.
Q: Does innovation always mean better products or technology
A: No, it is important, but depends on what customer base you are serving.
Q: Where else does innovation reside?
A: You can also innovate in selling better (in bad economies), and in a lot of other areas.
, Q: Is the pace of innovation set in the R&D lab?
A: You don’t need to match every innovation, but you have to go with those that attempt to wrest
control of the customers’ criteria of purchase. High failure rates for new products suggest that
companies are continuing to invest heavily in product innovation but are unable to move customers’
purchase criteria.
