Chapter 12 Chapter 10 Deep Differentiation Beyond Positioning

The task of positioning is to communicate the core idea of ​​the company or brand to the target market.Positioning simplifies our view of entities.Differentiation goes beyond positioning and makes entities more personal. Today's society is no longer the era in which early technology, production and real innovation can change consumer needs.Even if there is a real new product on the market, it will be imitated very quickly. Because of this, the growth of the market is no longer fast, and companies must grab consumers from other brands if they want to grow. Because of this, advertising researcher Stephen · Jin suggested that it is best for managers to focus on producing "special" things, so that this product has added value of "specific groups", and the more added value it can meet the needs of consumers.

Taiwan Eslite Bookstore adheres to the spirit of humanities, creativity, art, and life, and is one of the famous large chain bookstores in Taiwan.Since its opening more than ten years ago, Eslite has become an indicator of Taiwan's cultural improvement, and even a cultural attraction in Taiwan. Many Hong Kong people go to Taiwan just to visit Eslite. Eslite Bookstore was founded in March 1989. Eslite Bookstore, which mainly focuses on architecture and art books, has attracted book lovers’ eyes because of its unique positioning and the operator’s dedication to ideas. It soon became popular in the market. Establish a wide reputation on the Internet.

This Taiwanese local brand is completely different from the traditional bookstores in the general impression.The book city with the flavor of a European library, contrary to the dullness and standardization of traditional bookstores, creates an atmosphere full of humanistic and artistic temperament with calm, elegant, and warm colors, so that everyone will unconsciously feel when they enter the Eslite Bookstore. Speak softly and slow down. Eslite defines bookstores as a diverse and dynamic cultural undertaking rather than a retail industry.The bookstore not only sells books, but is a complex organization including bookstores, furniture, galleries, flower shops, porcelain, jewelry, and restaurants.Its creativity in event marketing is beyond the reach of other chain bookstores.In addition to displaying the value of reading with exquisite and elegant reading space planning and elaborate furnishings, various extended reading activities such as speeches, seminars, performances and exhibitions are held for a long time. At least 400 to 500 speeches and exhibitions are held every year, covering literature, Drama, environmental protection, dance and art.

The combination of book types is the operating characteristic of Eslite.Eslite insists on not making best-sellers, but instead recommends some good books that are a bit unpopular. Even books that have been sleeping on the shelf for three months will not be sent to the warehouse. This is the difference between Eslite and traditional bookstores. The place where the writer praises.In fact, under the careful planning of Eslite for this seemingly contrarian operation, some unpopular books are often popular and sell very well. After the business model of Eslite was well received, other chain bookstores followed suit and followed Eslite in terms of decoration, reading space, book selection and classification. Eslite's operating results still surpass others.A cultural person said, "This is where it is powerful."When the bookstore includes not only books, but also the spirit of humanities, creativity, art, and life, it is no longer a place where you just buy books and pay and leave. This is the charm of Eslite.It is foreseeable that Eslite, which has been spreading the fragrance of books for 14 years, will continue to spread the rich reading culture and capture the hearts of the people.

Eslite Bookstore has won the fierce competition through its differentiated operation.Differentiation is the process and result in which producers provide unique benefits to the market and obtain products with competitive advantages. Differentiation can bring benefits to both marketers and consumers.For marketers, differentiation can effectively avoid head-on collisions and competition; it can weaken the power in the hands of buyers because the market lacks comparable choices; , Satisfied customers will generate brand loyalty accordingly. For consumers, the benefits brought by competition to consumers are very obvious. Constant competition leads to better quality products and lower prices.The benefits brought by differentiation to consumers are more obvious, because the needs of consumers are more closely met.Therefore, some marketing experts even believe that deep differentiation can go beyond positioning.

Marketers can amplify customer value by creating or driving contextual customer experiences.Alternatively, marketers can personalize market offerings or services to match the contextual experience of individual customers, deepening customer value. The development and growth of any enterprise needs to achieve its purpose by operating one or more products.However, what kind of products to choose and how to launch products to win the market have always been a key issue in business operations. Many companies choose products in a very stereotyped way. They often choose whatever is popular in the society as their products, and blindly follow the trend.However, if the company chooses inappropriate products, it may miss the golden period of sales, and it may be lost in the ocean of products because of its lack of characteristics, making it difficult to attract consumers' attention.Therefore, what kind of products the company sells does not need to be carefully thought out.

IKEA was founded in Sweden in 1943. For more than 60 years, the Swedish IKEA Group has developed into the world's largest furniture and household products business. Its sales mainly include chairs/sofas, office supplies, bedroom series, kitchen series, lighting series, textiles, Cookware series, house storage series, children's product series and other about 10000 products.The IKEA brand has always been associated with improving people's quality of life and adhering to the business purpose of "providing as many customers as possible with affordable, well-designed, functional, and low-cost household items."

IKEA's business area is very clear: the company sells relatively cheap, modern, Scandinavian-style furniture and home improvement products; the target market of customers is mainly young white-collar workers.Geographically, IKEA operates globally, or at least in all countries where socio-economic conditions and fundamentals support its business concept.IKEA's products are not just the retail of household products, but also maintain its unique product style and high quality through its grasp of product design.The product design process fully takes into account the efficiency of the subsequent manufacturing process.These enable IKEA to accumulate professionalism unmatched by its competitors.IKEA does not manufacture, it relies on a group of suppliers that distribute production in different geographies efficiently and on a long-term basis.

IKEA attracts customers and fends off competitors with some key differentiators.First, its products have reliable quality, and the price is slightly lower (about 20% to 30% lower than the price of similar products).Secondly, unlike the depressive feeling that customers tend to have in traditional furniture stores, IKEA provides customers with an interesting and stress-free shopping experience.Customers are free to wander through the visually pleasing store, and associates will only assist them if they ask for it.Again, the company strives to meet customer needs quickly. IKEA will maintain a certain amount of extra inventory in each branch, so that customers can pick up the goods directly after purchase, or arrange delivery on the same day, while traditional furniture retailers use the display model, and each order has to wait from the time the customer places the order to the delivery. 6-10 weeks.

Through the analysis of the traditional furniture industry, IKEA creates unique IKEA products and services through differentiated marketing methods.Marketing experts also believe that whether an enterprise can choose a product with market competitiveness lies in whether it can tap the value of the product, that is, whether the enterprise can take product features as a key consideration in the process of product development and selection, and whether it can design and refine the product. market characteristics.Undoubtedly, IKEA is a model in this regard. Any business needs to achieve its development goals by providing consumers with the products they need in a timely and effective manner.In today's fierce market competition, the focus of enterprise market competition has shifted from price competition to differentiated competition.In order to get a share of today's market, perhaps every enterprise has to take differentiation as a consideration for the future.

Differentiated products are easier to attract consumers' attention, and only products that can expand customers' interests can truly occupy the market. Faced with a smaller and smaller customer base, companies find that the more they distance themselves from their competitors, the more advantageous they will be.Recognizing this, more and more companies have segmented market differentiation down to the limit—the individual consumer.As a result, more companies began to provide personally customized goods, or personalized services. In 1990, Dell Inc. of the United States officially listed its stock. In less than 10 years, its stock value increased by 30,000 times, and Dell himself became the youngest president among the Fortune 500 companies in the world.In the computer market full of strong players, Dell does not have the long history and wealth of companies such as IBM and Compaq, but it squeezed into the market and became the world's largest PC supplier.What it relies on - is its customized personalized service. Dell is definitely not the only one who can think of customization, but its high cost has discouraged many companies. It is IT and network technology that makes Dell capable of customization.Dell's marketing innovation lies in his integration of new retail methods into high-tech products such as computers.In professional terms, Dell "mass customization" of computer products. Dell produces more than 400 million personal computers each year, each assembled according to the specific requirements of customers.Take Dell's services to its major customer, Ford Motor Company, as an example. Dell has designed various configurations for employees in different departments of Ford.When an order comes in through Ford's intranet, Dell immediately knows what kind of worker is ordering and what kind of computer he needs.Dell assembled the appropriate hardware and even installed the appropriate software, some of which included Ford Motor Company's proprietary passwords stored at Dell.Dell's logistics service software is very comprehensive and advanced, so it can carry out mass customization services at a lower cost. Ford pays extra for this specialized service.But most companies will get their money's worth -- if a company buys a PC from a local reseller, the reseller ships in boxes, and IT-savvy workers take out the machines and configure them.This process takes a professional 4-6 hours and often involves configuration errors. Each microcomputer is made to order, but it only takes 36 hours from calling the 800 number to loading the truck.Orders continued to flow to Dell's three manufacturing plants.However, there is no inventory to be seen at these factories.Dell requires all suppliers to deliver parts within 1 hour.Chips, integrated circuit boards, and drivers are loaded onto trucks that drive directly to unloading bays just 50 feet from the assembly line.There, too, there is no stock of finished goods.This, of course, is also a magic weapon for Dell's success. Dell's direct sales and customization model makes him unique in the high-tech industry.There's a personalization service similar to Dell's, with custom-made Levis jeans for an extra fee and toy company Mattel's custom-made products for little girls who want something personalized, among other things.With the development of society, the market will inevitably develop in a direction that is more operable and can more widely meet the personalized and differentiated needs of consumers. In this context, customized product marketing is all about doing everything for customers, saving time for customers, providing convenience for customers, that is, providing customers with value-for-money services.Some manufacturers can even store customers' personal information, personalized requirements and other information in the database, and provide customers with unimaginable services based on the actual requirements of customers and database information at any time, and provide customers with services that competitors cannot. The differentiated products and services you provide are naturally your greatest competitiveness. In an industry with strong homogeneity, some real or image differentiation is also possible.Products such as durian, eggs and oranges can also be differentiated.Consumers look to XO durians, sengchoon eggs, and Sunkist mandarins, all of which offer a guarantee of quality. As Kotler said, marketers have to believe that you can differentiate any product.In terms of product differentiation, the most classic case we have to learn is Procter & Gamble. Founded in 1837, Procter & Gamble is the largest consumer goods company in the world.Every day, Procter & Gamble's brands have three billion intimate contacts with consumers around the world.Procter & Gamble has many trusted high-quality and leading brands, including Pampers, Crest, Tide, Ariel, Safeguard, Rejoice, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Wella, Olay, Gillette, Braun, etc. Procter & Gamble has many brands, but the classification is clear.Procter & Gamble adopts a rational appeal for commodity functions, and divides its products into: shampoo and hair care products. P&G owns Rejoice, Pantene, Head & Shoulders, Sassoon, Runyan and the Clairol series acquired from Bristol-Myers Squibb in 2001.Personal cleaning products also have three different brands: Safeguard, Olay and Zest. Each brand of Procter & Gamble independently calculates expenses, encourages competition between brands, and also implements brand management in management, adopting "one brand, one brand management".Carry out different brand positioning for each product, so as to form the brand personality of the product itself. Taking shampoo products as an example, the foothold of P&G brands when looking for product differentiation is the hair quality itself, such as gender differences, hair quality differences, and scalp types.Since hair washing and hair care is a basic function of hair washing products, the extension of product functions is also to improve the quality of hair.Rejoice’s 2-in-1 product is clearly positioned for urbanites with busy lives, and the spiritual care embodied by suppleness is displayed on the hair; Head & Shoulders is a product developed by Procter & Gamble for discovering that some consumers have dandruff on their hair ;Pantene emphasizes the repairing function and pays attention to the nutrition and health care of hair; Sassoon's hair salon-level styling has a monopoly as a demonstration; Clairol's petty bourgeoisie positioning and herbal essence function description are powerful.These practical and visible effects make consumers trust these products, which can also be called the embodiment of Procter & Gamble's humanistic and subtle care. Procter & Gamble's product differentiation is a typical differentiation formed by different product functions and cultures.In differentiated marketing, the concept of product differentiation is relatively large, but its essential meaning is a means of competition or product positioning relative to homogeneity or cost advantages.The main function is to achieve consumer group differences through product differences.The specific performance is: Differentiated price positioning: Generally speaking, the positioning of high, medium and low-end products is different. For example, ordinary chopsticks, disposable chopsticks and ivory chopsticks have different grades, and consumer groups can be clearly divided. Technical differentiation: The increase in technical content will increase the quality of products virtually.For example, some induction cookers use a double-circle heating route to achieve uniform heating, while other induction cookers use single-circle heating, which results in uneven heating. Functional differentiation: On the premise of not changing the basic use value of the product's function, it attracts consumers through different extensions or additional functions.Procter & Gamble mentioned above is a typical example. Cultural differentiation: In many cases, what buyers buy is not only a commodity, but also a kind of relief or yearning for the plot, which is the cultural connotation of the commodity.The advantage of adopting culture is also the characteristic of goods.For example, the snacks in Shanghai Town God's Temple are also snacks, but the cultural orientations of the sales targets are different, and Tang suits are also selling a kind of culture. Differentiation of appearance: Appearance is an extension of the connotation of a product, and it is also a perceptual image displayed to people. Just like meeting strangers, whether "love at first sight" will arise from this is the decisive factor.For example, MP3 has developed into a personal bright card, a symbol of identity, and even a spiritual experience, pouring more emotional elements into it. Therefore, the differentiation of appearance design has become a trump card for winning. hair by the manufacturer's attention. When physical products are difficult to differentiate, the key to competitive success depends on the proliferation of services and the cleanliness of quality.Service differentiation is mainly reflected in ordering, delivery, installation, customer training, customer consultation and maintenance. With the development of society, the living standard is continuously improved.The purpose of people's shopping is not only to obtain the use value of commodities, customers' requirements are more diverse and higher, especially the requirements for services are getting higher and higher.Therefore, the differentiated marketing of services has become the guarantee for more and more enterprises to obtain competitiveness. Ernest Henderson founded the Sheraton Hotel Company in 1937. By 1989, the total number of hotels of the Sheraton Hotel Company had reached 540, with more than 154,000 guest rooms, covering 72 countries around the world. It is the largest international hotel in the world. One of the hotel companies. Henderson, who was seriously engaged in the hotel industry at the age of 44, did not have many innovations in hotel marketing management techniques, but the Sheraton Six Commandments he formulated for the effective marketing management of Sheraton Hotel Company are very meaningful. The first commandment is not to abuse power and demand special treatment, which is the restraint of managers.Mr. Henderson said that every time he went to a Sheraton hotel, the manager there always arranged the best room for him and sent a basket of fresh fruit like a VIP. The second commandment is not to accept gifts from those who please you. The gifts you receive must be sent to a deputy manager who is in charge of gifts. The hotel will regularly organize auctions of these gifts, and the proceeds will go to the employee welfare fund.This restriction can effectively prevent someone from using the property of the hotel as a favor in the transaction because of personal benefits from gifts.For example, the manager responsible for food purchases, in order to return the benefits of a few dollars to the gift merchant, will often increase the price of food purchases and increase the restaurant's expenditure by hundreds of thousands of dollars. The third commandment is not to ask your manager to intervene in the decoration of the Sheraton Hotel, but to follow the professional decorator Mary Kennedy.This constraint lies in the emphasis on expert management.Mary was hired by the Sheraton Hotel as the chief host of hotel decoration. Mr. Henderson stipulated that the hotel managers could not modify Mary's decoration plan without authorization. The fourth commandment is not to violate the confirmed room reservation.Overbooking is a way for hotel managers to prevent losses caused by some of the bookers not staying as scheduled.If all the bookers arrive at the hotel, overbooking will result in the situation that no room is available for the already booked guests.Once this happens, Sheraton will give the guest a gift certificate that can be used in any Sheraton hotel, and send the guest to live in another hotel, and the fare will be borne by Sheraton. The fifth commandment is to make a deal, not to ask for the last drop of blood.According to Mr. Henderson, the dispute over a few dollars in the business negotiation seemed to be a big deal at the time, but it was of little practical significance. The sixth commandment is that cold tea should not be served on the table.This is to follow the quality requirements of the service.If you want hot dishes to be hot, serve them on hot plates; if you want cold dishes to be cold, serve them on cold plates.Poor quality will directly affect the reputation of the restaurant. Mr. Statler's marketing motto is: the customer is always right.In the "Statler Service Code", which is a handbook for Statler Hotel employees, he wrote: "A good restaurant, its duty is to satisfy customers more than any other restaurant in the world. Restaurant service , refers to the level of respectful, effective happiness an employee expresses to a guest. No employee must argue with a guest on any issue, he must immediately try to satisfy the guest, or ask his superiors to do it. " With the increasing homogeneity of products, service differentiation has become an increasingly important competitive factor.Looking at the large multinational companies in various industries around the world, almost all successful companies are companies that rely on caring and professional services as their important competitiveness. Every service will be distinguished from other products by a set of characteristics, some of which may be material or perceived.In any case, enterprises must admit and accept the existing image and views of service products in customers' minds. If they try to deny or challenge customers' existing understanding, it will definitely result in failure. Therefore, the quality of service must attract the attention of enterprises. Companies can gain a strong competitive advantage by hiring and training better employees than their competitors. Well-trained excellent marketing personnel can fully demonstrate and enhance the brand's competitive advantage while selling products.For example, the modesty and courtesy of McDonald's employees, the prudence of Procter & Gamble employees, the enthusiasm of Disneyland employees, and the high-quality staff of Robust bottled water. The brand image and service level make the differentiated competitive strategy of comprehensively improving the comprehensive value of products and customer satisfaction have strong personnel and organizational guarantees. On June 16, 1996, the American Society for Excellence in Service Technology awarded Haier Group and its president Zhang Ruimin the highest awards in the world's service field - "Five-Star Diamond Award" and "Five-Star Diamond Personal Lifetime Honor Award" in recognition of their after-sales service outstanding contributions in the field. Xie Jingchang, head of Haier's corporate culture center, once introduced Haier's differentiated personnel services in detail: "Haier's products are sold at a higher price than other manufacturers' products. The high price is due to the high added value provided by Haier. Our unconventional strategy, first, is different from other products in terms of performance and quality. The second is in the product In terms of service, we implement personalized and differentiated services, which are not available in other manufacturers. "In 1984, when Haier refrigerators were first launched, they established an after-sales service center. At that time, home appliances were in short supply, but no home appliance manufacturer had a sense of service. Door-to-door service was still a strange concept at that time. At this time, Haier selected high-quality The taller lads provide after-sales service and have a very strict system in place. "One of the regulations is to go to the user's home for service and not to drink the water from the user's home. This regulation was formulated in 1984, and Haier has adhered to it until now. This is the only company in the country that can do it. Our young man goes to the user's home Service, no matter how hot the weather is, they bring their own mineral water. Many users wrote letters, saying that they would go to the user's home for service on a hot day, and the service was very good. The young man was sweating profusely. We gave some water, and they all Don’t drink. What’s the point of drinking some water? It’s human nature. But Zhang Ruimin has always insisted on this system.” Haier's customers are moved by Haier's high-quality and efficient services to experience the essence of the differentiation of Haier's service personnel.A user in Keyouzhong Banner, Inner Mongolia sent an urgent telegram to Haier for urgent help because the Haier refrigerator was burned out.However, the user forgot to write down his name and detailed address in his desperation. Haier service center quickly found out the user's personal information with a complete computer network system, and sent a special car to Inner Mongolia.In order to save time, the service personnel crossed the muddy grassland that locals dare not set foot in, and arrived at the user's home in only 4 days.When the user saw the muddy and exhausted service staff, he held the hands of the Haier people tightly for a long time, and tears welled up in his eyes.On the day when the Haier service staff returned, more than 100 people from the village of Zhongqi personally dispatched and sent them off one way after another... As a hospitable nation, the Mongolian compatriots have seen the same enthusiasm and sincerity of the Haier people.A company that impresses customers naturally has no worries about not having good market returns. This is what Haier's differentiated personnel account for.Like the beautiful and elegant stewardesses, Wal-Mart employees who serve with a smile, and IBM employees with first-class technical expertise, Haier creates its unique brand image through the differentiation of its employees. So, what kind of employees can provide us with differentiated competitiveness?According to marketing experts, a well-trained employee should embody the following six characteristics: Competent.Employees have the necessary skills and knowledge. Humility.The staff is warm, friendly, respectful and considerate towards customers. city.The staff are honest and trustworthy. reliable.Employees deliver service consistently and accurately from start to finish. Responsible.Staff respond quickly to customer requests and questions. communicate.Employees strive to understand customers and communicate relevant information clearly to customers. Buyers respond inconsistently to the image of companies and brands.The only thing that can explain the extraordinary world market share of Marlboro cigarettes (approximately 30%) is the image of the "Marlboro Cowboy" and its strong reaction from the majority of the smoking public. Corporate image is irreproducible and exclusive. Its formation is the formation of qualitative thinking on corporate views inside and outside the company, and it is difficult to be transformed by external ideas.At the same time, the process of forming a corporate image cannot be accomplished overnight and requires long-term accumulation. Therefore, giving a distinct and prominent positioning of the corporate image is the best choice for the company to implement a differentiation strategy and form a competitive advantage. In 2001, Xtep began to shift its corporate resources from overseas markets to the domestic market after full analysis and demonstration.In fact, the competition in the domestic market at this time is already very fierce. High-end brands include international brands such as Adidas, Nike, and Reebok. Among them, there are mass brands such as Li-Ning and Anta. regional brand.In order to survive and develop, Xtep has chosen a differentiated way of survival. The differentiation of Xtep has changed the exclusive attributes and cold brand image of sports products.Xtep's products have bold breakthroughs in color and design, and launch their own themed concept products every year and every season.Such as: Fenghuo, Leng-Blooded Pride, Blade, Holy Fire, Pioneer, 04 are fun, each style is individual and fashionable. Among them, the first generation of Fenghuo shoes has created a miracle of sales of 1.2 million pairs of single shoes in China, and has developed to the fifth generation. Xtep is the first sporting goods brand in China to use entertainment marketing. In 2001, Xtep signed a contract with Nicholas Tse, an artist under the Emperor, at a price of RMB 4.5 million per year to become the Xtep brand spokesperson and image ambassador.Nicholas Tse has extraordinary appeal among the younger generation and is the core leader of "Generation X". His rebellion, personality and fashion embody Xtep's brand characteristics.At the same time, in terms of in-depth cooperation with the spokesperson, Xtep has also set up a special task force to cooperate closely with Emperor. Every time Nicholas Tse goes to the mainland for media meetings, there will be Xtep signings.Over the past few years, massive promotional activities have been carried out in more than 20 major cities across the country, making Xtep's brand image deeply recognized by Xtep's target consumer groups. A very important principle of market positioning is differentiated positioning, that is, enterprises should position themselves according to their own advantages.The difference between Xtep's products and other sports brands is that it is no longer a cold sports product, it is more humanized and entertaining.Xtep has established its young and energetic product image by using Nicholas Tse and other film and television stars who have appeal among young people as spokespersons. Marketing experts believe that an effective image needs to have the following three points: First, establish the characteristics and value of a product.Second, communicate this characteristic in a distinctive way that differentiates it from its competitors.Third, produce some kind of contagion, thus mobilizing the inner feelings of customers. Xtep has successfully done the above points in terms of marketing differentiation, thus establishing a unique brand image, making consumers have a preference for the company's products, and once they need it, they will choose to produce the products of this company without hesitation . A good brand image, accompanied by excellent product quality, will naturally create a sincere and credible image for consumers.If the company's products serve customers with internal quality, then the company's image differentiation strategy is to use its own external image to please consumers, forming its own unique characteristics, and reflecting the marketer's brand from one side. wisdom.