Differentiate. How to properly market your product
It is no secret that today the competition between manufacturers does not benefit from the quality of the products. The development of technology has led to an almost identical quality and functionality of most products.
So whereby if someone – just one of hundreds of manufacturers, and the other – the brand with the philosophy, mission and, most importantly, in love with the product and the customers?
The most important role in this is played by a clear definition of its product, an understanding of its difference from others in the market and the ability to voice it. That is, the ability to answer the questions “what is my product?” And “why should someone choose from dozens of similar products is mine?”
The answers to these questions are incorporated in the marketing concept of the “unique trade proposal” – USP. A unique trading offer is the difference between your product and everyone else on the market, it is a proposal of a specific benefit from the product for your consumer.
USP is transformed into positioning, slogans, messages, etc. It is on its basis that further communication is developed.
Ideally, the USP should be the reason for creating a business or determined at the stage of developing a business idea and strategy. However, if it happened otherwise – it does not matter. Even if your business is selling a soda water canteen, you can (and should) formulate positioning: determine what you are different from all the others in the eyes of consumers, what a special customer will get from buying your product.
Positioning can be formulated both because of the objective advantages of the product / service, and based on the emotional component.
There are 4 strategies for positioning:
The first is based on the product itself, its advantages, advantages, attributes.
A vivid example – Volvo cars, which “staked out” for themselves the positioning of security. Many other brands today are not inferior to Volvo in terms of safety performance and talk about it in some campaigns for individual models. Nevertheless, to conduct global communication, based on this characteristic, can no longer. Because Volvo was the first to position its brand and every product. This example also illustrates the fact that in communications on such a strategy it is important to be not so much better than the first who said the characteristic.
The second strategy “hits” according to the needs, ambitions, and dreams of the target audience or its individual segments.
How can I not remember the famous phrase “buyers do not need drills, but holes in the wall”?
However, in addition to utilitarian functions, most goods on the market also have an emotional component.
It is on this principle that universal products eventually began to breed on the “male” and “female” lines, for example, cosmetics and shampoos for men, cars for ladies appeared. Recently in one German supermarket chain, even sausages appeared for men and women. Men – a larger size, women – more expensive. The basis of such gender “dilutions” is the need for men and women to emphasize and “feed” their masculinity or femininity, especially in the context of the spread of emancipation and sometimes an absurd struggle for gender equality.
Another example of such a strategy is the orientation toward people belonging to a certain community. Here the game is tied to the social needs for self-identification and, at the same time, the desire to feel its exclusivity. A person strives to belong to a certain narrow circle of people, to own specific slang, to use products developed specifically for this community, and this is different from everyone else. A computer especially for designers, cosmetics and accessories for professional make-up artists, cups with the sign of the zodiac, clothes and non-automotive accessories with the logo of certain brands of cars are all examples of such a strategy. This also includes “I (heart) NY” t-shirts, which initially tourists proudly demonstrated their exclusivity – a trip to distant America, and belonging to the narrow circle of people who also visited New York.
If you decided to position yourself on such a strategy, you should not just know your target audience, but understand its conscious and unconscious desires.
The third strategy is to compare your product with an abstract competitor product and focus on your advantages. A textbook example of such a strategy is the successful positioning and communication of the American automobile company with the slogan: “Hertz – we are the second on the market, therefore we are trying harder.”
Our market also offered many examples of this strategy. We wash one T-shirt with Tide powder, the second one with some ordinary one, and compare the results. We will wash one mountain of dishes by the usual means, the second – Fairy. In the village of Vilariba, the dishes are still being washed, and the people from Vilabaji have already washed everything and are walking again. Contrast and visibility are effective tools. If you have the same strong insight as Hertz, or a revolutionary product that will leave all the competitors far behind, this strategy is winning. However, it is worth remembering that it is wiped to holes, so without originality and creativity cannot do.
Well, the fourth strategy is the offer of the product at a price lower than that of competitors.
This strategy is rather complicated and controversial. An example is the famous Timberland footwear manufacturer. The company produced high-quality footwear and sold at a very affordable price, cheaper than its competitors sell. Nevertheless, sales were falling. Therefore, that the company was on the verge of bankruptcy. It was decided to significantly increase prices, become more expensive than competitors did. In addition, the result surpassed expectations – the company came out of the peak and began a rapid growth. That is because, in the perception of most buyers, a high price is an indicator of high quality, and cheapness has become synonymous with low quality. In addition, footwear has an image component that does not allow buying cheaper than a certain sum. There are many commodity groups where the low price even against a decent quality plays against the manufacturer precisely because of this image installation.
But if your product does not carry such an emotional component, its quality can be seen with the naked eye, then the definition of the lowest price in the market as USP and the corresponding positioning may well become the basis for successful communication.
In conclusion: probably, many people have a question about whether there should be USP, positioning and “detuning” from competitors? Answer: No, it is not necessary. Only on the condition that you do not have competitors in the market. Now, for example, many experts are smiling at the slogan of Soviet advertising “Fly by Aeroflot Aircraft!” It was at a time when there were no other airlines.