18 - Competitive Advantage Flashcards
competitive advantage
advantage gained by offering consumers superior value
two main steps in competitive marketing
competitor analysis
developing a competitive marketing strategy
competitor analysis
- identifying competitors
- assessing their: objectives, strategies, strengths + weaknesses and reaction patterns
- selecting which to attack and which to avoid
what must companies avoid when analysing competitors
“competitor myopia”
- a company is more likely to be “buried” by its latent competitors than its current ones
main ways of identifying competitors
industry point of view - selling similar product/service
market point of view - trying to satisfy same need or same group
importance of assessing competitors objectives
reveals competitor’s:
- satisfaction w/ its current situation
- how it might react to different competitive actions
- objectives: profitability, market share growth, cash flow, technological leadership, service leadership…
importance of assessing competitors strategies
places firm’s into strategic groups
- members of the groups became its key competitors
powerful tool for increasing competitiveness
benchmarking
comparing the company’s products/processes to competitors or leading firms to identify best practices + ways to improve quality and performance
customer value analysis
analysis conducted to determine what benefits target customers value and how they rate the value of various competitors’ offers
steps in a competitive intelligence system
identifies competitive information needed + best sources for this info
collects information from field + published data
checks the information for validity + reliability
interprets it
organizes it
sends relevant information to decision makers + responds to inquiries from managers about competitors
three stages of approaches to marketing strategy
entrepreneurial marketing - seeing an opportunity and creating + implementing flexible strategies
formulated marketing - developing formal marketing strategies and following them closely
intrapreneurial marketing - attempt to reestablish entrepreneurial spirit and refresh marketing strategies and approaches
Michael Porter’s four basic competitive positioning strategies
overall cost leadership
differentiation
focus - market segment
middle of the road - w/out clear strategy
- three winning strategies and one losing one
three value disciplines
strategies for delivering superior customer value
- operational excellence
- customer intimacy
- product leadership
operational excellence
provides superior value by leading in price + convenience
- works to reduce costs and create an efficient value delivery network
customer intimacy
provides superior value by segmenting its markets and tailoring its products/services to match the needs of targeted customers
