Who are you to your customers in the market?
Who are you to your market partners?
Who are you to your competition?
Why is this your identity?
7 Up was the Uncola when it competed against Coke and Pepsi to, at one time, become the third largest selling soft drink.
Why? Because it’s too difficult and too expensive for a market newcomer to go head-to-head with market leaders. 7 Up also fundamentally knew who their customers were, identified with them and talked to them in their language and worldview.
Starbucks is franchised premium coffee. To stay true to its positioning, Starbucks gives a certain level of customer experience. Its price points are true to its positioning. Starbucks coffee is not a cheap cup of coffee, but Starbucks does not succumb to those that wrinkle their noses or gasp at paying 4 bucks for a cup of coffee. No, Starbucks continues to talk to and provide great experiences for the coffee drinker that wants a certain type of coffee and values a certain level of customer experience. That customer will happily pay a higher price point for all of this because they feel it’s worth it.
Why? Because Starbucks figured out how to do better than what existed in the industry. And Starbucks has a deep, fundamental understanding of its customers. Because it has planted a stake in the sand and said, “this is who we are and this is who we are for,” and because Starbucks has had extreme focus to deliver on this positioning.
- The stake you plant in the sand…who you say you are…and why you are the best choice for certain customers drives everything you say in Sales & Marketing.
- It drives all decisions on Sales & Marketing tactics.
- It drives everything that makes up the customer experience.
- It drives how you compete in the market.
It makes you extremely competitive.
This is part of real market strategy. Not tactical strategy…not advertising & promotional strategy…real, big-picture market strategy.
It’s a lot of decisions. It’s not the sexy part of Sales & Marketing…but it’s the part that makes the sexy stuff actually work.
Get it figured out. Get it to your team. Apply it…every day. Keep refining it, mold it and shape it. Make adjustments. Keep going, but pay attention to it.
Don’t. Lose. Focus.
This is applied market strategy. This is what we do.
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