Marshall Place Associates Live More of Your Life

Every start-up business faces the same market realities as the biggest corporate monolith - how to find the right track to the mind of new prospect to build a competitive edge. Knowing what the public is willing to consider, customers are willing to buy and consumers are willing to learn to love is the essence of sound market positioning.
Positioning is simply the way that a company’s product, service or special experience is imprinted into the memory of people who may later decide to make a commitment to select that offer rather than a competitive range. It is an impression that has been created by a combination of advertising and public relations, trial and experience of the offer and the word of mouth recommendation of family and friends.

Your company can get on the right track by working out the ABCDE of successful product development and promotion:
Attributes are the dimensions of your offer that create a market space in the mind of the market – the actual characteristics of the product or service that can be defined and demanded by your customers eg the quality of the pastry shell of a good pizza.
Benefits are the aspects of the experience that are memorable and pleasurable elements of the associations that customers derive from paying for their purchase of the offer, eg the speed and quality of a home delivered hot pizza.
Choices are the options that are available in a market when customers discuss their options for getting on the right track to get the attributes and benefits that they are seeking eg – cooking their own pre-baked pizza and adding their own toppings versus ordering from a shop.
Delivery is the way that the attributes, benefits and choices are combined to deliver satisfaction to the buyer and build a positive memory of the entire consumption experience including issues of location, timeliness, quality received by the consumer at the end of the transaction experience.
Enjoyment is the ultimate component of the sense of value to be gained from getting back on the same track (repeat business( as against switching to a competitive or alternative offer – eg buying a souvlaki or a hamburger instead .
You can only get onto the right track by talking to your customers, doing some market research and getting people to share their experiences with the offer that they have actually tried and hopefully enjoyed. It is vital to get a diverse range of customers to give you a comparative assessment of your offer as against that of a number of direct competitors so that you can create a perceptual map of the market place and find the differences that make the ABCDE differences.
Your marketing strategy is designed to increase the level of product or service differentiation to make your offer more attractive to your prospects and make your competitors less attractive regardless of price, product offerings, location of their facility or quality of their customer relationship management. The difference may be only marginally better, including changes in packaging, presentation or placement in the market but it must make an impression in the mind of the customers including

• differences in quality or design features that stand out
• essential features and benefits of the purchased offer
• add-ons of special experiences linked with the purchase
• price or bonus advantages against competitive offers
• unique selling propositions that meet special needs, wants,
• hopes and expectations of customers on the right track.

It is vital to ensure customers get exactly the ABCDE elements that they are expecting, but also that they can ask for modifications, improvements and add-ons that improve their perception of being able to shape their own path to your door. Ask for feedback and watch facial expressions, complaint reports and any other way of knowing how well you are doing the job of increasing their memory of a great experience. You really want them to become advocates and ambassadors for your offer rather than your competitors.
Your enterprise knows that it has the right position in the market place when it consistently beats competitors in tender competitions, wins new profitable business and builds a competitive edge that keep people coming back to your offer, building store loyalty and brand appreciation. Every member of your team has a part to play, just as every member in a football team has to know their position in relation to their opponents so that the team stays on top of the game

 CONTACT: Dr Colin Benjamin, Marshall Place Associates

Marshall Place Associates offers a range of strategic thinking tools that open up a universe of new possibilities for individuals and organisations committed to applying the processes of innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship.
CONTACT
Dr Jane Shelton
Chief Executive Officer,
Marshall Place Associates
Level 15, 461 Bourke Street
Melbourne 3000
Ph: +61 3 9640 0099
Fx:  +61 3 9640 0009
Email: contact@marshallplace.com.au