| Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 211
Chapter 7 | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 211
So, for more than a year, Staples worked to revamp the customer experience. It remod- eled its stores, streamlined its inventory, retrained employees, and even simplified cus- tomer communications. Only when all of the customer-experience pieces were in place did Staples begin communicating its new positioning to customers. The “Staples: That was easy” repositioning campaign has met with striking success, helping to make Staples the runaway leader in office retail. No doubt about it, clever marketing helped. But marketing promises count for little if they are not backed by the reality of the customer experience.
To find points of differentiation, marketers must think through the customer’s entire expe- rience with the company’s product or service. An alert company can find ways to differentiate itself at every customer contact point. In what specific ways can a company differentiate itself or its market offer? It can differentiate along the lines of product, services, channels, people, or image.
Through product differentiation, brands can be differentiated on features, performance, or style and design. Thus, Bose positions its speakers on their striking design and sound char- acteristics. By gaining the approval of the American Heart Association as an approach to a healthy lifestyle, Subway differentiates itself as the healthy fast-food choice. And Seventh Generation, a maker of household cleaning and laundry supplies, paper products, diapers and wipes, differentiates itself not so much by how its products perform but by the fact that its products are greener. Seventh Generation products are “protecting planet home.”
Beyond differentiating its physical product, a firm can also differentiate the services that accompany the product. Some companies gain services differentiation through speedy, convenient, or careful delivery. For example, First Convenience Bank of Texas offers “Real Hours for Real People”; it is open seven days a week, including evenings. Others differen- tiate their service based on high-quality customer care. In an age where customer satisfac- tion with airline service is in constant decline, Singapore Airlines sets itself apart through extraordinary customer care and the grace of its flight attendants. “Everyone expects excel- lence from us,” says the international airline. “[So even] in the smallest details of flight, we rise to each occasion and deliver the Singapore Airlines experience.” 26
Firms that practice channel differentiation gain competitive advantage through the way they design their channel’s coverage, expertise, and performance. Amazon.com and GEICO set themselves apart with their smooth-functioning direct channels. Companies can also gain a strong competitive advantage through people differentiation—hiring and training bet- ter people than their competitors do. Disney World people are known to be friendly and up- beat. People differentiation requires that a company select its customer-contact people carefully and train them well. For example, Disney trains its theme park people thoroughly to ensure that they are competent, courteous, and friendly—from the hotel check-in agents, to the monorail drivers, to the ride attendants, to the people who sweep Main Street USA. Each employee is carefully trained to understand customers and to “make people happy.”
Even when competing offers look the same, buyers may perceive a difference based on company or brand image differentiation. A company or brand image should convey a prod- uct’s distinctive benefits and positioning. Developing a strong and distinctive image calls for creativity and hard work. A company cannot develop an image in the public’s mind overnight by using only a few ads. If The Ritz-Carlton means quality, this image must be supported by everything the company says and does.
Symbols, such as the McDonald’s golden arches, the red Travelers umbrella, the Nike swoosh, or Apple’s “bite mark” logo, can provide strong company or brand recognition and image differentiation. The company might build a brand around a famous person, as Nike did with its Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James basketball shoe and apparel col- lections. Some companies even become associated with colors, such as Coca-Cola (red), IBM (blue), or UPS (brown). The chosen symbols, characters, and other image elements must be communicated through advertising that conveys the company’s or brand’s personality.
Parts
» | Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value 3
» | Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value 11
» | Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value 13
» | Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value 25
» | Marketing: Creating and Capturing Customer Value 29
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 37
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 41
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 43
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 51
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 55
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 57
» | Company and Marketing Strategy: Partnering to Build Customer Relationships 63
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 65
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 71
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 73
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 77
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 79
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 81
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 85
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 87
» | Analyzing the Marketing Environment 89
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 97
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 99
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 103
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 109
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 111
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 113
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 115
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 127
» | Managing Marketing Information to Gain Customer Insights 131
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 133
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 137
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 141
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 143
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 159
» | Consumer Markets and Consumer Buyer Behavior 163
» | Business Markets and Business Buyer Behavior 165
» | Business Markets and Business Buyer Behavior 175
» | Business Markets and Business Buyer Behavior 179
» What is Eaton’s value proposition?
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 189
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 193
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 197
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 203
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 205
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 207
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 209
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 211
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 213
» | Customer-Driven Marketing Strategy: Creating Value for Target Customers 219
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 223
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 225
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 229
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 237
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 245
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 247
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 249
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 251
» | Products, Services, and Brands: Building Customer Value 257
» | New Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies 259
» | New Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies 271
» | New Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies 273
» | New Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies 279
» | New Product Development and Product Life-Cycle Strategies 281
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 289
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 291
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 295
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 299
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 305
» | Pricing: Understanding and Capturing Customer Value 307
» | Marketing Channels: Delivering Customer Value 339
» | Marketing Channels: Delivering Customer Value 347
» | Marketing Channels: Delivering Customer Value 351
» | Marketing Channels: Delivering Customer Value 367
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 373
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 377
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 379
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 393
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 395
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 397
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 401
» | Retailing and Wholesaling 405
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 407
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 411
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 413
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 415
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 429
» | Communicating Customer Value: Integrated Marketing Communications Strategy 433
» | Advertising and Public Relations 435
» | Advertising and Public Relations 439
» | Advertising and Public Relations 441
» | Advertising and Public Relations 443
» | Advertising and Public Relations 445
» | Advertising and Public Relations 447
» | Advertising and Public Relations 449
» | Advertising and Public Relations 453
» | Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 463
» | Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 469
» | Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 471
» | Personal Selling and Sales Promotion 481
» How is the sales force at Nestlé Waters structured? outsells its top competitors.
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 495
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 499
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 507
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 509
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 515
» | Direct and Online Marketing: Building Direct Customer Relationships 525
» | Creating Competitive Advantage 527
» | Creating Competitive Advantage 529
» | Creating Competitive Advantage 537
» | Creating Competitive Advantage 549
» | The Global Marketplace 551
» | The Global Marketplace 553
» | The Global Marketplace 561
» | The Global Marketplace 573
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 581
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 583
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 587
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 595
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 603
» | Sustainable Marketing: Social Responsibility and Ethics 605
» | Marketing by the Numbers A21
» | Marketing by the Numbers A27
Show more