As good as brand x
Clients speak of you in terms of being “as good as brand x”. That suggests that they see no noticeable difference between you. It’s a danger sign when your staff confides this to clients. Of course the death knoll is when you say it.
You choose to advertise where you competition is
The ad rep taunts you with the words, “Your competition will be there”. Your blood boils - you immediately take the bait and sign up.
Your marketing appears to be an echo of the competition
Do you design your ads while looking at the competition? Change a colour and the contact information? Might a prospect look or listen to your promotions and not distinguish between you – if not for the name?
Twins - people get you confused
Clients call you by the name of your competition. A colleague introduces you incorrectly by citing your competition’s product line. You receive prospect calls for the competition and find yourself saying “No, that’s not our program.”
Your brand is indistinguishable from the competition
Is your differentiation summarized in terms of colour? You’re the blue. They’re the gray. Do your slogans and tag lines sound similar to the competition?
You get locked in one-upmanship with your competition
They announce a 15% price reduction and you respond with an 18% reduction (and hold your breath). You hold a donut and coffee day and they volley back with a pancake breakfast. They give away an Ipod and you consider giving an Iphone.
The market is growing but not for you
New competitors are growing but in a different space of the market. They are avoiding your overcrowded customer space and harvesting more profitable specialized niches. You are so focused on your established but perhaps fuzzy target market that you ignore the newer opportunities and miss the rising threats. If you don’t watch out you might be blindsided.
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The above is an excerpt from the next marketing article for Enterprise Magazine. Read the full article by subscribing to Enterprise magazine. George Torok has been contributing a marketing column to this magazine for over a decade.
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George Torok
Marketing Myths
Marketing Speaker
1 comment:
Good article, for examples of "Barketing" just look at twitter and see how many people all claim their new program will make you $484 or get you 2000 followers overnight!
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