Food for thought...
The power of Your Brand
What do people think when they think of you, your organisation or your products and services?
Is that different for your competitors, customers and partners?
Are you pro-actively managing your brand and positioning yourself in the most competitive place for your target market?
3Bz can help you to think about the benefits of having a brand strategy and how this will influence the decisions you make about the types ofproducts you develop, the pricing, routes to market and the types of promotion you use to attract your ideal customers. Are you saying what they want and need to hear?
How will you stand out from your competition?
Niche vs Mass Market
What is your ambition? What are your goals?
Do you want to standardise and appeal to more people, or does your product fit very neatly into its own customised niche?
What profitability could you expect, and what is the best way to maximise this?
Could you reach a Mass Market? Growth takes investment, do you have the right resources to grow? Just how realistic for your business is this approach?
Do you really know how to differentiate yourself and start to gain traction?
Competitive Analysis
You probably know your competitor’s products inside and out, technically I’m sure you know whether you’re creating a “me too” product or differentiating yours through next level innovation. You may even have been inspired by them to approach the challenge in a completely different way.
Knowing and understanding our competitors is equally as important as knowing our customers.
But do you know their commercial strategy and just how successful that is? Are they thought leaders? Do they focus on retention and customer loyalty? Are they product innovators, constantly launching more new products? Understanding their drivers will give you an edge in what you chose to do.
Price Positioning
Never underestimate the importance of getting your pricing strategy right. It can be a truly make or break decision in the early days of market growth. Especially if your brand is a newcomer or is taking on a well-established incumbent.
Pricing will influence the customers’ perception of your product, it’s quality and reliability, especially if there is an existing competitor product priced very differently.
Managing pricing is also crucial to support your chosen route to market. Will you supply direct to the end user? Will you go through distribution? Maybe a combination of both, if so, how will you manage profit margins at each stage of the supply chain? This can be fraught with potential pitfalls for commercial negotiations and hamper sales before they’ve even started.
Experience of setting a pricing structure right for your target market and navigating launch is crucial to your success. You can have the best widget in the world, but if its priced incorrectly you will struggle to sell it.
