Different : Naver Books (naver.com) Different. The advance of AI demands of humans an even greater humanity and creative abilities that surpass machines. Knowledge and data are infinite. But the ability to process them and the ability to search for the data you need differ from person to person.
Yet the way our students study today can confine them to mechanical thinking, and rote repetition can dull the capacity for thought and imagination. The goal of this book is to examine what today's business world needs and the "difference" it should pursue going forward, seeking to discover the existence of differentiation in a world ruled by sameness.
Part 1 presents a critical view of conventional competitive business, and Part 2 presents creative marketing strategies. In Part 2, I found the examples of companies that found new ideas and breakthroughs an interesting read.
Part 1 > The competing herds. The instinct to compete; evaluation only cares about the evaluation items, and can even backfire. e.g.) Evaluating hospitals by mortality rate; avoidance of severe patients, avoidance of new treatments, etc. e.g.) Car evaluations; rather than strengths, companies scramble to patch up weaknesses, so there is no differentiation. Every brand becomes similar. Differentiation is what you gain in the process of making an imbalanced situation even more imbalanced. To become the best in a particular field, you have to give up some part. A soccer player only plays soccer..
- The paradox of evolution
Product development raises consumer satisfaction, and as competing firms imitate that product, product expansion occurs across the whole category. Consumer satisfaction levels rise. As product expansion becomes a prerequisite for competition, more investment is made.. .. (the cycle repeats) As various brands and products slice the category into ever finer pieces and compete fiercely, the phenomenon of hyper-segmentation appears; e.g.) Post-its became enormously varied, low-calorie premium dark beer and premium light dark beer, VOSS water and FIJI water (both emphasizing how far away and how fresh the water they draw to make their bottled water is), Huggies and Pampers (absorbency, comfort, characters), → not differentiated relative to the effort, unable to stop and having to keep presenting something new.
- Category leveling; building brand loyalty grows progressively harder. Yet consumption's share as a channel for expressing identity, as a cultural language, is rising.
Category experts/opportunists/pragmatists/cynics/brand loyalists. Part 2 > There is no competition
- Reverse brands;
Amid search sites growing ever flashier (Yahoo), the arrival of Google. jetBlue Airways among airlines competing with diverse services. IKEA in a furniture market where the friendlier you are the more customers flee —> a market in a state of over-satisfaction; instead of continuously expanding existing values, lowering them to a manageable level and recombining them in creative ways.
- Breakaway brands; the story of Sony, which launched not a household robot but a household pet dog (robot -> pet dog category)
Kimberly's pant-style diapers (diaper -> pant category). Cirque du Soleil; overturning the fixed notions of the circus. Swatch, Alessi, Heelys (shoes with wheels), the health bar made by Kellogg's (1990s) → rather than resisting fixed notions, persuading consumers by moving to a new category, neutralizing the boundaries of the category.
- Hostile brands; the customer is not king
Mini Cooper marketing; Red Bull, Marmite, Birkenstock ugly, love it or hate it. Hollister; discriminating against customers. Benetton
- The winner's top strategy
Apple: reverse brand (removing basic features, simplification, non-removable battery) + breakaway brand + hostile brand (high price, secrecy around launches and new product development, insensitivity to consumer complaints and demands) -> reinforcing the existing fantasy. Harley-Davidson; the HOG rider community. Dove; the Real Beauty campaign -> breaking the existing fantasy
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How those who lead the market run the world
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Differentiation is not a tactic but a new framework of thinking.
Rating 3.8/5