Marketing Success Through Differentiation free essay sample

Marketing success through differentiationof anything Any product oi service can he differentiated, even the commodity that seems to differ from competitors offerings only in price Theodore Levitt On television we see product differentiation all the time, whether the subject of the commercial is a distinguishable good like an automobile or an indistinguishable good like laundry detergent. These are packaged products. How does the marketer differentiate a so-called commodity like isopropyl alcohol, strip steel, commercial bank services, or even legal counsel?The author describes the attributes of products that give the marketer opportunity to win the customer from the competition and, having won him, to keep him. Finally, the author describes the alert, imaginative state of mind that characterizes good management of product differentiation. The way in which the manager operates becomes an extension of product differentiation, he says. Mr. Levitt is the Edward W. Carter Professor of Business Administration at the Harvard Business . We will write a custom essay sample on Marketing Success Through Differentiation or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page School and head of the marketing area of instruction there. His articles inHBR, which number nearly two dozen, include the well-known Marketing Myopia (published in i960 and reprinted as an HBR Classic in September-October 1975) and Marketing When Things Change (November-December 1977). His most recent book is Marketing foi Business Growth (McGraw-Hill, 1974)- There is no such thing as a commodity. All goods and services are diflferentiable. Though the usual presumption is that this is more true of consumer goods than of industrial goods and services, the opposite is the actual case. In the marketplace, differentiation is everywhere.Everybody-producer, fabricator, seller, broker, agent, merchant—tries constantly to distinguish his offering from all others. This is true even of those who produce and deal in primary metals, grains, chemicals, plastics, and money. Fabricators of consumer and industrial goods seek competitive distinction via product features—some visually or measurably identifiable, some cosmetically implied, and some rhetorically claimed by reference to real or suggested hidden attributes that promise results or values different from those of competitors products.So too with consumer and industrial services— what I call, to be accurate, intangibles. On the commodities exchanges, for example, dealers in metals, grains, and pork bellies trade in totally undifferentiated generic products. But what they sell is the claimed distinction of their execution—the efficiency of their transactions in thir clients behalf, their resp onsiveness to inquiries, the clarity and speed of their confirmations, and the like. In short, the offered product is differentiated, though the generic product is identical.When the generic product is undifferentiated, the offered product makes the difference in getting customers and the delivered product in keeping them. When the knowledgeable senior partner of a wellknown Chicago brokerage firm appeared at a New York City bank in a tight-fitting, lime green polyester suit and Gucci shoes to solicit business in financial instrument futures, the outcome was predictably 84 Harvard Business Review January-February 1980 poor. The unintended offering implied by his sartorial appearance contradicted the intended offering of his carefully prepared presentation.No wonder that Thomas Watson the elder insisted so uncompromisingly that his salesmen be attired in their famous IBM uniforms. While clothes may not make the man, they may help make the sale. The usual presumption about so-called undifferentiated commodities is that they are exceedingly price sensitive. A fractionally lower price gets the business. That is seldom true except in the imagined world of economics textbooks. In the actual world of markets, nothing is exempt from other considerations, even when price competition rages.During periods of sustained surplus, excess capacity, and unrelieved price war, when the attention of all seems riveted on nothing save price, it is precisely because price is visible and measurable, and potentially devastating in its effects, that price deflects attention from the possibilities of extricating the product from ravaging price competition. These possibilities, even in the short run, are not confined simply to nonprice competition, such as harder personal selling, intensified advertising, or whats loosely called more or better services. To see fully what these possibilities are, it is useful first to examine what exactly a product is. Whats a product? Products are almost always combinations of the tangible and the intangible. An automobile is not simply a machine for movement visibly or measurably differentiated by design, size, color, options, horsepower, or miles per gallon. It is also a complex symbol denoting status, taste, rank, achievement, aspiration, and (these days) being smart—that is, buying fuel economy rather than display.

Formal Fused Words

Formal Fused Words Formal Fused Words Formal Fused Words By Mark Nichol Inasmuch as it pains me to say it, notwithstanding my affection for fused words, nevertheless, I encourage readers to use some of the words listed hereinafter sparingly and others not at all. Evolution of the English language includes a process called univerbation (yes, that’s really a word), the combination of a fixed expression of two or more words into a single word. It’s how two nouns are transformed into a closed compound such as lightbulb, or how a phrase such as â€Å"forget me not† coalesces into a noun such as forget-me-not, to represent something new. It’s how phrases like â€Å"young urban professional† are abbreviated to words such as yuppie, and how a portmanteau word like smog is formed. It’s how a verb phrase like â€Å"going to† is slurred to sound like gonna, and how a combination of a preposition and an infinitive such as in and to becomes the preposition into and how three words like not, with, and standing, which in sequence make little sense, are welded together to become a (highly formal) synonym for despite. (Other fused words are still considered invalid, such as the ubiquitous alot and alright and the rarer moreso and eachother, but in centuries to come these will likely be considered standard.) It applies also to when two or three words (sometimes with the aid of another word that remains independent) unite to perform an adverbial function or to serve as a conjunction or as a pronoun. Note, however, that in many cases, these words- though no more venerable than any of the other English vocabulary that has survived for multiple centuries with little change- may be perceived as archaic or at least stuffy. When it comes to the words and phrases listed below, clear communication might be better served by employing a more transparent phrase that represents the same idea. Adverbs Many compound adverbs, such as those beginning with any (anyone, anything, and so on), are entirely acceptable, as is the slightly more formal however, as well as thereafter, therefore, nevertheless, and nonetheless, but the following words may be seen as pedantic: hereinafter: following this part of this document or writing hereinbefore: preceding this part of this document or writing heretofore: up to this time hitherto: up to this time howsoever: in whatever manner, to whatever degree or extent insomuch: to such a degree therein: in that place, thing, or time, or in that particular or respect thereinafter: following the part of that document or writing thereinbefore: preceding the part of that document or writing theretofore: up to that time Conjunctions Some compound conjunctions (such as although) are familiar, but the following might be seen as distractingly formal: albeit: even though forasmuch as: in view of the fact that howbeit: even though inasmuch as: in view of the fact that, or in the degree that insofar: to such degree or extent whensoever: at any or every time wheresoever: anywhere at all Pronouns Whatever, whenever, and so on are everyday words, and whatnot is common though it may be perceived as substandard dialect, but the following are stiff: whatsoever: anything or everything, or no matter what, or anything that might also be mentioned (also an adjective) whosoever: whatever person, or no matter who In summary, with few exceptions (such as nevertheless), consider avoiding words with infixes (words inserted between others to form a single word)- though they are forgivable when used whimsically- and note that even some infix-free fused words (such as therein) may be considered overly formal. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Spelling category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:35 Synonyms for â€Å"Look†Do you "orient" yourself, or "orientate" yourself?40 Synonyms for Praise

Analizes of a case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Analizes of a - Case Study Example The company always used outside the box thinking in its business strategies such as buying idle production time from manufacturers in other industries. One of the reasons for the success of the firm in the furniture business was its introduction of self-assembled furniture. This concept help the firm reduce its prices because it eliminated two of the highest cost drivers in the industry which are assembly and delivery. The company’s managerial philosophy is to have an open system in which nobody is superior to others. Input from the employees is always welcomed at IKEA. The management process stressed simplicity and attention to detail. Being cost conscious was also a part of the business culture of the firm. IKEA penetrated the United States marketplace in 1985. In the 1990’s the company was exposed to bad media when a revelation was made to the public that IKEA was dealing with suppliers in Asia that used child labor. Stakeholders Ingvar Kamprad – Founder of th e firm. His values and beliefs are embedded in IKEA’s culture. Using child labor goes against everything he stands for. He does not want to hurt the reputation of the company through a child labor scandal. Marianne Barner – IKEA business area manager for carpets division. She is responsible for finding a solution to the problem. Shareholders – The shareholders of the firm are worried about the problem of child labor because its occurrence will hurt the image and reputation of the company which will negatively impact the price of the common stocks of the company. Asian children – The children population in Asia are at risk due to employment exploitation by IKEA suppliers. The children are the biggest victims in this scandal. Issues By the mid 1990’s the company had grown tremendously. IKEA had 98 stores across 17 countries worldwide. Its supply chain had become extremely complex since the firm had almost 2,300 suppliers. It had become extremely diff icult to monitor the actions of its suppliers. To make things worse those 2,300 suppliers were scattered across 70 countries. The firm was sourcing around 11,200 products. During the 1980’s environmental problems occurred with some of the products IKEA sold. In the 1990’s a new and extremely serious issue occurred as the company was accused of doing business with suppliers that used child labor. Child labor is a growing problem in our society with over 250 million children working in the labor market (Humanium, 2010). IKEA in the 1980’s faced new regulations from the Denmark government that redefine the limits of formaldehyde emissions permissible in product building. At concentration above 0.1 mg/kg in air this material caused watery eyes, headaches, burning sensation in throat, and difficult breathing. The company was fined by the government of Denmark and it was heavily criticized by the media. IKEA sales in the aftermath of this scandal drop by 20% in Denmar k. The company reacted quickly to the problem by establishing stringent requirement regarding formaldehyde levels. At first the problem was not simply to attend since suppliers bought from sub-suppliers that were exposed to formaldehyde. The firm resolved the problem by dealing directly with glue producing chemical companies. A decade later the firm was once again facing issues with formaldehyde in Germany. Its best selling bookcase series had high levels of