The purpose of any business is to make a customer.

It is the customer who determines what

a business is. It is not enough if a firm has consumer orientation, it is essential that with
such an orientation, it should lead to consumer satisfaction. This can be done with the
following strategies:
1) Market-Driven Strategy: Based on understanding the specific features of market and
then reacting to to those features and behaviours of the players within that market.
Basically attempts to modify the customer’s preferences.
2) Driving-Market Strategy: It is customer centric and focuses on finding a new
market ,something radically innovative and creative in terms of customers needs and
wants. Therefore, enhances the competitive position of the business.

The concept of value:

Value is the difference between a customer’s evaluation of the benefits and costs of one
product when compared with the next best alternative. There are 4 ways in which a
customer may evaluate as not all the customers have the same idea and each company also
has differentiators-both quantitative and qualitative.
1) Economic Value
2) Functional Value
3) Experiential Value
4) Social Value

ECONOMIC VALUE:
It is the maximum price that a consumer is willing to pay for the product, given the price
they are paying for the existing product , added features and the diminished cost provided
by the supplier.
This is the cost of owning a product over its entire life.(Life Cycle Cost).
Willingness to pay = Savings from using New product + purchase price of the competing
product.
EVC is not constant as customers have varying needs, there can be segments when the
customer is willing to pay more because they have a greater need for it.
There are some mistakes the managers do while evaluating EVC-
1) They measure the tangible value customers derive from a product ignoring the other
functional and intangible values it may provide.
2) They don’t take switching costs into consideration i.e a customer’s hesitation to use the
new product even if it has a economic benefit.
3) They can’t assume EVC to be fixed instead focus on ways to increase it through adding
new features and associated services.

FUNCTIONAL VALUE:
It is the perceived utility determined by the product itself i.e its functions, physical
appearance , price, quality etc. This can be divided into price and quality separately.
Price can affect the satisfaction of the consumer as they might perceive that high price will
have more features and high quality. While in context of quality even if it is a 100% green
product , the customer may not buy it as its quality may be compromised. Hence, this affects
the decision making of the customer.
Given so many alternatives, it becomes difficult for the customer to compare all the
functions that diversify with the Development of technology as well as selecting the
reasonable product, therefore making accurate choices difficult. As the technology
advances, the products are loaded with more features hence increasing the capabilities but
decreasing the usability due to the complex model. As consumers give more weight to
capability and less weight to usability before use than after use, they tend to choose overly
complex products that do not maximise their satisfaction when they use them, resulting in
"feature fatigue."

EXPERIENTIAL VALUE:
Experiential value refers to the sense of value a customer gets from the whole experience of
dealing with a supplier. This is the feel-good factor owning your product or service can
provide your customers by allowing them to express themselves. This can be done through
branding, design, customer service ,etc.
1) Branding: It is the process where a business makes itself known to the public and
differentiates itself from competitors. Branding typically includes a phrase, logo, symbol
or idea that makes it easily identifiable to the public.
Effective brand management enables :
• the price of products to go up
• build loyal customers
• The innovation of a product creating brand awareness through positive associations.
• Derives initiatives that support a consistent brand message

2) Emotional benefit:It provides customers with a positive feeling when they purchase or
use a particular brand. They add richness and depth to the experience of owning and using
the brand. As the customer feels satisfied he is more likely to share and retweet with others.
When the product has a psychological effect, then the competitors may find it difficult
which is helpful in the long run.

 3) Customer service and Customer experience

Customer service is critical to competing effectively. Offering amazing customer service is
important if you want to retain customers and grow your business. Customer support is
more than just providing answers; it’s an important part of the promise your brand makes to
its customers.
Greater the customer service, better the experience. Especially when the support team
moves beyond just reacting and anticipating to problems. When support agents are
empowered to go above-and-beyond with customers, or have a help desk that makes it easy
for them to upsell relevant services, therefore creating winning experiences that help the
brand stand out from the competition.

4) Product Design:
It is a way to arrange the features and benefits of a product to be presented to a customer. It
is a major crowd pull. Better the acceptability of the design, better the brand built. some
brands offer features which are not offered by anyone else. As a result, a brand which
invests higher in product design and involves the customers in the design process, is
guaranteed to give a higher ROI and to be chosen more than competition. This is because
the product design will be loved by customers due to its customer friendly nature.

SOCIAL VALUE:
These brands offer features which are not offered by anyone else. As a result, a brand which
invests higher in product design and involves the customers in the design process, is
guaranteed to give a higher ROI and to be chosen more than competition. This is because
the product design will be loved by customers due to its customer friendly nature.
By taking social values into account, developers can set out clear and tangible objectives in their
project proposals that define positive outcomes for people, society.More and more brands have
started to get behind social causes, giving consumers a peek into their company values.

network theory:
Social network theory focuses on the role of social relationships in transmitting information,
channeling personal or media influence. Social media is a relatively new technology, so platforms
and popularity are constantly in flux. It is not a good idea to use every platform because of the
differences in users. It all depends on the strategy used, certain strategies work better on certain
platforms. When successful, it helps to:
• Increase referrals or sales leads
• Build word-of-mouth reputation
• Increase sales of products or services
• Provide a means of feedback
• Develop a reputation as an expert or thought-leader
• Drive traffic to a business website or blog

 Social capital
The term social capital refers to a positive product of human interaction.It can be used to describe
the contribution to an organization's success that can be attributed to personal relationships and
networks, both within and outside an organization.
Social capital is a set of shared values that allows individuals to work together in a group to
effectively achieve a common purpose.

Conclusion
Added-value strategies are the way to go in the current marketing climate. They will produce better
and more genuine marketing campaigns that your audiences can relate to. Additionally, they offer
companies the opportunity to educate their clients and support them in the decision-making
process.
Customer-centric marketing appeals to customers and helps maintain relationships. When you show
customers the value you’re providing, it helps keep them engaged and excited about your offerings.
It is the most efficient way for companies to get a competitive edge and thrive.