Differentiate or Die

Author: Jack Trout with

Steve Rivkin
Presented BY Group 5
Vikram S 005
Abhay Kumar 035
Shivani Sharma 046
ArunThakur 050
Aparna Katiyar 057
Akanksha Sadekar 060
 Steve Rivkin
A marketing and
communications consultant,
author and speaker.
He spent 14 years working
with Jack Trout and Al Ries at
Trout & Ries Inc. as executive
vice president.
He founded Rivkin &
Steve Rivkin
Rivkin & Associates LLC
Associates LLC in 1989.
 About the Author
Jack Trout
an owner of Trout & Partners,
a consulting firm.
one of the founders and pioneers
of positioning theory, and
also marketing warfare theory.
acclaimed author of numerous
marketing classics, Trout’s “The
New Positioning” became a
Jack Trout, Business Week best seller in 1995
Trout & Partners ltd. and “Marketing Strategy” which
highlights key strategic principles.
Differentiate or Die
Flow of this presentation summary
 The Tyranny of Choice
An explosion of choices

Car Market
 In 50’s buying a car meant a choice between a model from
GM, Ford, Chrysler or American Motors.

Healthcare
 Earlier
 People had their fixed Doctors and Hospitals
 Today
 It’s gotten so confusing that people aren’t
worrying about getting sick.
 They worry more about where to go to get better.
 The law of Division
A category starts off as a single entity.
Initially Eventually
Computer System Mainframes, Minicomputers,
Workstations, Personal computers,
Laptops, Notebooks, Pen computers.
Operating system Xp, vista, Mac, Window 7

Division is an unstoppable process.

ITEM Early 1970’s Late 1990’s

Vehicle styles 654 1212

Websites 0 4757894
Running shoe styles 5 285
 Rise of Choice Industry
Internet is fast filling up with dot coms that can help you find
and select.

Everywhere you turn someone is offering an advice.

Magazines like Consumer Reports and Consumers Digest deal

products and choices by rotating the categories they report.
The Unique Selling Proposition
Introduced by Rosser Reeves
in 1960 - book Reality in
Advertising.
A successful American
advertising executive and
pioneer of television
Rosser Reeves
(1910–24 January 1984)
advertising.
 Ted Bates agency “U.S.P is supposed to be the
today as Bates 141 basis for marketing Campaign.”
U.S.P By Reeves
Each advertisement must say
to each reader and viewer, "buy
this product n you will get
this specific benefit.”
Uniqueness in Proposition –
uniqueness in brand wise or
claim that competition cannot
match.
Proposition to Move masses
Consumer Differentiation Abilities
 INTUITIVE
 uses intuition to concentrate on possibilities, avoiding details in favor
of a “big picture” view.
 susceptible to a “next generation” strategy of differentiation.
 THINKERS
 analytical, precise and logical.
 possess a lot of information, often ignoring the emotional or feeling
aspects, responding to the facts about a product.
 FEELERS
 Dispenses with intellectual analysis in favor of following their own
preferences.
 an ideal group for third-party endorsements from experts who look
and sound real.
 SENSORS
 enormous capacity for detail and a knack for putting things into
context
 Need For Reinventing
Unique Selling Proposition

Competition

Similarity of products

Speed of Technology
Differentiation – To Survival in Market
Focus on differentiating
your products

Improve, upgrade and

reinvent products.

“Me-tooism” - a
dominant force in
competition.
 What Differentiation Is Not
Quality and Customer Orientation
Every company’s mantra
Consumers have grown more demanding
The myth- “serving the customer is the name of the game”
Remedies
operational effectiveness and product positioning

Creativity
Puffery and ineffectual advertising run under the guise of being
creative
Remedies-
o emotion and intelligence together
o Advertising should communicate information about the product
 What Differentiation Is Not
Price
Greatest Enemy of differentiation, however, Pricing
strategy can be a differentiator.
Differentiating with high price.

Breadth of Line
Is a difficult way to differentiate because
there is no way to keep your competitor’s from using the
same strategy
Problems of being too big.
The Four Steps to Differentiation
Step 1: Make sense in the context

Step 2: Find the differentiating idea

Step 3: Have the credentials

Step 4: Communicate your difference

Differentiation Takes Place
In The ‘Mind’
Minds can’t cope
Minds are limited
The power of simplicity
Minds are insecure
Buying what others buy
Minds don’t change
Minds can lose focus
The power of the specialist
 Eight Successful
Differentiation Strategies
Be First:
“Being 1st is one thing , staying 1st is another”.
Specialize in your market:
Concentrate on core competencies
 Be the preferred provider:
People are more likely to purchase a product that others
think is the correct one to buy.
Make your products in a special way:
Having a name which catches people’s attention
 Eight Successful
Differentiation Strategies
 Be hot:
Show people you are growing , why hide when you have
something???
Maintain attribute ownership:
Best way to differentiate a product or a service
Be a leader:
It creates credentials of a brand E.g.: IBM, Heinz
ketchup
Have a history:
History makes people secure of what they are buying
Growth - A Sacrifice in Differentiation
Growth negatively affects differentiation in two key
ways:
Distracted focus
Rather than pouring on the resources and
preempting a differentiating idea, companies in
“growth mode” tend to focus those efforts on
growing their businesses.
Over-extension of Product Line
Being Different in Different Places
Who’s in Charge Here?
Managerial Lessons