These are the points of my personal notes in Marketing Lessons. The subject is The differentiation: the definition; the aspects; and the examples.
Below are the notes.
One of the integrated marketing strategies is Marketing Mix. This strategy is related to how does the company offer the product or service to particular market segment.
Marketing mix is combination of variables or activities which are governed by the company to impress the consumers.
See my previous marketing article deals with marketing mix for deeper information here:
Marketing mix elements – 4 Ps, 7Ps, 8Ps:
http://marketingforbeginner.blogspot.com/2006/12/marketing-mix.html
Marketing mix for beginners:
http://marketingforbeginner.blogspot.com/2007/07/marketing-mix-fundamental.html
The marketing mix must be adjusted to the company's condition. This is needed to ease consumer's buying decision.
See the video version about the fundamental theory of differentiation in marketing below:
Product
One of the marketing mix's components is product.
The definition of product
What is a product? Product (or service) is everything that is offered to a market to fulfill consumer's need.
The relation between product positioning and product differentiation
After providing the product and deciding the market, the next activity is positioning the product to the consumer image.
To provide the offers to fulfill the consumer's desire/need, a company must develop product differentiation.
This is the explanation of the close relation between product positioning and product differentiation.
The definition of differentiation
What is differentiation?
Basically, differentiation is a company's effort to distinguish/differentiate the company from another. In other word, differentiation is the offers that is perceived by the target market to differ from the competitors.
In term of marketing strategy, differentiation is a tool to accomplish the offers to consumers.
Kotler explained that differentiation is a process. It is the process of adding memorable and valued differences to distinguish the company's offering from the competitors.
There are several aspects in the differentiation concept:
1. What to offer => product/service
2. How to offer => service/treatment
3. Enabler => personnel; channel
4. Image
The core of the product differentiation strategy is how to meet consumer needs more accurately than the competitors.
How to differ the product from the competitors?
There are some strategies to make the product differ from others, for examples: word of mouth, promotion, usage experience, etc.
What is image differentiation?
Image differentiation is the company's effort to make a differentiation from it's competitors by images (consumer's perspective).
In the term of marketing strategy, the image means the personality.
The personality comprises logo, particular symbols, advertising style, the company atmosphere, the company event, the company personnel, the company resources, customization, bundling, attractive pricing, etc.
What is service differentiation?
Service differentiation is how the company treat its customers to impress them and make better customer usage experiences.
The examples of service differentiation:
– Customer service is developed to handle customer feedback 24-hour through e-mail, phone, social media, etc.
– Customer service team has the ability to respond more rapidly to customer concerns.
– The company provides home delivery with no additional fees.
– Buyers can buy online via apps or website.
