Strategic Marketing
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Challenge: Traditional levers for differentiation, including innovation, seem ineffective at sustaining a competitive position.
Many firms have seen tough economic times in the last few years, causing focus on cost containment and asset utilization. Upon recovery, as they pursue organic growth, marketers asked to drive revenue. But, fast followers can replicate new product or service introductions at a quick pace.
To capture incremental revenues (often from more granular customer segments), companies are introducing an alarming number of product and service extensions. Such offers would be justified, if they tapped into inactive sub-segments. But, often 'new' sales are cannibalizing existing ones -- so they are revenue-neutral. Plus, organizations end up confusing their sales channels and customers.
Firms have invested in richer customer experiences, and in delivering faster innovations, to become better “solutions providers". As marketing groups are challenged to keep up with demands, it becomes less likely they be able to influence expectations early in the purchase cycle.
Several structures can help give focus to product results: P&Ls, compensation systems, and performance metrics, for example. But when even progressive marketing teams have relied on single product or service enhancements, these attempts have not met long-term revenue objectives.
Many firms have seen tough economic times in the last few years, causing focus on cost containment and asset utilization. Upon recovery, as they pursue organic growth, marketers asked to drive revenue. But, fast followers can replicate new product or service introductions at a quick pace.
To capture incremental revenues (often from more granular customer segments), companies are introducing an alarming number of product and service extensions. Such offers would be justified, if they tapped into inactive sub-segments. But, often 'new' sales are cannibalizing existing ones -- so they are revenue-neutral. Plus, organizations end up confusing their sales channels and customers.
Firms have invested in richer customer experiences, and in delivering faster innovations, to become better “solutions providers". As marketing groups are challenged to keep up with demands, it becomes less likely they be able to influence expectations early in the purchase cycle.
Several structures can help give focus to product results: P&Ls, compensation systems, and performance metrics, for example. But when even progressive marketing teams have relied on single product or service enhancements, these attempts have not met long-term revenue objectives.
Solution: Placing priority on becoming a segment-focused organization.
Forward looking firms are gaining a deeper understanding about needs within high-return segments. Several UPtimizm clients are successfully executing a segment model, and building sustainable and differentiated positions. They are concentrating resources on high-return segments and ensuring segment relevance is clear at the point of purchase. As well, culturally these firms are giving authority to segment “voice” within the enterprise, while matching offer attributes to segment needs.
Customer Experience
Aside from producing growth beyond incremental innovation, a pronounced segment focus can be the cornerstone of virtually any go-to-market strategy. In pursuit of a customer experience strategy, for example, greater segment focus could lead to principled investment in elements that enhance or complete an underserved need for a given target segment. These actions could be executed at the expense of serving less important segments. |
Marketing of Customer Solutions
Solutions organizations are typically in a growth mode, looking to serve new markets, customers or regions. As the number of offerings expands, it gets harder to identify the “best-fit” products and services A strong segment focus often becomes a leading way to settle on requirements.
UPtimizm's clients have realized strong results from segment-specific offers that fully address customers needs -- and only what they need. Firms can develop portfolios using thoughtful, structured requirements gathering practices. Decisions should made based on laser focus on economic value for the segment, and priced accordingly. UPtimizm uses a creative process plus analytic rigor, to identify new competitive spaces beyond current boundaries. |
Marketing & Segment-Based Innovation
Innovation advocates can achieve the same deep understanding as solutions providers who craft their “best-fit” solution to specific segments. Historically, product innovation concentrated on improving key attributes to differentiate. But, as fast followers get faster, even major updates may be quickly copied, thus diminishing the returns enjoyed from the original innovation investment. By concentrating on generating segment-level insights, marketers across industries have identified “game changing” innovation opportunities that successfully depart from more traditional, attribute-based competition. UPtimizm has assisted clients on topics from strategy and messaging, to selection of marketing channels, pricing and implementation of sales practices. |