Sheldon Whittle
February 28, 2023
In this article, the spotlight will fall on two highly beneficial models for brand strategy - Ohmae's three Cs model and Treacy & Wiersema’s value disciplines. Let us explore how these insightful frameworks can be leveraged to create powerful strategies!
According to Ohmae, a successful strategy requires an organization to identify their customer's needs and evaluate how they are uniquely equipped to meet them better than any competitors. To do this, one must understand the customer, company strengths and competition before proceeding with brand strategizing. Thus, analyzing your customers' preferences as well as assessing your business' capabilities is essential for constructing a formidable strategy that will outshine all other contenders in the market.
For Ohmae, customers should always come first: “the interests of a corporation's patrons must supersede those of its shareholders.” As an up-and-coming startup that is desperate for capital, it might appear as if investors are your highest priority. Before you launch, this statement holds true; however once you enter the market – customers have to be your main focus. The moral here is simple - when customers are contented with what they receive from your business then so too will be your investors!
Before you embark on your journey, it's essential to accurately define who your customer is and what their unmet needs are. Many companies make the mistake of beginning with a product in hopes that customers will come to them; however, this approach only leads to solutions without problems. Instead, start by truly understanding the problem at hand first and then build an effective solution! The best way to gain such insight? Have conversations with potential customers - they'll provide invaluable information for developing products people want.
After having those crucial conversations, you'll possess the knowledge and ability to craft an offer that responds directly to your customers' true needs rather than what you assume they might need. This info can be used for product innovation, marketing tactics, customer service design, messaging strategies and brand positioning.
Identifying your company's strengths and culture is essential. Are you pursuing cost efficiency and competitive pricing (Dell)? Showcasing customer care as the highest priority (Zappos)? Or utilizing product-oriented innovation to stay ahead of trends (Apple)? Your unique approach not only defines your business, it can also be a major asset in creating success.
To be strategic, you need to lead with just one of the three strategies that most companies execute. This is the fundamental concept behind Treacy and Wiersema's Value Disciplines model. When you have made this decisive choice, it gives your brand position a distinct advantage for success.
A thorough review of your competition should not only evaluate their strengths, capabilities, product portfolios and value offerings but also the ways in which they are communicating them. In other words, it’s essential to consider how each brand is perceived through its marketing efforts—brand image—as well as everything else.
Search for resemblances and chances to stand out. Make sure the competition is actually doing what they say, or if not, seize that chance to shine! Identify where opponents are lacking so you can jump in with both feet and be successful.
Consider Brita, a leader in the water filtration industry. A maverick among competitors that source their products from public aquifers and fill our oceans with plastic waste. While they may claim to offer “natural purity”, this is nothing but an ironic fallacy.
Despite their differences in how they act on the outside and what they do on the inside, Brita still manages to preserve aquifers and protect our planet. This is a great benefit for its customers in today's world where more and more people are becoming aware of environmental issues and are worried about climate change. This remarkable advantage offers an unmistakable value that can't be ignored.
The Three Cs Model is a way to figure out how to create a brand. To do this, you need to get information from customers and your company culture. You also need insights about your product's attributes and what people say about your brand. Once you have all this information, you can put it together in a way that meets your branding objectives.
It is important to emphasize the climax of our argument. We should not underestimate the importance of soft data. Most organizations do not pay attention to this because it is hard to measure. However, it is essential to understand how customers feel about a brand before making an attractive proposition. Even though economists believe that people make decisions based on logic, history has shown that feelings towards a product or service are what persuade buyers to purchase, even in business-to-business services!
