Developing a Competitive Edge for Your Products

One of the biggest challenges for businesses today is how to build and maintain a competitive edge. There are a number of ways of doing this, all of which are very easy to say (or write) but none of which are simple to carry out. In this article we look at some of the ways you may be able to build a competitive edge for your business. This could be through:

-branding
-image
-price
-product or service differentiation
-building and maintaining an excellent reputation for providing a good service or product.

Or you could build a competitive edge for your products or services through a combination of the above. Let's examine these in greater detail.

Why Brand?

What matters is not merely what people know about your product but how they feel about it and how it relates to their own personality and life style. People tend to buy what they are familiar with. They like to know what the product or service stands for and whether or not it is the right one for them. Branding helps them to make this choice.

Branding is used to define identity and helps people relate to the product.

Branding is used very strongly in the fast moving consumer goods market where customer loyalty needs to be constantly fought for. But it can also be used on other products including industrial products. In the service sector and in business to business markets, image, as an aspect of branding, is very important and we will look at image in more detail later.

Branding will give a product identity and make it more easily recognisable. If people know what a brand stands for, and where it fits with their own needs, then it is easier for them to buy it.

People will ask:

-Does this brand fit my lifestyle?
-Does it express my identity?
-Is it value for money?
-How available is it?
-What do I think about it - do I like or dislike it?

Building a Brand

Various factors go into making up a brand. These include:

-the product itself
-the packaging
-the advertising
-the brand name
-the price
-how and where it is distributed
-its availability
-its logo, colours, style, any strap lines
-the consistency of communicating all the above which go into forming a corporate image or identity.

Branding also goes beyond this. Things like quality, service, reliability, innovation and integrity all come into play. Branding is the result of a successful marketing and business strategy. It will reflect how you train your staff in the company's values and how you manage your relationships with your customers.