A Good Marketeer or a Great one?

There’s lots of talk in the industry recently about ‘differentiated product’.

Tui Travel’s differentiated product, for example, now comprises 62% of winter sales to date compared with 50% this time last year. In a market (and an industry) where it is historically difficult to increase margins and in a time when ‘austerity’ programmes are exerting even greater pressures on our bottom lines.. this is text book economics and marketing, and a strategy that we all should follow.

A company’s product is a differentiated product if it is uniquely different than those of competitors. If the product is different, the Tour Operator/Airline/Resort can make the case that it is better. Therefore, if it is a better product, the company can charge a higher price because it has more value!

And actually, in many cases a differentiated product doesn’t actually need to be a better product, it just needs to be perceived as a better product by the buyer. And this is where the marketing comes in. Most advertising and promotion tht we encounter on a daily basis, is focused on trying to convince us that one product is better than another. Whether it is actually better is immaterial in many cases; the only thing that counts is if you can convince the consumer that it is better. For example, is Stella Artois really better than Kronenburg 1664 for instance? There are millions who would argue both ways.

Look at your product, look carefully at what you do. Identify the differences and focus on them – make sure consumers can only buy this from you.

Remember, a good marketer can differentiate between products, but a great marketer can create differentiated products!