Hello, Chris Halliwell back with more on technology messaging for the Technology Marketing Center...
Here are three cautionary tales, similar, almost like time-lapse photography, about what happens when a competitor has captured the competitive agenda (i.e. is positioning you) in the customer's mind, with some (implied) learning on how to turn the situation around.
Medical device knee jerk: The other players to Medtronic's dominance in implantable cardiac devices are forced to match every little feature and program that Medtronic dreams up. Even the ones that don't add real value to customers, because as a visible market leader (with investments from NPR spots to more sales people to huge investments in educational infrastructure) Medtronic has enough expertise credibility to excite customer's into caring about something whether it makes a lot of sense or not. The competitors struggle to carve out market/technology segments where they can invest to beat Medtronic to the punch, but do so at the peril of not matching them at every turn. One competitor is making headway here by investing in very sophisticated market research that reveals when they must respond to Medtronic, and when they can take a calculated risk to redirect resources to focus leadership segments.
Oil field services train wreck: Schlumberger is one tough competitor in oil field technologies and services. They own the vocabulary (see wikipedia) and they own the most market share in most segments. One of their primary competitors used to share the market with them. In one major segment Schlumberger enjoyed majority share, in the other major segment, the competitor carved out more share. Ex-employees of Schlumberger report tactics common to all successful leaders: a robust lost sales discussion process, making stars out of customer opinion leaders and gurus, significant investment in customer education initiatives, and so on. Even without the majority share of one of the industries segments, Schlumberger continues to act like the leader. The competitor is unsure of marketing's contribution to the organization, sometimes pulling back on campaigns and marketing process investment. Guess what? Schlumberger now have majority share in both segments, leaving the competitor with a few high end niches.
Semiconductor test equipment panic: Here the industry segment leader was being dogged by an aggressive competitor who did not have majority share, but who nevertheless knew the tricks of creating leadership momentum. When the market is relatively concentrated, as it is in this sector, taking leadership can be a matter of out-loving the customer vs. a complacent incumbent supplier. The upstart competitor took advantage of some quality problems experienced by the dominant player to gain customer access and trust -- taking the time to understand core customer business processes and initiatives and then focusing new product investment in those areas. They not only began to take share from the majority player but, better yet, got them on the defensive, totally into reactive mode so that they could not calm down and learn what they need to learn in order to compete effectively.
Next week: setting the foundation for leadership by tying messages to competitive strategy.
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