What is the Differentiation Strategy?

Being able to position itself in the mind of the consumer is a challenge for any company, companies today in such a competitive market need stand out from the competition, be number one on the consumer's preference list so that when buying and consuming they choose their product.

The company that employs any differentiation strategy, they seek that their product captures the customer's attention above any other similar product, for this they highlight elements or characteristics of the product such as quality, size, price, etc.

What is a differentiation strategy?

They are marketing strategies used by companies to highlight a product over similar offers in the market.

This strategy seeks give the company a competitive advantage, it is important that this strategy addresses directly to a specific market segment and deliver a concrete, positive message about how different the product is from other products in a market.

This strategy offers a small business opportunity for survival when competing in a market dominated by large companies.

It is important that the company is clear about the principle of this type of strategy, since being different is not the objective, the particularity is to be relevant and achieve the consumer's preference, that is, it is not enough to be different from the others, that difference must be followed by a benefit that the client supposes important and effective.

Therefore, that relevance will be a big difference, which will make the product unique compared to other similar products.

Differential factor in differentiation strategies

The differential factor must have an impact, According to Philip Kotler, must have an impact on any of the following aspects:

• Product: It refers to the characteristics of the products or services that are offered, that is, the brand is difference by highlighting the attributes of form, duration, result, reliability, design or style, considering always his Lifecycle.
• Service: It refers to the way in which a good or service.
• Human resources: refers to the capabilities of the staff that make up the work team, in this case the brand's differentiation lies in the high human resource training as a specialized force.
• Image: Refers to the way the brand is perceived.
• Channel: Refers to the way or ways that are used to distribute the product and / or service. In this sense, the strategy seeks to facilitate the acquisition of the product by the customer.

The concept of differentiation has evolved, after in 1980 Theodore Levitt stated that all products and services are differentiable.

It was then that Philip Kotler introduced a broader concept of what the product variable is, talking about how it increases, understanding that if non-tangible benefits are increased (after-sales service, technical support, guarantees), differentiation and preference.

Then Jack Trout postulates differentiation as an element of life and death in his work "Differentiate or die."

"Differentiate or die"

With the changes that have occurred in the markets and in consumer habits, the differentiation has gone from being attributable to the product to a element that is built on multiple variables, with which it is achieved that a brand, business or company stands out in the sight of its customers.

Benefits of differentiation

The benefits obtained from this type of strategy answer the question Why differentiate? Whose answer is very simple, to reach the preference in the market, independent of the variable that drives the purchase decision of a potential client.

There are several benefits that a brand perceives when using a differentiation strategy:

• It manages to stand out from the crowd of similar products.
• It generates empathy and loyalty, the customer buys because the product fulfills its function, but he also likes it and enjoys it.
• Create a value that increases the perception of what the customer perceives and transcends beyond the real or functional benefits of the product.
• Avoid the price competition, places the product in another category, since the value it represents for the customer is not comparable with the cost-benefit relationship.
• It provokes brand loyalty, a unique product in the consumer's mind, it is an irreplaceable product.
• Minimize the competition, there is nothing the competition can do when the customer is happy with what they are getting.

To conclude, it is worth highlighting that the differentiation strategy is achieved through the creation of a competitive advantage, that unique and valuable characteristic that gives an advantage to a brand or company with respect to its direct competition, thus being relevant for its potential customers.

In the same way, it is important to know that developing some effective competitive advantage takes time, requires conceiving a benefit and added value for the customer.

On the other hand, for an advantage to be truly competitive, it must be difficult to match, imitate, or copy by competitors, it must also be flexible so that it can adapt to constant changes in the market.