What Is Differentiated Marketing?

Differential market strategy, also known as differential marketing, refers to the fact that in the face of a market that has been subdivided, an enterprise chooses two or more submarkets as market targets, and provides targeted products and services to each submarket and Corresponding sales measures. Based on the characteristics of the sub-market, the company separately formulates and implements product strategies, price strategies, channel strategies, and promotion strategies.

Differential Market Strategy

The core idea of differentiated marketing is "divide the market, target the target consumer group, introduce brands, and establish an image." On the basis of market segmentation, according to the individual needs of the target market, through brand positioning and communication, endow the brand with unique values, establish a distinctive image, and establish brand differentiation and personalized core competitive advantages. The key to differentiated marketing is to actively look for market vacancies, select target markets, tap the personalized needs that consumers have not yet met, develop new features for products, and give brands new value. The basis of differentiated marketing is the diversified characteristics of market consumer demand. Different consumers have different hobbies, different personalities, different value orientations, different income levels and different consumption concepts, etc., which determines their different focus on product brands, which is why they need to be differentiated. Reasons for marketing.

Differential marketing is not the innovation of a certain marketing level or a certain marketing method, but a multi-faceted and systematic marketing innovation such as products, concepts, values, images, promotion methods, and sales promotion methods. Focus on targets in segmented markets to achieve strategic leadership.

An enterprise can select several sub-markets with the greatest interest as the target market. If it has sufficient capacity to meet more sub-markets, it can choose more sub-markets. If each sub-market is attractive to the company, and the company also has Ability to provide different products and services for each sub-market, enterprises can take the sub-market as the target market. Among the world famous multinational companies,

When the development of technology, the vertical division of labor in the industry, and the openness and timeliness of information make more and more products homogeneous, seeking differentiated marketing has become an indispensable weapon for the survival and development of enterprises. Famous Strategic Management Expert

Product differentiation refers to differences in product characteristics, work performance, consistency, durability, reliability, ease of repair, style and design. In other words, the products produced by a certain enterprise are obviously superior to those of similar products in terms of quality and performance, thus forming an independent market. For competitors in the same industry, the core value of the product is basically the same. The difference is that in terms of performance and quality, and to meet the basic needs of customers, providing customers with unique products is the goal pursued by the differentiation strategy . In the 1980s, 10 people used one product in the 1980s, and 10 people used 10 products in the 1990s. Today, one person uses 10 products. Therefore, no enterprise can use one product to meet 10 needs, it is better to launch 10 products to meet 10 needs, or even to meet one need. Enterprises can implement differentiated marketing from two aspects:

Service differentiation means that companies provide excellent services to target markets that are different from competitors. Especially when it is difficult to highlight the differences between tangible products, the key to competitive success often depends on the quantity and quality of services. The main factors that differentiate service levels are delivery, installation, user training, consulting, and maintenance. The difference between pre-sales and after-sales services has become a competitive weapon between rivals. For example, the same computer has a one-year warranty and some has a three-year warranty. The same is user training. Lenovo computers and Hisense computers have free training schools, but the training content varies. The group implements a 24-hour full service, and a set of high-quality services before and after sale make every customer delightful.

In the increasingly fierce market competition, service has become the starting point and destination of all business activities. Nowadays, the difference between product prices and technology is gradually narrowing. In addition to the quality of the product and the company's image, the most important factor affecting consumer purchase is the quality of service. Service can lead the trend of product sales. The ultimate purpose of service is to increase the return rate of customers and expand market share. Only differentiated services can make enterprises and products always have a place in consumers' hearts. Based on the analysis of the technical performance of products in the computer industry, the International Business Computer Corporation (IBM) believes that services are urgently needed by users, so it is determined that the company's business philosophy is "IBM means services." China's Haier Group regards "providing customers with perfect services" as the credo of the company's success. Haier's "try to make users' troubles as close as possible to zero" "users are always right" "star service ideas" "is sales credit , Not selling products, "quality service is the foundation of the company's sustainable development", "delivering quality service can bring more sales to the company" and other service concepts, really put users in the position of God, so that users are using Haier products have been fully satisfied. Naturally, Haier's brand image is getting higher and higher in the eyes of consumers.

Image differentiation refers to gaining a competitive advantage by shaping the image of products, companies and brands different from competitors. Image is the public's perception and feelings about products and enterprises. The tools to shape the image are: name, color, logo, slogan, environment, activities, etc. In terms of color, Kodak's yellow, Fuji's green, and Lekai's red; Pepsi's blue and very Cola's red can all be easily identified by consumers in many similar products. In terms of the difference in the image of alcoholic products in China:

Enterprises adopting differentiated marketing strategies can better meet the different needs of customers, and also maximize the sales potential of each sub-market, which is conducive to expanding the market share of the enterprise. At the same time, operating risks are greatly reduced, and the failure of one submarket will not cause the entire enterprise to fall into trouble. Differentiated marketing strategies have greatly improved the competitiveness of enterprises. Several brands established by enterprises can greatly increase consumers' trust and purchase rate of enterprise products. Diversified advertising, multi-channel distribution, various market research costs, management costs, etc. are all barriers to entry for small businesses. Therefore, for companies with strong financial resources, strong technology, and high-quality products, differentiated marketing is Good choice.

At the same time, differentiation has its own limitations. The biggest disadvantage is that the marketing cost is too high. Production is generally in small batches, which makes the cost of unit products relatively higher and is not economical. In addition, the cost of market research, sales analysis, promotion plans, channel establishment, advertising, logistics and other aspects will undoubtedly increase significantly. This is also the reason why many companies do differentiated marketing, market share has increased, sales have increased, but profits have decreased.

Differential market strategy refers to the design and production of different products based on the needs of each market segment based on the overall market segmentation of the company, formulating and implementing different marketing mix strategies (a combination of various marketing methods) (Usage), trying to satisfy different market demands with different products. ^[1]

At present, differentiated marketing is already a mainstream, but the marketing capabilities of Chinese companies are still in their infancy.