Get Out of the Commodity Business

by Paul Travis, Interim Marketing Executive

I’ve never liked being in the commodity business, because someone can always come along and unseat you on best price. The places I love to play are in differentiating from others by defining a new category.

E.g., when in the late 90’s I was heading up product management for a product competing in the “log file analysis” business (to understand where visitors were going within a web site) we repositioned ourselves as providers in the “e-business intelligence” category.

What about when you cannot define a new category, such as wine in a bottle? How do you get your product to stand out from the crowd?

You cultivate an appreciative customer by engaging them in a compelling story of the background of the land the grapes are grown on, the quality control processes, the craftsmanship, the physical path it takes to market, the farmers themselves, awards that have been won, and anything else that creates appreciation (and therefore willingness to pay more than “Two Buck Chuck” — a fascinating example in itself of urban legend story that swirled success for Trader Joe’s!).

What if the bottle of wine came with its own sommelier? That is the idea behind a print technology that Italian company, Modulgraf, is set to roll out next month at Milan’s wine fair. The innovation is a system for embedding micro-chips into paper labels that transmit information via RFID (radio frequency identification) to handheld devices. Through your PalmPilot or perhaps a grocery store’s loaner Walkman (”Wineman”?) buyers will be able to listen to information about the vino and perhaps even some Italian mood-setting music.

Can you differentiate your products or services by defining a new category? If not, how can you differentiate within your category? “Facts tell and stories sell”.

Paul Travis is an interim marketing executive at OneAccord. Mr. Travis is based out of Seattle with 25 years of experience in high technology, marketing, and consulting. He can be reached at Paul.Travis(at)oneaccordpartners.com and at 206-910-2222.

Marketing Greases Selling

by Paul Travis

Actually, the reminder note to myself was “eases” — but I now see that it’s about more! As a corollary to Travis’ Law (originally published Jan 2007) let’s formally spell it out as:

Why would, and how could, this be?

• Better targeting of features to need by customer segment
• Positioning for uniqueness across the competitive reference frame
• Alignment of price to value perceptions
• Consistent messaging that resonates with the customer constituency

So the sales (”solutions”) person can simply ask if the product or service feels right. Oh sure, it’s a more involved conversation — with satisfaction of objections, customization, modification, etc.

But we’re talking about a WORLD of difference from many sales organizations that just “wing it” and burn a lot through a LOT of salespeople.

How can your investment in marketing grease your sales process and results?

Paul Travis is a principal at OneAccord Partners based out of Seattle with 25 years of experience in high technology, marketing, and consulting. He has also co-authored the book Leadership on Demand: How Smart CEO’s Tap Interim Management to Drive Revenue. His blog is www.60-Second-Marketing.com. Paul can be contacted at 206-910-2222 and Paul.Travis@oneaccordpartners.com.