Know-How Exchange : Strategy

Hi,

Its difficult to tell the authors who agree with Porters views on Competitive Advantage. But there are definately several leaders who have followed this model in their respective business like Jack Welsh. And the list will be never ending.

Porters 5 force models is like a very generic terms and people use it frequently.

And you are absolutely right in mentioning that marketing communications is a competitive advantage itself for the organisation. But there is a catch here. If it is done properly. Actually marketing communication is a small part of Brand Building and definately we agree that branding for a product/ company create a competitive advantage as it creates differentials.

Lets see the examples of Virgin, Apple, Beetles etc are the result of effective communication.

Best of Luck.

Check out Blue Ocean Strategies by Chan Kim

here is a link on amazon
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1591396190/ref=pd_sim_b_5/103-2970091-645...

I don't think anyone can say that marketing communications can give a business a competitive advantage, but I think that the Marketing Unit can do so.

I can think of numerous examples of businesses I have worked in that have poor comms, but great product development, MI, account management etc, that still continue to produce and win great business.

I dont know if this is worth the time for me to write this now, but i hope my ideas will be widely read.

Blue ocean strategy was something that has been brewing for a long time. i've read quite a few of kim&co's journals in the mba to know where they are heading. Blue ocean just makes it mainstream.

However, i would and would not suggest blue ocean for the question posted here because:

1) blue ocean is based on the presumption that one has the ability to change the product attributes, the way its delivered, and basically, your 4'p's 4'cs etc. With this in mind, you can, as they have stated, make the competition obsolete by creating a new value curve.

However, for those of us who cannot change any of the product attributes, blue ocean is a lot less applicable. So if you work for a advertising/marketing agency for a product that is wholly imported, then there is little you can do with blue ocean strategy.

BUT!

2) you can use blue ocean strategy and apply it in a marketing communications concept. I dont know if others have already had this idea but it occured to me one day that rather than using product attribution whilst mapping th e value curve, why not use different promotions and effects instead?

so in my strategy for marketing corona in china, i have used different methods of beer marketing as the different value curves instead of different companies. this is because each specific marketing activity remains the same for most companies. So, i have used dj parties, sales promotion, product promotion etc. and added, reduced, eliminated and created new items to bring about a new value curve for my product.

in the end, to answer your question, i do believe that marcomm has the potential to be a CA. but whether or not its sustained CA is another question.

i hope i get more replies from this as i really think this is something that kim hasnt thought about. i'll post this as a question because i want to hear more from profs.

thanks

I’d go with Wiglaf, who tends to have an analytical and numerically literate approach to the subject (Ever read the Wiglaf journal? Hiring an extra brain can help, but there’s no bullshit there which is more than you can say for most writings on MarCom.)

MarCom to my mind does not fall under Porter’s definitions of competitive advantage, though some of the deliverables sometimes attributed to it can. A competitive advantage according to Porter is about cost leadership, differentiation and focus, plus a load of other tangibles he expanded on later. To add MarCom to this list is about as sensible as adding the structure of the corporation’s HQ or the menu in the cafeteria. The things delivered through a MarComs department may well help to deliver competitive advantage, but equally well can destroy it. It’s the word “Through” in the last sentence you should concentrate on!

Properly run and directed, MarCom is an expedient method of ensuring the consistent and timely delivery of everything that a company does, but it is not in itself a creator of advantage. It is a conduit for advantage created in other parts of the company and advantages and benefits in products and services which are inherent, but highlighted by the marketing department.

当马科姆s start to write the script, there is to my mind an abrogation of responsibility somewhere else in the executive chain of command. They should tell you how to communicate to the world at large and optimise the process, but they will not be the message – just the people who provide the itinerary for the messengers and if they are good on camera, sometimes the messengers themselves. The last point is usually a disaster – how often have you seen a MarComs guy or girl made to look a total Charlie because they spout the corporate line and then have no answers for the sharp members of the press?

I hope that this highly opinionated tirade doesn’t lose me the few MarComs friends that I still have!

Steve Alker
Unimax Solutions

On first glance marcom does not fall within the purview of competitive advantage. If we want to simply define the scope of competitive advantage it would be certain areas/activities of a company through which it attains some advantage on the choice of the consumer over their competition.

公关部可以成为竞争优势的薪酬any if it can make its communication pattern/style the differentiator. Recently the leading mobile company in Bangladesh launched a youth brand, DJUICE. its core differentiator beyond being the youth brand was how it communicated the brand. It used youth sms lingo, and the informal dialect in its communication. Within 6 months of launch the brand had a whooping 90+ Top of mind awareness. Till date the brand stands out because of its MARCOM