Branding for a Competitive Advantage
Lack of differentiation makes every destination a commodity.
It’s a simple equation. There isn’t a commodity out there that gets to charge a premium–not one red cent more–unless there are no competitors. Commodities are easily substituted. No one cares if you swap out one for another, because they’re all the same. There is little differentiation. A beach here is basically the same as a beach there. A lift and lodging deal here is the same as a deal over there. When all destinations in a category promote the same experience, none can claim an advantage.
In a commodity market, price becomes the driver
Let’s say you’re in a hotel lobby, at a rest stop, or even just surfing the web. You happen upon a brochure (or website) for a ski resort. You flip through it. How much of it was truly unique? How much differentiation was created in your mind as you viewed it? Aside from a few facts about physical attributes, what popped off the page as truly unique?
Let’s use another example. You pick up a travel magazine at your local newsstand, and page through it casually as you wait for a phone call, or sip coffee. It’s an issue about beach getaways. How many different ads will feature a photo of a woman, on a lounge chair, with a palm tree? It might surprise a lot of destination marketers to learn that a common response to ads like these is “Another beach. So what?”
To make matters worse, online travel agencies, aggregators, and directory websites seem to have trained the consuming public to look for low price as the only driver of choice. The websites that people like to go to see how much it would cost to fly to Denver, or Miami aren’t in the business of helping create differentiation, or building a strong brand, or introducing a destination to a new audience. For them, it’s all about transaction volume.
The result? Lots of great deals for the consumer, but travel brands become uninteresting in a hurry if they’re not the cheapest deal.
Features and attributes are not meaningful points of differentiation
For those on the inside of the business, it’s especially important to see things from the consumers’ perspective. Many marketers take stock of the features or attributes they have to sell or promote, and attempt to create a brand position around them. The problem is that many of those attributes (a ski lift, a beach, a restaurant, activities for kids) aren’t all that unique. Lots of places have beaches, don’t they?
This is why creating differentiation within a particular sub-category is so vital to a strong competitive position, and can really drive preference, market share, and bottom line growth.
Consider the position your destination is in
To examine where your brand is now, and where you want to be in the future, ask yourself these twelve questions:
- Do we follow what our competitors are doing and saying?
- Do we talk with our customers to find out what they think?
- Do we talk with non-customers to find out why they aren’t customers?
- Does the look, flavor or tone of our marketing campaigns change frequently?
- Do we have a “mood board” and brand statement for our company?
- Has everyone that comes into contact with our customers seen it?
- Do we have a litmus test to determine if each element of our communications program is “on position?”
- Do we have a brand standards or graphics standards manual?
- Are they followed religiously?
- Do we have a designated brand steward to pay close attention to creative, and other applications of the brand?
- Do we track ROI for marketing initiatives?
- How are our conversion rates?
It’s a crowded world we live in, and despite recessions, layoffs, and tumbling revenue projections, people will still make time for getting away. A strong position will help you create emotional, evocative connections with the consumer. Those connections are built on insights grounded in the truth, and will help you find meaningful differentiation in your category. The process is simple, and can transform your destination from a commodity to a category leader.
NEXT TIME: Defining a Unique Position for Your Destination
Mark Shipley is President and founder of Wanderlust, a travel and destination marketing firm that specializes in communications strategies, Internet marketing, branding and management consulting for the tourism industry.
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‘There isn’t a commodity out there that gets to charge a premium–not one red cent more–unless there are no competitors’
i have to disagree mark- there are luxury brands who charge what they like – they dont even care about recesions because their clients have such high incomes –
the brand loyalty is so strong and brand so exclusive and luxury competitors dont even come into the equation
Ben,
I understand what you’re saying. But I would have to argue that “luxury brands that charge what they like … and have …. brand loyalty so strong… that … competitors don’t even come into the equation” aren’t commodities at all. They are highly differentiated brands in the minds of their loyal customers.
As for charging what they like, that is true – up to a point. There is a price point for every brand where their loyal customers will trade down/away. Recession or not.
I would have to agree with Ben, but I would also point out that to a degree it doesn’t make sense to change your marketing or operational practices dramatically during a recession, unless they weren’t on track to begin with.
A recession is a temporary situation, even in the worst case scenario. If you had good operational and marketing practices, a strong brand presence, and a strong brand loyalty by providing quality products and services, there is no need to deviate to deal with the temporary state of the economy only to undermine your long term goals.
I’m of the opinion of taking a hit in profits this year, while still retaining my operational and marketing abilities so that I don’t loose momentum when the economy revives.
Roberto,
See my response above regarding Ben’s comments. As far as changing practices during a recession, you make a good point and I counsel my clients to stay the course whenever it makes sense. There are times, both in a recession and not, when it makes sense to alter your plans. Recessionary times can present opportunities for growth in share that one might not have during better times and actually contribute to reaching your long-term goals. And then there is the CFO to consider. Sometimes it is just not politically feasible to stay the course, no matter how much sense it makes. The key is staying true to the brand, and remembering that the brand is not what we want it to be, but what the consumer thinks it is.
“Recessionary times can present opportunities for growth in share that one might not have during better times and actually contribute to reaching your long-term goals.”
This is an interesting point and true , as my bro always points out in a recession people need to sell more hence advertise more which means they need to hire designers .
A point I dont think is covered enough .
How do you go about creating a brand before you know what the consumet thinks about it?
I ask because you obviously know your branding ;)
“How do you go about creating a brand before you know what the consumet thinks about it?”
You don’t.
I enjoyed this post. It’s the branding that sells, it’s the branding that allows you to charge a premium, it’s the branding that puts you on the map and drives your marketing. But many people don’t understand this. They don’t understand that when you are buying a product you are buying the comprehensive brand image. This is true in all realms, even outside of travel.
What can be difficult is investing the dollars needed to promote properly. Also, it can be hard to sell the brand image that you may feel best fits the product or service. Not everyone feels the same way about a brand, people perceive things differently, and thus, you must have a clear idea of your demographic. Surveys and focus groups can help here.
Good post,
- @johnelincoln