Strengths
The starting point for every good message is some value that you create. The first step in building a marketing knowledge base is to create the longest possible list of all the good things that might potentially become part of the story of your product.
Where do these kinds of value come from? Look at every aspect of your business: both the supply side – the things you create and do in the running of your business, and the demand side – the value that is part of your business because of the customers you have. On the supply side, look at the values of your company as a whole. What are your company’s ethics and standards in doing business? Could they help you define value in the context of your product? Look at the other products your company produces. How do they contribute to the strength of the story for your product? Look at the channel through which your products reach the market. How does your channel strengthen your story?
Of course, many of these sources of value are not differentiating. That doesn’t make them useless – they should in most cases still be part of your brand and your story, but they are not going to be the lead. In order to understand differentiation, we must understand the competition and our relationship to them.
On to competition:
