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Discovering new points of differentiation.

I C MacMillan1, R G McGrath

  • 1University of Pennsylvania, Wharton School, Philadelphia, USA.

Harvard Business Review
|June 6, 1997
PubMed
Summary

Companies can achieve greater profitability by differentiating their offerings beyond products and services. Analyzing the entire customer journey, or consumption chain, reveals unique opportunities for competitive advantage and business growth.

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Area of Science:

  • Business Strategy
  • Marketing
  • Customer Experience Management

Background:

  • Most business strategies focus on product or service differentiation.
  • Differentiation is key to profitability by offering unique customer value.
  • Companies often overlook opportunities to differentiate across the entire customer interaction lifecycle.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore how companies can uncover new differentiation opportunities.
  • To demonstrate the value of analyzing the complete customer experience, termed the consumption chain.
  • To provide a framework for developing successful differentiation strategies.

Main Methods:

  • Analyzing the customer's entire experience with a product or service (consumption chain mapping).
  • Utilizing directed brainstorming on each step of the consumption chain to identify differentiation points.
  • Case study analysis (e.g., Blyth Industries) to illustrate successful application.

Main Results:

  • Companies can identify novel differentiation opportunities by examining the full consumption chain.
  • A systematic approach can help nurture the skill of identifying and developing differentiation strategies.
  • Successful differentiation can lead to significant business growth, as exemplified by Blyth Industries.

Conclusions:

  • Expanding differentiation focus beyond products/services to the entire customer experience is crucial for competitive advantage.
  • The consumption chain framework provides a practical tool for uncovering and implementing innovative differentiation strategies.
  • Continuous identification of differentiation points is a learnable and valuable business skill.

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