Tuesday Mar 07, 2023
The Visionary Brand | Strategic Competitiveness
The Visionary Chronicles Podcast
CHRONICLE: March 7th, 2023
Content from…
The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World's Most Visionary Brands.
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Readers Favorite Award Winner; Top Marketing Book
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Amazon Bestseller.
“Be a yardstick of quality. Some people aren't used to an environment where excellence is expected.” – Steve Jobs
THE VISIONARY BRAND | Strategic Competitiveness
Strategic Competitiveness is born from a Brand that has established itself as premium and can be trusted to consistently provide the best level of products or services.
With the strategic weapon of premium brand positioning, a brand can extend its market share by deploying a Product Squeeze.
The Product Squeeze happens when a brand looks to extend its product mix beyond its core offering without degrading brand equity. That is the key, and it happens without destroying brand equity or community trust.
How does a brand achieve the “squeeze” successfully? It is best explained through marketplace reference. At TaylorMade, we had a commanding market share with Movable Weight Technology (MWT) with our “first mover” advantage. Our flagship product then was the R7 Series of woods and irons. However, our leading sporting goods retailer had requested additional products at a faster pace at differing price points.
All retail footprints are built off three distinct price tiers; Good, Better, and Best. We were the Best but needed a product covering all price tiers. Our strategy was to reintroduce a previous TaylorMade product series without the flagship tech of MWT. We would reintroduce the Burner product line. Great product, but with one distinct difference, no MWT Tech. Introducing the Burner line it allowed us to capture the “Better” Tier. With one Tier left to conquer, we would decrease product development and commercialization, allowing to introduce new generations of Best level products, and move the previous to the Good level, similar to Apple's strategy with all their products.
Once we built this three-product Tier strategy, we could “Squeeze” all competitors off the other two matrixes and command a more significant market share. Within 12-18 months, we moved from a mid-30% market share to a mid-50% market share: a fantastic accomplishment and something our retail partner did not anticipate would be so successful. You would think they would be excited, but they were concerned that one brand, TaylorMade commanded such market share power and could now command pricing power, as the brand is now the majority shareholder. Deploying the “Product Squeeze” so successfully allowed smaller to enter the market.
Strategic Competitiveness is about finding a way to leverage your brand equity without damaging brand loyalty. In other words, do not be greedy, be smart. Build consistently great products, build brand loyalty through your community, and partner with your retailer or DTC channel to leverage your Strategic strategy.
Finding ways to eliminate your competitors is a weapon few possess, and those who have this power must use it wisely and strategically.
Stay True, Stay Authentic, be Different, and be Great!
Enjoy the Journey!
Bryan Smeltzer, President
LiquidMind Inc.
#TheVisionaryChroniclesPodcast
#TheVisionaryBrandBook
@LiquidMindsite.com
@BryanSmeltzer.com
© All rights reserved, Bryan Smeltzer, 2023
Bryan Smeltzer is a consumer products business executive and entrepreneur. He has held executive-level roles in business development, product, and marketing with some of the world's most prestigious brands, including; Oakley, TaylorMade, Adidas, K-Swiss, and Schutt Sports, among other international brands. He also founded a men’s apparel brand, successfully running a profitable business for ten years, eventually selling to a VC firm.
He also hosts a Podcast called The Visionary Chronicles, and recently finished his first bestselling book, The Visionary Brand, The Success Formula Behind the World’s Most Visionary Brands, and recently received the prestigious Readers Favorite Award for BEST Non-fiction, Marketing Genre book.
He is also a member of the Board of Advisors at UCI’s BCIE along with their New Venture Program, an Innovation Advisor at the UCI’s Applied Innovation program at the Cove, a Mentor/Advisor to UCLA’s Price Center Venture Accelerator Program, and a Mentor/Advisor at the San Diego Sports Innovators Accelerator (SDSI) center.
Bryan oversees LiquidMind Inc., a global brand strategy firm that partners with start-ups and established mid to large-cap consumer brands to empower businesses to think differently, be different, drive a passionate culture, and execute relentlessly.
You can contact or follow him at;
linkedin.com/in/bryansmeltzer/
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