Ongoing economic trends across every imaginable industry are making a noticeable lean towards price wars and cutting prices. We often try to gauge whether or not one brand’s decision to engage in a price war will in turn lead its industry competitors to tumble down a slippery slope that is nearly impossible to recover from.
There [...]
Coffee Price Wars: Competitive Advantage of Starbucks, McDonalds and Dunkin’ Donuts Face an Intriguing Shift
March 9th, 2010Are You Shooting at Your Target (Market) With Dull Arrows?
March 8th, 2010Many company leaders have come to us and sheepishly admitted the core message they use in sales and marketing was developed during different times. These leaders know a major change has taken place, and a new and more effective message is required today. The “arrows” they aim [...]
Read MoreCompetitive Advantage and Price Wars: How Well Might Metro PCS Compete Against AT&T if Prices Were Equal?
March 1st, 2010“We must be seen as the best deal in town.” Such powerful words, and the first step to an accelerated tumble straight to the bottom of the profit margin. These are the words of MetroPCS Chief Operating Officer, Thomas Keys, whose company competes strongly with price.
As we’ve emphasized time and again, engaging in a price war [...]
E*Trade Cuts Broker Prices, Loses Competitive Advantage & Engages in All-Out Price War
February 16th, 2010Price wars abound in online brokering as E*Trade Financial Corporation jumped into a broker commission price war last Monday.
Eliminating account activity fees and the $12.99 commission tier, E*Trade chose to help current and potential customers view E*Trade services as a more simple, valuable and transparent business through which to perform stock trading actions.
No longer is the focus [...]
Super Bowl Prediction
February 5th, 2010Companies are gearing up to move the “profit” ball successfully into the end zone. Going into a recession, most companies played defense. Coming out of a recession you need a strong offense in this game of “the new normal” (Gosh I hate that term for so many reasons, but there it is). Hint: The teams making [...]
Read MoreApple’s iPad Strikes up Price War Amongst E-Book Retailers; Publishers Protect Competitive Advantage
February 3rd, 2010In effort to prevent price wars and maintain a competitive position, Macmillan publishing requested that Amazon.com stop selling digital and print versions of books from Macmillan publishing.
This action closely followed Apple’s introduction of the iPad and an announcement of the iBookstore –a marketplace through which iBook applications such as e-books for the new iPad may be purchased and downloaded.
After [...]
Creating Competitive Advantage Through Innovation: Nike, Apple Tout Strong Innovation Success
January 25th, 2010While it is wise to avoid engaging in price wars with competitors, there are a number of ways a company can identify and utilize a unique competitive advantage to differentiate itself from competing brands. Innovation plays a strong role in many brands’ processes of creating a competitive advantage. Nike and Apple both mantain strong track records for successfully [...]
Read MoreCompetitive Advantage in Advertising: Toyota Discovers & Touts Competitive Advantage Rather than Engage in Price Wars
January 15th, 2010One of Toyota’s recent television advertisements serves as a great example of a brand that has identified and is touting its competitive advantage.
A man is ready to drive his car into a mechanical car wash, but just before choosing the “Basic” car wash option, we see his toddler son in the back seat, shaking his [...]
Read MoreHow Toys “R” Us Maintains its Competitive Advantage Against Wal-Mart
January 4th, 2010In the struggle to maintain top competitive rankings in attracting and retaining consumers, many retailers discover their unique competitive advantage that differentiates their brand from similar organizations. By touting its competitive advantage a company avoids reaching commodity status: a position achieved through engaging in price wars with competing retailers.
By moving focus away from price and onto service and selection, [...]
