Founder & CEO, the Imagine companies
How easily can you quantify the differences between your products and services from those of your competitors? How easily can your clients or prospects make those same distinctions? How can you continuously differentiate your company when market forces are constantly commoditizing your business? Think about that question for a moment. It is the biggest challenge facing businesses of all sizes in the 21st century.
Commoditization is the evolutionary process that reduces all products and services to their lowest common denominator. The Commoditization Trap is the situation businesses find themselves in when their focus is mainly on the product or service they offer instead of a quantifiable difference between their product and their competitor’s.
Imagine Consulting has asked over 2,000 business owners and salespeople “Why should people buy from you instead of your competitors?” Here is what many answered:
- We give better service.
- Our clients get better results with us.
- We know what we’re doing better than our competition does.
- Our products and service are better.
These answers may sound familiar. But as nice as they sound, and even as true as they may be, these answers are all indicative of a we are better value proposition. Distinguishing your company in such a manner puts you in The Commoditization Trap™. These answers do not differentiate you. No one is out there saying: “We’re not as good.” Even companies for which price is the primary selling point insist that their products are just as good.
The Commoditization Trap, ensnaring businesses, impacts businesses in ways not readily apparent to them. Unaware of the causes of commoditization, businesses often unnecessarily expend valuable resources. Addressing the symptoms of commoditization, rather than focusing on their origin, businesses look internally to solve the problem. This actually propels them deeper into the trap. Businesses invest in new product development. They change their marketing plans. They change their advertising. They reprint their brochures. They change the sales process by eliminating salespeople if they have a sales force or hiring salespeople if they do not have a sales force. In an attempt to get out of the trap, businesses do all of this under the mantra of “ giving added value” to their customers. The problem, however, is that businesses fail to ask themselves if any of these changes actually add value.
CONCLUSIONS
The tighter "The Commoditization Trap" is on a company or an industry, the more that company or industry must look outside – to its customers, clients and prospects to find, and, more importantly, understand the unique problems that face them. Companies must stop being “solution” specialists and become “problem” specialists. If you want to avoid or escape "The Commoditization Trap" you must find ways to add value (something people are willing to pay for) before the product or service becomes an issue.
From a packaging development specialist point of view, like we are, the COMMODITIZATION TRAP is not only a "danger" , but a reality caused and accellerated by:
- the increase of Food safety issues, norms and requests of controls
- the standardization of the materials imposed by local pubblic laws to facilitate the waste management.
- the buying activity for facilitate the e-auctions
- the research of the max efficiency possible on existing process
- the necessity of intensive capital for the development of innovative more sustinable materials, process and solutions.
SO PLEASE ASK US TO SOLVE YOUR PROBLEMS INSTEAD TO LOOK FOR INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS!!!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hssd84U2470
A good example will follow!!
[ add comment ] ( 17 views ) | permalink |
( 3.1 / 1016 )I am not big a supporter of the so called "Sustainability packaging solutions", because I find them more a marketing tool than a real development that can be used in a consistent manner by the industry to pack products more ecologically!!
Sometimes you will find some intelligent industrial solutions, like this one, which is good to be mentioned!
Innovia Films has recently launched in USA a new high barrier NatureFlex™ range of renewable and compostable cellulose-based packaging films for the North American market. The new films, NatureFlex™ NKR and NKA, manufactured in Tecumseh, KS, provide the highest moisture barriers of any transparent bio-film on the market.
NatureFlex contains over 90% renewable content as measured by ASTM 6866 and is produced from wood pulp sourced from managed plantations that either have or are actively working towards Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification or equivalent. The product is also compostable and meets the requirements of ASTM D6400, composting within six weeks.
Both these films provide an excellent barrier to gases and aroma, a good barrier to moisture and have a wide heat-seal range. They also offer advantages for packing and converting such as inherent deadfold and anti-static properties, high gloss and they are resistant to grease and oil. NKA and NKR films are ideal for packing moisture-sensitive products such as coffee, cookies, condiments, chips, bakery, and cosmetics. Types of pack construction the films could be used in include—twist wrap, overwrap, pouches, sachets, lamination with other bio-films, HFFS flow wrap, and VFFS bags. For more, visit www.innoviafilms.com.
I hope that some companies will take note of it!
[ add comment ] ( 16 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 844 )After the last success of the TWILIGHT saga, a new "energy drink" has been launched on the market inspirated by this new trend.
Well, for those consumers who want to fully embrace the vampire ethos without having to go to all the bother to find victims and bite their necks (and all the rest), there is apparently an option. A small company in the U.S. has introduced an energy drink that the company says not only looks like blood but also has the consistency and nutritional makeup of blood. The drink does not, however, taste like blood—more like fruit punch, actually.
Harcos Laboratories’ Blood Energy Potion completes the entire picture of living the vampire lifestyle with the product package. The flexible pouch holds 3.4 oz. of energy drink, capped with twist-off closure. Usually, pouches of this sort have a flat bottom so that they can easily stand. Not this one. The Blood Energy Potion package is intended to be merchandised closure down, to remind one of a blood transfusion pouch or intravenous drip bag.
A hole in the pouch base—the top in this case—allows for pegboard display. And to help reinforce the point of the product, the display case for the drinks also has the pouches in the spout-down position, making them look a bit like they have been lifted from the local blood bank. A female vampire illustration graces the display, which features the benefit statements of “For Humans or Vampires” and “similar nutrients to real blood.”
This particular product illustrates quite well how a hot trend and an interesting formulation can be elevated to another level via smart packaging. In this case, clever and funny elements play on the current fascination with all things vampire.
Putting this energy drink in a standard bottle would greatly lessen the impact and the appeal. Normally with a novelty package such as this, the downside would be that the trend will eventually fade, making the product obsolete. However, the Blood Energy Potion is in a category that seems to be defined by relatively quick in-and-out products and shorter-term products that have a strong sense of fun.
Source : Package Design
You can buy it directly from http://shop.harcoslabs.com/all-products/
[ add comment ] ( 29 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 1977 )
Statistics report that ONLY less than 8% of the "NEW" (which doesn't mean INNOVATIVE) products launched every year on the market survive!
The other are DISCONTINUED....
From my point of view , there is a too limited analysis on this key matter and above all no studies of the main reasons of their failures!
Many successfull enterpreneurs said that the SUCCESS come out from the mistakes done, but this advice doesn't look like kept into consideration very much by the companies.
Here you will find few examples of DISCONTINUED PRODUCTS I have found out on the web, which in my opinion are not at all worse than other still present on the market!
WOULD YOU HAVE ONE TO SUGGEST ?
[ add comment ] ( 16 views ) | permalink |
( 3 / 1970 )METHOD company has reinvented successfully the Detergent business through new packaging designs!!!
Now METHOD focused more on consumer needs: with its new high concentrated laundry detergent pump bottle is a good example where product and package address clear consumer pain points thorugh use of a smart structure a simple graphic cue that avoid making unsubstantiated claims. (Source: Shelf-Impact)
[ add comment ] ( 18 views ) | permalink |
( 3.1 / 1931 )
Calendar