2010, We Should Pay Attention To The Invisible Misconceptions Of Differentiation.

We need to differentiate ourselves from differences, but at the same time we should be alert to differences.

Since Harvard Business School lifelong professor Michael Porter proposed "Think Different" - the slogan of differential competition, many enterprises are also advocating this point.

How should we apply the strategy of differentiation?

From the success of Apple Corp's implementation of differentiation strategy and the failure of IT retail businesses to adopt the strategy of "flat channel" differentiation, we can see the splendor and gravity of the word "differentiation".

Thinking differently, apple is coming back to life.

How to make the differentiation strategy best implemented? Without him, only by multiplying creativity, we must create creative space.

"In the" differentiation "strategy, the most classic case of successful implementation of differentiation strategy is Apple Corp.

Mr. Chen, a former international brand research firm, has had many years of tracking research on Apple Corp. He believes that differentiation strategy is an important reason why Apple Corp can bring back to life.

In 1990s, Apple was unable to resist the attraction of the earth's core as a result of a series of misjudgments and internal organizational problems.

At the beginning of 1997, apple computer's PC share was only 3%, and the idol brand that had been worshipped became a struggle for survival. It was a great pity for us. The cover of "business week" announced directly that "the fall of an American symbol."

But this "American symbol" once again came back after Steven Jobs returned to apple.

In 1997, legendary Jobs took charge of the dangerous apple and implemented a drastic reform.

In order to completely change the bad image of Apple Corp, Jobs decided to increase the advertising input of the company.

In 1998, the company's advertising budget increased to $100 million.

The concept of "Think Different" was formally put forward at this time.

The advent of the "Think Different" series of advertisements shows Jobs's Thoughts on the strategy of Apple Corp differentiation.

The scheme was conceived by the advertiser crouch, putting the slogan of "Think Different" or "plating all kinds of thoughts" into combination with many "creative talents" in different fields, including black and white photographs of Einstein, Gandhi, boxing champion Ali, Richard Branson, John Lennon and Ono Yoko.

The print ads of the plan can be seen everywhere in all kinds of billboards, wall advertisements and bus bodies.

When this advertisement stimulates consumers to think about the difference between Apple computers and users, it also encourages people to think about their differences and make them become creative talents by using Apple computers.

Jobs said: "different thinking represents the spirit of Apple brand, because people with enthusiasm and creativity can make the world a better place.

Apple decided to create the best tools in the world for the creative people everywhere.

In 1998, the secret weapon of Jobs's differentiation strategy was not formally launched before iMac received 150 thousand orders.

Since then, a variety of new colors and enhancements of iMac have been launched, so that users who were completely disappointed with the "apple" have come back, and apple has once again become the focus of the IT world.

The computer went on sale for only 6 weeks and sold 278 thousand units, so that BusinessWeek ranked iMac as the best product in 1998.

The charm of iMac gives all the computer fans a bright look: its shell is plucent plastic, with five colors of blue, green, orange, red and purple. The fuselage is of arc shape and looks plump and adorable.

Appearance is the first step of Jobs's humanization of iMac. In order to make the appearance more unique, the designer specially consulted the packaging experts of the candy company, which caused a plastic fever in the design field at that time.

Apple computer has always been an anomaly in the killing field of personal computers. Although its market share is small, it is the only brand that can grow in recent years except DELL and SONY.

Every generation of new products is launched by PC manufacturers. Apple actually relies on "design innovation", retaining the character of the pure Engineer in this industry, and whispering speech. Jobs, in an interview with Time magazine, specifically mentioned: "designing a unique computer is very simple and difficult, and how to make users feel close and easy to use."

This is the PC factory that has been followed up for a long time.

Personalized company

In fact, Apple's first choice as a leading computer maker was the independence of the Macintosh operating system and advanced industrial design philosophy in the late 1990s.

Jobs knows that only innovation can make apple vibrant, so the technology is focused on developing new products, and in less than 3 years after the "iMac" desktop computer, "iBook" and "PowerG4" desktop computers are coming out, trying to recapture the market occupied by PC.

The iMac network computer is only the beginning of Jobs's strategic change: not taking the apple computer as a pure PC manufacturer, but aiming at individualized pursuit.

Since then, Jobs has begun to move beyond the computer field and move towards the two major markets of music and film.

In 1999, Apple launched iMovie, which used the video editing program on the Mac machine to bring the professional digital editing platform to the public. In January 2001, Apple launched the video editing software iTunes; ten months later, it launched its first iPod; in 2002, Apple also launched the Windows version iPod.

There is no doubt that Apple's strategy is changing, and this kind of strategic flexibility which is biased towards "personalization" has made Jobs taste the sweetness.

As an outstanding leader of practical combat, Jobs gradually strengthened his strategic pformation to Apple Corp: no longer portrayed apple as a pure PC manufacturer, but he was turning it into a high-end consumer electronics and service company.

Since the launch of iMac in 1998, every time Apple has released new products like a high number of gunpowder, which has blown everyone up and down, Jobs seems to be enjoying it.

Flat channel IT retail lost Beijing

A group marked by chain stores.

But this new model that emphasizes differentiation is not achieving the desired results.

Today, the fate of the leaders is extremely unbearable.

"Beijing cyberspace" has failed completely, and the foreign business shops have been repeatedly worried. "Chinese digital" has been left behind, but it has no choice but to turn back to logistics. "Hongli multi" attempt is a flash in the pan, not even many people remember this name; and "Eupa 3C shop" has also experienced a disastrous defeat. So many traditional store operators on various occasions invariably said: "the so-called flat new mode of direct operation will not be effective in the short term."

However, when the market competition is more and more intense, the customer demand is increasingly diversified, and the external environment is becoming more and more complex. The manufacturers who are in the supply chain of IT have finally begun to try to find their new role positioning and core value in the process of exploration.

"Flattening" has become the core word of differential competition.

"3C in Taiwan and Mainland China"

"Regional differences are important.

In Taiwan, due to geographical restrictions, manufacturers generally do not need to go through the intermediate links to reach the sales terminals. It is a typical case that Eupa, which starts with home appliances, and Eupa 3C access.

In such an upstream channel, when Eupa enters the mainland market, it ignores the profit point as a middleman, which is also a great loss.

Li Lei, an analyst at Sai Di consulting, said.

Flat channel

Why?

"Careful observation of the difference between home appliance stores and IT retail enterprises will find that there are still great differences in product types", Li Lei said. "Home appliances stores mainly sell digital products, while IT retailers mainly sell electronic components and IT devices, although there are many digital products."

Although the differentiation of this channel is very advanced, it is difficult to continue in the short term because it is not suitable for consumers' buying habits.

But in the field of IT, because the long term consumption environment is different from other categories, even good differentiation theory is not enough to support enterprise profitability.

These places in Zhongguancun are mainly electronic components and IT equipment.

Because professionals buy, or young people buy, they value their relationship and products professionally. They know how to go to Amoy, know familiar stores, and understand long-term cooperation.

The strength of modern channels is to treat customers as idiots, shopping guides, comfortable environment and product diversity. This strength has lost its role in Zhongguancun's IT products.

Li Zhongjin, the marketing director who announced sales of 5 billion yuan last year, made the best summary of Li Lei's analysis: "the inherent consumption habits and concepts of consumers who come to Zhongguancun to buy IT digital goods are hard to be quickly broken. Therefore, no matter how hard the emerging powers are, Zhongguancun's position as an important distribution center for IT products in northern China is not to be shaken in the short term."