The best businesses to be in are the ones with high barriers to entry. Think about it – why do doctors and lawyers and dentists earn so much money? Because there are barriers to entry – medical school, the bar exam, dental school – keeping people from getting into these professions. That keeps the supply scarce…

Let’s look at some of the biggest and most overused clichés in  marketing: “quality, value and service.” These are used far too often in marketing messages for all kinds of companies. It gets to the point where the messages and even the words themselves can become interchangeable. The next three marketing taglines are just ones I made up on the…

It’s more important than ever for companies to differentiate themselves in the market, because all of your competitors are saying the same thing. So much of marketing messaging nowadays just runs together – it all starts to sound like “Blah, blah, blah…” and people tune it out. I tend to pick on the insurance industry as an example of…

When trying to create competitive advantage, many companies fall into a familiar trap – they allow themselves to be defined by the limitations and assumptions of “the business that they’re in.” For example, consider the soft drink industry – Coca-Cola, Pepsi and other smaller regional brands. This industry is faced with growing media scrutiny and public…

I get the feeling sometimes from watching TV ads that a lot of people in the advertising industry would rather be artists, movie directors or comedy writers. Too many ads seem like they were made with the goal of getting laughs, dazzling the audience with visual tricks, or (in the worst cases) impressing other ad…

Too many companies, especially small-to-medium size companies that are not as familiar with the world of advertising, are being sold on “branding advertising” as the answer to all their marketing challenges. Advertising is an important part of building a brand, but it’s not the only part. It’s worth re-visiting the difference between branding and advertising…

How to avoid the “Race to the Bottom” and marketing your company as a higer-value provider In tough economic times, many companies are tempted to try to compete on price. “If we cut our prices, we can drive up our sales volume,” these companies’ leaders say to themselves. “Then we’ll be better off – and we…

The Google competitive advantage allows it to uphold the position as the dominant search engine in the world, with almost 90 percent of the total search market, according to Connexity. To maintain Google’s competitive advantage, the company has developed an infrastructure that guarantees a fast and efficient search engine, as well as branching out its efforts…

While touting a rather irresistable competitive advantage message, Progressive impels consumers to take control of their insurance prices with a strong marketing message. FLO: Hi, may I help you? Customer: Yeah, I’m looking for car insurance that isn’t going to break the bank. FLO: You’re in the right place! Only Progressive gives you the option to name your price. Here! [hands…