Why Differentiation and Advertising No Longer Work: The Need for Hyper-Differentiation

Presenter: Steve Barnett, Co-founder & CEO, Bardo Consulting

Description

Typical product differentiation is no longer sufficient to get your products noticed and to stand out from competition as many consumers, especially younger ones, look for a “perfect” fit between what they desire and what is available. Traditional advertising is not a source of information or trends as consumers look to social networks, blogs and other Internet means to learn what works for them and what’s next.

Steve will suggest that hyper-differentiation (or creating products that perfectly match even small segment desires) can be more profitable than traditional products, but the process of creation is quite distinct from usual R&D and involves an anthropologically insightful, deep understanding of your customers.

Advertising is increasingly turned off, actually or figuratively, by the consumers you most want to contact and convince. Potential alternate advertising venues, like YouTube, MySpace, etc. are not accepted by the people who inhabit those websites as legitimate uses of those sites. Figuring out how to reach the new consumer and how to let the right segments know about hyper-differentiated products that resonate with their desires is the challenge.

This webinar will describe, with many practical examples and case studies, how to develop the next generation of hyper-differentiated products and how to communicate effectively with the new consumer.