8 new ways to compete in the new normal

frederic de meyer founder

frederic@i4fi.com

www.i4fi.com

www.fredericdemeyer.com

@fdemeyer

are you still competing as if you lived in the old world?

then consider these ideas…

1. let competitors benefit from your strengths

On Amazon marketplace you will often find (new) products at a substantially lower price compared to Amazon’s. Cannibalization? Probably, even if Amazon gets a commission on each transaction. On the other hand, this move has probably limited the number of emerging copycats of Amazon’s business !

2. sell your products to your competitors, and let them sell it under their brand…

If your market is declining you might as well sell directly to your competitors… Peugeot’s Expert vans will be sold as Toyotas as from mid 2013, competing with the same van… of Peugeot !

3. why not compete with yourself?

Admittedly, ‘multibranding’ is anything but new. Procter & Gamble has used this technique for years. But what if it was applied to other industries? Telecom operator KPN, for instance, offers mobile services through 5 different brands on the Dutch market. No doubt this comes at an additional cost. That’s okay just as long as you get a bigger piece of the pie… (no guarantee though)

4. you can invite your future competitors to join you!

Most businesses will face competition from new business models developed by startups… so why wouldn’t you embrace them, by serving as an incubator (the cheap way) or invest in them in very early stage (the risky way)?

5. or you could create competitive startups within your own company!

‘Build, measure, learn’ the start-up way, but from within your company… well, why not? You’ll have loads of trouble changing the culture and letting your employees do the craziest things (like crowdsourcing their ideas), but at least you’ll stay ahead of the game… and of potential competitors…

6. lock in customers by making them part of your business process

New business tools such as crowdsourcing and open innovation can be used as a competitive differentiator. Why? Well, aren’t customers more likely to stay loyal to the brand whose innovations they contribute to? Or, in case of GE’s Ecomagination initiative: aren’t the persons who contributed to the ideas the most likely early adopters of the ideas?

7. you will need to compete in the virtual world as well…

You will need get used to the fact that your customers are decreasingly influenced by the ‘real world’. The true competitive battleground is moving to social media, augmented reality, gamification, virtual currencies and indeed virtual worlds.

8. one way or another, you will have to constantly reinvent yourself…

In virtually every industry, agility will be key to strengthen your competitive position. Most likely you will need to adapt your organizational model (and your culture, processes, employee profiles, etc) in order to become and remain agile. Easier said than done, but vital nevertheless…

Source: agile2lean.blogspot.be

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