Still on the salon business…
As I have mentioned in my previous reflection, my wife’s salon business has been in the market for over a decade now. The company has survived the ups and downs of sales, the increasing prices of inputs, the intense rivalry with existing competitors and of course, the threat of new entrants and substitutes. It is constantly challenged on how to establish its brand in a market that is already saturated by salon bigwigs who leverage on their huge capital and invest heavily on massive advertisement campaigns. My wife’s company certainly doesn’t have that much- yet, but there is still a big chance of propelling itself in the market through systematic and comprehensive marketing. But how?
After our long discussion about targeting the BoP and market segmentation, I took the courage of asking her the same “Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand” that Keller, Sterthal and Tybout posed to the readers: Have we established a frame? Are we leveraging our points of parity? Are the points of difference compelling?
Keller, et. al. suggested that, in a widely competitive market, points of differentiation will no longer suffice to sustain a brand, and that managers should be clear about the frame of reference on which the brand is reckoned from. Furthermore, it must be able to effectively address the features that it has in common with other brands. In the case of the salon: What should its prospective clients expect if they are going to avail of its services? How do these services differ from that already being offered by other salons? Will they come out more beautiful from my wife’s salon than if they went to another? What aspect of the salon industry should it focus on? Where does it stand out among the rest? What exactly should be the salon be most known for, both by its customers and competitors?
As I have observed, the salon business, as with other fields, is a cutthroat industry where players will go to extremes just to stay on top of the game- or survive at the least. My wife’s salon ought to revisit its strategy to determine its points of difference-its uniqueness, and review its frame of reference and points of parity. I suggested to her that the company must be able to strengthen its position in the market by leveraging on the quality and distinctiveness of its services. It needs to reinforce the brand’s performance and imagery, and improve satisfaction and promote customer retention. And it needs a clear, comprehensive and viable plan to do these if it wants to stay on- and possibly win the race. The market is very dynamic. She needs a system, a process. And she needs to “trust the process”.
I have never seen her so agreeable at this point.
As I have mentioned in my previous reflection, my wife’s salon business has been in the market for over a decade now. The company has survived the ups and downs of sales, the increasing prices of inputs, the intense rivalry with existing competitors and of course, the threat of new entrants and substitutes. It is constantly challenged on how to establish its brand in a market that is already saturated by salon bigwigs who leverage on their huge capital and invest heavily on massive advertisement campaigns. My wife’s company certainly doesn’t have that much- yet, but there is still a big chance of propelling itself in the market through systematic and comprehensive marketing. But how?
After our long discussion about targeting the BoP and market segmentation, I took the courage of asking her the same “Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand” that Keller, Sterthal and Tybout posed to the readers: Have we established a frame? Are we leveraging our points of parity? Are the points of difference compelling?
Keller, et. al. suggested that, in a widely competitive market, points of differentiation will no longer suffice to sustain a brand, and that managers should be clear about the frame of reference on which the brand is reckoned from. Furthermore, it must be able to effectively address the features that it has in common with other brands. In the case of the salon: What should its prospective clients expect if they are going to avail of its services? How do these services differ from that already being offered by other salons? Will they come out more beautiful from my wife’s salon than if they went to another? What aspect of the salon industry should it focus on? Where does it stand out among the rest? What exactly should be the salon be most known for, both by its customers and competitors?
As I have observed, the salon business, as with other fields, is a cutthroat industry where players will go to extremes just to stay on top of the game- or survive at the least. My wife’s salon ought to revisit its strategy to determine its points of difference-its uniqueness, and review its frame of reference and points of parity. I suggested to her that the company must be able to strengthen its position in the market by leveraging on the quality and distinctiveness of its services. It needs to reinforce the brand’s performance and imagery, and improve satisfaction and promote customer retention. And it needs a clear, comprehensive and viable plan to do these if it wants to stay on- and possibly win the race. The market is very dynamic. She needs a system, a process. And she needs to “trust the process”.
I have never seen her so agreeable at this point.
