A selection from the new book: Different Rules – the B2B Marketer’s Guidebook to Product Differentiation

B2B “Differentiation” idea starters – Part 9

By Chris Wirthwein

Add something intangible

What can you add? How about a new technical support service, an extended warranty, a fixed trade-in value, or an improved user’s guide that helps customers get greater utility out of the product? The possibilities for adding an intangible are endless. And when you do add something, make sure buyers know about it. For a client that added a performance guarantee, we recommended a change in the brand name. Physically, the product remained the same. The new performance guarantee, however, meant customers received greater value. Using the old name would have hidden this. So, we developed a new one. We also created a new logo and included in the design a distinctive visual cue to trigger recognition of the differentiating guarantee. Ask yourself: What can we add? And: how will we draw attention to it?

Chris Wirthwein is Senior Director for 5MetaCom, a marketing agency that develops strategies and campaigns to differentiate B2B technical and scientific products. He has authored three marketing books, including his latest, Different Rules: The B2B Marketer’s Guidebook to Product Differentiation. You can reach Chris on LinkedIn or at cwirthwein@5metacom.com.

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