HOME :: INNOVATIVE MARKETING TIPS :: POSITIONING WITHIN THE UNATTAINABLE TRIANGLE
The Unattainable Triangle
How Do We Choose the Right Two?
The "unattainable triangle" is composed of quality, price, and speed. All products or services have two out of the three sides of the triangle. That is to say, high-quality and fast turnaround but high-price or low-price, fast-turnaround but low-quality and so on.
The triangle is unattainable for two reasons.
The first is logistical. Providing high-quality service with faster-than-average turnaround time is going to cost you more money than your competitor who can do the same level of quality at a lower price with slightly slower turnaround. It’s pretty much logistically impossible to maintain a profitable business that has somehow "attained the triangle."
The second reason the triangle is unattainable is the "snake oil" effect. Let's say it was possible for you to design a software solution that was faster and better than any other software solution on the market today and you priced it below market value hoping to make your money back from high-volume selling. Chances are you would fail. You would fail because buyers today are more sophisticated than ever before and their perception of your offering would be that it's simply too good to be true. This is the "snake oil" effect.
Here's the innovative marketing tip.
If you were able to offer all three sides of the triangle, you shouldn't. It would be in your best interest to maximize your profitability by sacrificing one of the three sides. So if you had something that was better and faster, you can and should increase the price. The strange thing about this strategy is that it might actually sell better with a higher price. This kind of strategy is known as a Price Premium. For more information, on price premiums, check out JDM's Campaign Strategies Playbook.
Proof of Concept ::
- Starbucks: High-quality/Fast-turnaround - High-price
- Whataburger: Low-price/Fast-turnaround - Low-qualit
- U.S Postal Service: Low-price/High-quality - slow-turnaround
Look around you and every company you see will be leaning on two of the three sides of the "unattainable triangle". The key to successful positioning of your business is choosing the right two sides to promote.
Click here to listen to the audio podcast of this page.
|
