Making a Difference in Marketing: The Foundation of Competitive Advantage

Establishing a difference is the lynchpin of marketing. It can be achieved in many ways. The results can be magical and powerful: such as increasing, with little expense, the price of a little regarded fish from £0.15 a kilo to £1.00. As with many other disciplines which have great value, this potency has often resulted in the discussion of marketing being prey to increasing complexity. This frequently intimidates those marketing could help. Often it is due to the touting of supposedly new paradigms, given plausibility by conveniently invented metrics, and an emphasis on the rational and conscious over the emotional and unconscious, despite the latter aspects appearing to be the basis for much choice.

This imbalance has been highlighted by recent insights from psychology, neurology and behavioural economics. Rather than simply embracing these advances, the focus of marketing has been on additional layers of intricacy and a weighting of emphasis towards means of communication, further distancing marketing from its base.

This book aims to cut through to the pivotal role of differentiation, illustrated by case histories and the advances in the related fields referred to, particularly the work of psychologists such as Daniel Kahneman. Unlike much writing on marketing, it has tried to follow Einstein’s advice to be "as simple as possible, but no simpler".

Jonathan Cahill has had extensive experience in advertising, research and marketing and successfully developed and marketed his own brand. He has previously written Igniting the Brand: Strategies which shot Brands to Success and Marketing Rethink: Reassessing the Roots, Practice and Diversions of Marketing. Jonathan provides consultancy through his company Z Limited, as well as writing articles which have been published in the UK and Australia on the marketing of wine. He is currently a lecturer in Marketing at the Westminster Business School.