With all the talk about the New Economy and the rising Dow Jones, average families are consuming less and buying more carefully. More consumers are buying based on real and perceived value.
According to Mike Treacy and Fred Wiersma in The Discipline of Market Leaders, competitive Brand U companies identify value added characteristics, features, or services that customers really want and then raise customer expectations in one or two areas of value. Every competitor entering the market is then judged by the market leader’s delivery of value. In other words, a company or a person has three options: follow the leader, break out of the pack, or move ahead.