Marketing is becoming a battle based on information than on sales power.
Poor firms ignore their competitors; average firms copy their competitors; winning firms lead their competitors.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote emphasizes the different approaches firms take regarding competition, highlighting that true success comes from leadership rather than imitation or ignorance.
Philip Kotler's quote illustrates the varying strategies that firms employ in relation to their competitors. Poor firms tend to overlook their competition, which can lead to missed opportunities and a lack of innovation. Average firms may simply imitate what their competitors are doing, which can result in a stagnant market where no one stands out. In contrast, winning firms take the initiative to lead and innovate, setting the standards for others to follow. This leadership not only distinguishes them in the marketplace but also drives progress and evolution within the industry.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a business seminar, a speaker highlighted the importance of leadership in competition and quoted Philip Kotler.
More from Philip Kotler
All quotes βThe art of marketing is the art of brand building. If you arenot a brand, you are a commodity. Then price is everything and the low-cost producer is the only winner.
Marketing is a race without a finishing line
The key to branding, especially for smaller firms, is to focus on a limited number of issue areas and develop superb expertise in those areas.
Companies pay too much attention to the cost of doing something. They should worry more about the cost of not doing it.
Marketing is not the art of finding clever ways to dispose of what you make. It is the art of creating genuine customer value.
Similar quotes
I suppose Virgin is an unusual brand in that I suspect we're the only 'way of life' brand in the world. We're one of maybe the top 30 best known brands in the world, yet if you look at the other 29, they all specialize in one area. Whether it's Google, Coca-Cola, Microsoft, etc., they all generally specialize in one area.
As long as you keep doing the right thing and have the best product, you can beat the bigger company.
Smart companies fail because they do everything right. They cater to high-profit-margin customers and ignore the low end of the market, where disruptive innovations emerge from.
To grasp organizational life as it is, read novels (!) .... It is my fervent belief that we will never design rational processes that "overcome" such irregularities-don't bother telling that to a consultant. Hence, we should embrace the real, nonrational, nonlinear world with vigor and glee-and develop enterprise and career strategies accordingly.
Management innovation is going to be the most enduring source of competitive advantage. There will be lots of rewards for firms in the vanguard.
Almost all decisions based on cost accounting are utterly wrong.