Broad Differentiation Strategy

Broad differentiation strategy comprise firm activities seeking to present products, services or brands in a manner that positively set these as different from its competitors but executed in a way that appeals to a wide range of consumers ( 2004). The strategy involves two considerations, one is the point of differentiation ( 2007) and the other is mass appeal. On the surface, this strategy seems simple enough for execution. However, actual implementation involves difficulties or complexities.  (2007) provides that most often than not, firms become caught up in drawing the attention of a wide range of consumers but fail to integrate the point of difference in its marketing strategies. This leads to a product and service or brand with high consumer recognition but fails to develop a consumer base or prevent consumers from shifting to other products, services or brands because of a weak point of differentiation. The article points out the differentiation strategy of Coke that started as a focused broad differentiation strategy revolving around the catch phrase ‘real thing’ that turned into an activity with mass appeal less this point of differentiation. Cokes competitive strategy resulted to the persisting evolution of the cola wars, instead of coke taking the leadership position. Although the author was able to point out that focusing on the point of differentiation is the way to go when relying on broad differentiation as a competitive strategy, doing so still does not make this strategy easy to implement. This is the reason why many companies tend to focus on mass appeal. The article failed to consider the common reasons why companies deviate from the point of differentiation to aid in easing the complexity of the implementation of the broad differentiation strategy.  

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