Brand Relevance: Making Competitors Irrelevant - always yours

CREATING BARRIERS 277
barrier can be based on proprietary technology or capability,
execution, the scale of operation, brand equity, brand networks,
or brand loyalty.
Proprietary Technology or Capability
The strongest competitive barrier is having an innovation based
on strongly protected intellectual property or patents. P & G ’ s
Olestra and Pringles, the Yamaha Disklavier, and Dreyer ’s Slow
Churned Ice Cream were all based on many years of research and
testing and had patent protection. It would be extremely costly,
if feasible, for a competitor to follow them in any reasonable
time frame. An accumulation of incremental innovations can
also provide a formidable barrier. Toyota ’ s Prius and Tata ’ s Nano
were based on a host of technological advances, some more significant
than others, that made matching them a difficult task.
The sheer size of the investment level can be a barrier
because it represents resources that could be used elsewhere.
Developing Kirin Ichiban, for example, was an expensive process
to which others were not willing or able to respond, and the
Ichiban brand has not had a direct competitor. CNN and ESPN
enjoyed many years of competitor - free life, in part because the
investment to set up and staff a new channel is enormous and
because sharing the audience reduces the potential. The development
of a product such as a hybrid, minivan, or minicar can
be a huge drain on time, money, and people resources.
Executing the Idea — The Capability to Deliver
If there is one key to sustainable differentiation, it is the capability
to execute the idea, to deliver on the promise. The lack
of such a capability is frequently the reason why well - conceived
offerings with attractive value propositions fail — the implementation
is not there. The ability to execute is often underrated.
Even great strategies badly executed will fail.