Porter Case

“A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve.” As said by Michael Porter, to surpass competitors, companies have to establish their own image, brand, promotion, etc. Careers in marketing are not made simply by being creative or intelligent. On a global level, marketing managers are itching to know the secret to success. According to Porter, it can be as simple as being unique.

Porter’s perspectives are based on strategy basically being three parts: defining a company’s position, making trade-offs, and forging fit among activities. Most firm’s approach to business is only concerned with operational effectiveness. More often than not, companies that look beyond operational effectiveness have found greater success than companies only focused on doing better than competition. According to Porter, “A company can outperform rivals only if it can establish a difference that it can preserve”. The key driver of competitive strategy is, “…deliberately choosing a different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value”.

In my opinion, Porter’s approach to strategy is a very deliberate, unique look at things. I feel that his perspectives make sense, have been proven to work, and are the future approach for many successful businesses to come. In order to not only bypass, but also even surpass competition, consumers must know about your brand and be motivated to buy. Launching a new product or business by simply doing what your competition is doing will not get your far. In order to be successful, marketing managers need to know all there is about their own company, product, etc., as well as, their competition.

Equally important as developing the strategy is the implementation stage. Without effective implementation, strategy is otherwise useless. Once a business defines its position and comes up with the strategy, it can only see results once the strategy has been put into place.