Work out USP
USP is the abbreviation for the phrase Unique Selling Proposition, which translates USP means. First you have to decide what your USP should be worked out for. Should it be for your entire company, just for a specific product or group of products? In order to be able to work out a USP for you, you need a market analysis and an analysis of your competition.
Market attractiveness-competitive advantage portfolio
You can use the market attractiveness-competitive advantage portfolio when it comes to defining defined and strategic business areas that can be demarcated from each other. This way you can determine which markets you should be active in that offer the best opportunities and opportunities for you. In addition, you can see your market attractiveness in this way and can make decisions on your competitive strategy accordingly.
Marketing strategies
The term marketing strategies is used to describe behavioral plans that are geared towards the long term. These plans serve to achieve company goals, which you in turn derive from your marketing goals. Marketing strategies are usually always fundamental decisions that determine which marketing objectives need to be examined in detail.
Advantages of strategy implementation
Competitive advantage using the example of Tesla
Electric cars are on everyone’s lips. But in Germany the well-known automakers are simply not making any headway. On the other hand, it is completely different with Tesla. Tesla, even if there have been negative headlines from time to time, stands for sustainability, elegance and above all for the term electric mobility. The Californian group has established itself at the top of the market in the electric car sector. But Tesla isn’t just there because of its cars. Rather, Tesla has a few competitive advantages over its competitors. These competitive advantages are:
| Competitive advantage | description |
| Advantage of battery production | When it comes to battery production, Tesla has very high capacities to manufacture the battery for the cars itself. Tesla has the Gigafactory and there is a collaboration with Panasonic |
| Advantage production | Tesla rarely sources any parts from suppliers to build its cars. The majority is made in-house. This saves you the supplier’s profit margin and that makes cheaper production possible. |
| Advantage of technology | The battery is still the biggest problem with e-cars. Here Tesla has a very large competitive advantage over its competitors. They manufacture batteries that only contain around 2.8% cobalt. And cobalt in particular is becoming increasingly expensive due to the high demand. The competitors have a cobalt content of around 8% in their batteries. |
Competitive advantage using the example of Zalando
Zalando is arguably one of the greatest success stories in Germany when it comes to start-ups. In an extremely short time, Zalando became a group with around 15,000 employees at European locations. A number of competitive advantages over the competition are also responsible for this rapid growth.
| Competitive advantage | description |
| automation | Zalando invests a lot in automation at its logistics locations. Automation does not replace people, but supports them. This enables very short processing times after an online order. The customer gets the goods they want in a very short time. |
| Corporate culture | Zalando has a special corporate culture. Employees should not be silent here and do their work. It is very important that employees have a say. With this culture, Zalando creates a major competitive advantage because it has a major impact on customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. |
| deals | Zalando offers its customers individualized offers. These not only determine the online world, but also extend into the offline world of customers. Zalando has also found a perfect niche with its clothing business. |
What forms of competitive advantage are there?
In the following we will introduce you to the best-known competitive advantages:
Intangible competitive advantage
In recent years, businesses have focused primarily on relying on physical assets to create competitive advantage. But more and more intangible assets, also known as “intangibles”, are coming into focus. These can be values such as employee knowledge, new technologies, innovative strength or a strong brand. This growing interest in intangible assets is also reflected in the fact that more and more companies are investing in intangible assets.
High switching costs
Software is a very good example of high switching costs. There are many examples where a manufacturer orients its software entirely to a specific company, its business processes and procedures. If such software is then used in a company, a later change to another software from another manufacturer turns out to be very time-consuming and, above all, very expensive. Manufacturers of such software often create entry to the customer through offers that are made at cost price.
