CRMGuru.com, March 2005
How do you compete in a globalized market? Think outside the box? Pull out
all the bells and whistles? No, argues Patrick Barwise. Businesses who have
sought to differentiate themselves in the marketplace through unique features,
benefits or positioning have been missing the forest for the trees. While they
think they're delivering what the customer wants, they've actually left their
customers on hold and dissatisfied. In this edition of Inside Scoop, Bob
Thompson, founder of CRMGuru.com, talks with Barwise about the book
and his recommendations for turning things around.
Read the article: Do You Think Your Customers Love You? Think Again

MIT Sloan Management Review, Summer 2004
This article discusses the need for top executives to be prepared to buck
conventional wisdom and rethink what people really want from a product
or service. Every company serious about customer focus should aim to be
the best at the things that matter most to customers - genuine
customer-focused innovation is rarer than one might expect.
Read the article: Don't Be Unique, Be Better

Strategy+Business eNews
It is a widely accepted and rarely challenged tenet of marketing that
companies can sustain competitive advantage only through “new and
improved” product differentiation based on unique features and benefits.
What a mistake. By paying attention to what consumers really want,
companies can attract new customers and create a distinctive brand.
Read the article: Making Differentiation Make a Difference

CMO, The Resource For Marketing Executives, September 2004
Technology can do many wonderful things, but none of those things is
more important than meeting customer needs. A few thoughts about using
the Internet to be simply better.
Read the article: Thinking Inside The Box

Harvard Business School - Working Knowledge
Target’s strategy made it the No. 2 discounter behind you-know-who.
"Tar-zhay’s" success is examined in this excerpt from Simply Better.
Read the article: Bull's-Eye: Target's Cheap-Chic Strategy

BetterManagement.com
Professor Barwise looks at buyer behavior, questioning the conventional
wisdom that to compete successfully you must offer customers something
unique. He turns to market orientation, arguing that a "Simply Better"
customer-focused business can differentiate the basics.
This was a web seminar delivered on September 2nd 2004 with slides
and a voice-over.

IMD Webcast
Professor Meehan explores how companies like Toyota, Tesco, Ryanair,
and Procter & Gamble win by focusing, above all, on blocking and tackling,
why customers really value excellence on the fundamentals of the offer and
why this is so overlooked by so many.

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