实现持久的产品差异化

Gartner Research 3 Mistakes toAvoid in ProductDifferentiation Clifton Gilley17 July 2023 3 Mistakes to Avoid in Product Differentiation 17 July 2023 - ID G00791885 - 9 min read By Analyst(s): Clifton Gilley Initiatives:Product/Service Discovery and Validation One of the constant pressures on product managers is increasingdifferentiation of their product in the market. By understanding andavoiding three common pitfalls, product managers can effectivelydifferentiate their products while remaining focused on customervalue. Overview Key Findings Continued, effective differentiation in a given market is often an afterthought ratherthan an express goal of product teams and is heavily influenced by short-termconcerns from the business.■Many product managers base differentiation decisions on an assessment ofcompetitors’ capabilities, without considering customer value.■The larger and more successful a product is, the more a company may drift awayfrom those activities, characteristics or features that rely on and further theirdistinctive competency.■ Recommendations Product managers seeking to better differentiate the value they are delivering in theirmarket must: Look broader than the in-the-moment opportunity at hand and focus messagingvalue that resonates with the larger market.■Deprioritize competitors as the primary determiner of differentiation and shift focusto customer value.■ Reduce the amount of drift from core distinctive competencies of the company andits products by pushing for more integration of other technology and partnerships todeliver value.■ Introduction As technology products become faster, easier and more efficient to create, the ability toeffectively differentiate one’s product or service in the market becomes more and moreimportant to success. In Gartner’s 2022 Product Management Branded Survey, productmanagement leaders identified differentiation as one of the top five critical challenges tosolve for the overall performance of product management teams.1Unfortunately, far toomany product managers fall prey to quick and easy differentiation that is neithercompelling nor sustainable, relying on short-term thinking, direct competitive comparisonsand drifting from their distinctive competencies. Avoiding these traps allows productmanagers to establish long-lasting, defensible and convincing differentiation from othersoffering similar products or services in their markets. Figure 1 illustrates some of thesechallenges. Analysis Avoid Short-Term Thinking, Differentiate Sustainably Differentiation based on short-term thinking is often driven by the same factors thatrandomize product ideas — big clients, sales or marketing pushes, and even executiveinfluence. These influences focus on the valueright now,usually in the face of big moneyopportunities. And while they’re well-meaning, these approaches to differentiation areoften not sustainable, repeatable or particularly compelling outside of the in-the-momentsituation. These pushes may also be based on emerging trends or technology —generative AI being the most recent example. In a worst-case scenario, they give theappearance of supporting trendy new tech, but in reality only loosely adopting or applyingit. Such efforts may work in the short term, but as clients gain more knowledge andcomfort with the technology, they can result in damage to the product’s and company’sreputations in the market. “Focus on Long-Term Impact emphasizes long-term thinking andencourages us to extend the timeline for the impact we have,rather than optimizing for near-term wins.” — Meta Core Values [2] It’s important for product managers to maintain a long-term view of the ways in whichtheir product is differentiated, because the customer who signs a deal today may not beyour customer tomorrow. Churn is a real threat, particularly where differentiation has beenapproached from a short-term view. Customers who see your product riding eachconsecutive trend may look elsewhere for something more grounded in actual value. It iscritical for product managers to maintain a thorough understanding of the lifetime valueof your customers, as well as how their perceptions may change as your differentiationfrom others changes. It can be particularly attractive to engage in short-term differentiation during times ofuncertainty, such as everyone has experienced in the past several years. And often theprimary driver of such short-term efforts is to get cash in the door. When short-termdifferentiation is unavoidable, product managers need to remind the organization thatthere is “good money” and “bad money” in these deals. “Good money” supports thecontinued development of capabilities that solve market-wide problems, and allows forinnovation and growth. “Bad money” instead restricts the ability of the product to growand is focused on individual needs or problems, resulting in higher levels of custom workthan is optimal. Maintaining the proper perspective on longer-term strat