Marketing is no longer a Competitive Advantage

 

Using marketing as a primary competitive advantage to build a new brand in a traditional and crowded consumer space is no longer sustainable. Now a days this is what most blands are trying to do. Market themselves as different and cool and try to acquire customers at all cost, usually at a loss.

Unless these brands have a unique advantage in the supply chain that for some reason no one has ever exploited before or they invented and patented a life-changing product, it is very hard for them to compete against large corporations just on marketing alone. These traditional companies have huge budgets, are very good at marketing and have the greatest advantage of all, massive distribution channels.

Some year ago, companies like Dollar Shave Club and Warby Parker where able to thrive simply because digital advertising was cheaper, they had less competition, and they were able to identify one of the few supply chain loopholes left.