COMMENTS

One of the most common characteristics of highly successful CEB companies (especially the smaller companies) is they have found or created a niche in their market.  They do not attempt to go head-to-head with the big companies in their markets.

 

As an example, the largest and most profitable auto rental agency in the country is Enterprise Rent-A-Car and they did it by going where Hertz and Avis were not.

10 OF THE BEST IDEAS

1. Not if you want to win, that is.  The fact is, you win by being perceived as special, singular, unique, one of a kind.  You must create a niche that you own, that nobody can steal or take away from you and that achieves your goals.”
   
   

2. You must be perceived as nothing less than special.  One of a kind.  Unique.  Being the only game in town is not an option or luxury.  It is a basic prerequisite for winning.”
   
   

3. “You want to be so tightly focused that the right people seek you out.”
   
   

4. Small can be very beautiful and narrow can be extraordinarily deep and profitable
   
   

5. Sears was an example of becoming un-niched.  In the mid-seventies and eighties you could, in most Sears stores, buy blue chip stocks from Dean Witter, walk a little further to get your Roto-Rooter and finance it at another member of the “Sears Financial Network” - Coldwell Banker.
   
   

6. Other examples of near death experiences are Sony Corporations’ purchase of Columbia and Tri Star Pictures at a loss of $3.2 billion, and Mitsubishi Estate’s default on ownership of Rockefeller Plaza.
   
   

7. “One of the more provocative target markets promises to be an extremely lucrative one for publishers of Prison Life, a magazine tapping into a $2 billion captive market.”
   
   

8. Starbucks is a good example of a niche marketer.  “Instead of competing against any one, they are basically making a market and it’s a market that doesn’t wince at price - even in a down economy.”
   
   

9. Starbucks is “creating a whole new culture surrounding coffee consumption.  This new culture has norms, artifacts, and even its own language”.  At Starbucks, you can not simply order coffee, choose from Expresso, Latte, Cappucino or Americano. Coffee is served by baristas instead of servers and delivered as shots of expresso instead of cups of strong java.
   
   

10. Instead of becoming specialized, you must seek to be special - that unique flavor or particular spin that distinguishes you from everyone else.