Differentiate or die

"Attracting and retaining targeted clients in extremely competitive markets."

Four retailers are in tough competition for the same customers in a growing market. The overriding challenge is to build and retain a profitable customer base. Who will emerge as the market leader?

At the start, the four retailers are “all over the place”. They soon learn that their company cannot be everything to everyone, and that competitive positioning is critical. Which current customers should they keep? Which prospective customers should they target?

“To be successful means to build a strong market position and develop the ability to defend it.”

The management team needs to decide on a desired market position and capture it in the most cost- effective way. Teams analyze baseline market research to help them make tactical choices:

  • Go for the high end of the market… or the low end?
  • Pursue a unique niche… or attack a competitor’s stronghold?
  • Build capacity in advance… or wait for the demand to grow?
  • Compete on differentiation… or on price?
  • Defend your achieved position at all costs… or move to another?

Who benefits?

Celemi LivonTM is designed for all employees who are expected to help sales and distribution organizations coordinate market investments and resources and promote a precise, consistent identity for the company.

  • Any organization looking to reinforce its competitive advantages and capture greater market share.
  • Business leaders who need to create a strong alignment between franchise, retail or other operations and the central sales and marketing strategy.
  • Managers of local or regional markets who want to explore how to adopt and adapt a global strategy.
  • Smaller, independent companies looking to identify or strengthen their market niche.
  • Companies wanting a simple demonstration of what it means to be “customer-driven”.
  • Business schools and corporate universities to deliver the big-picture framework on marketing concepts, market segmentation, consumer behavior, or strategic alignment around a central vision.

Key results

  • Develop effective marketing plans and strategies that are consistent with overall company positioning.
  • Use powerful marketing tactics to meet local customers and competitors.
  • Manage and allocate scarce resources to remain competitive and profitable.
  • Select competitive advertising and pricing.

Key concepts

  • Market share
  • Competitive attributes
  • Marketing investments and resources
  • Promotion
  • Profitability
  • Pricing
  • Consumer behavior
  • Market segmentation
  • Customer profiling and targeting

What clients say

“We can count on success only if our dealers earn money, so it makes sense for us to help them to do a good job in their local markets, and to make good use of the things we do at headquarters, like marketing campaigns, etc. For work of this kind, Celemi LivonTM is an outstanding tool.”
– Sales manager, Toyota Sweden
“I believe it was a useful reminder to all of us that every customer represents many years of business. In fact, it is both simpler and less costly to keep a customer than to replace one that has gone somewhere else. Thank you for an interesting and useful experience.”
– Participant, IBM Australia
“This helped me immeasurably in understanding market share, competition, and other areas not usually affiliated with store operations.”
– Product manager, leading manufacturer in the US

Quickfacts for Celemi Livon™

Material
Board-based business simulation.
Participants
Four competing teams, 12-16 participants in total. Multiple seminars can be held simultaneously.
Participants
Sales and marketing staff.
Time required
1 day, corresponding to 5 years of operation.
Facilitator
Facilitators certified by Celemi.
Languages
This business simulation is available in Dutch, English, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese (Europe), Simplified Chinese, Spanish (Europe), Swedish and Turkish.