What are the market forces that stand in the way of creating customer value today?
For one, globalization and technology have changed the rules of the game in the marketplace. Competition now comes from everywhere, with technological advances enabling more products to be introduced every day. Given all of these choices consumers are more demanding and better informed than ever. At the same time, however, the quality differences between competing brands are diminishing because companies have access to the same technology. All the laptops seem similar, for example; variations are slight. So the problem that companies face is how to create a meaningful differentiation in the minds of these sophisticated customers with products and services that are becoming less and less differentiated. How does a company create brand distinction with products becoming more alike? More companies are using design to differentiate their products and services. By design, I don’t mean just the aesthetics of the product, but the total customer experience. On the product side, it’s creating a
