Avoiding commoditization

Commoditization is a perpetual threat to organizations and is something of a ‘sniper’. It will catch you and you won’t know where it came from. The notion of the life cycle concept implies that any portfolio is bound to become a commodity sooner or later. The ICT industry has seen spectacular examples of novel solutions rushing from trends setting to commodity in just a decade. Other sectors have seen very slow and difficult to notice commoditization, many heavy industries may be an example of this, taking a century for a solution to become commodity. Whatever the timeframe; it is likely to almost always happen. Beware that a portfolio becomes a commodity because our spectators and our markets perceive it as such. This is irrespective of us, the supplier still perceiving the portfolio as hi-end and very special.

 
This notion of something having become a commodity is not for us, the supplier of it to determine. You wouldn’t be the first one to think of your product as state of the art, whereas your customers perceive, treat and procure it as a commodity already ! This is a trap to avoid. Step out of the line, keep being fresh and novel, innovate and renew.

Marketing4B2B has worked for many organizations struggling with commoditization , driving them towards newer, more promising markets and niches !