THE THREE C'S: STRATEGIC MARKETING It consists of the company, the customer and the competition, which are the three fundamental components for creating a successful strategy. Ohmae defines strategy as “the way in which a company uses its relative strengths to meet customer needs better than its competitors. To do this, you must examine your customer, your company and your competitors to determine who you expect to serve, what your relative strengths are, and how you will serve them better than the competition. As it turns out, this is exactly what needs to be done to lay the groundwork for a brand strategy.
With that as a starting point, you must define who your customer is and what their unmet needs are. The mistake most companies make is to start with the product with a “build it and they will come” mentality. This is equivalent to looking for a solution to a problem. It's best to start with an understanding of the problem and then work on the product.
And the only way to gain that understanding is through conversations with customers. The following is a set of exercises designed to help you with the three C. They will help you identify and understand your customers, assess the relative strengths of your company, and assess the competitive landscape. They will help you lay the groundwork for articulating your brand strategy.
