Create a “pull” with differentiation

As I mentioned in my last post , Singapore is such a small country in the middle of the Indian Ocean and yet it has gone on to become one of the richest nations with one of the highest per capita incomes. One of the things that I emphasised, in the last post, was how Singapore has leveraged its assets.

This time I will talk about how it has gone about creating differentiation for itself, one of the key attributes for success in marketing.

To ensure that tourists keep coming into the country, you have to keep coming up with things that are not available in the vicinity, so if tourists need to see that thing, they have to come to Singapore only.

Let me take my example only. As I had mentioned, in my last post, I had been going frequently to Singapore and yet this time when I went, I had found, so many things had changed. One of the things that I wanted to visit , was the Universal Studios at Sentosa. Reason. We don’t have a Universal Studios showcase and rides anywhere close to India. I would have to go to Los Angeles in the US, to show my family, the Universal Studios. For me, with Singapore, Universal Studios was in my neighbourhood. So it made sense for me to go to Singapore. 3 tourists got added. Similarly there is the F1 race track. The Lego museum etc.

There was a time that there was the Night Safari and the bird park, the aquarium etc. in Singapore. But a lot of countries, now have these attractions and if you have visited the aquarium in HongKong or Toronto, you may not find this very different. So to ensure that there is something different for the tourist to see, they have the Universal, the Marina Bay attractions etc.

Can you imagine creating a whole zone for fans of the movie Avatar. At the Marina Bay, they have created the zone. Even people who have not watched the movie Avatar and knows about their characters, tend to go there, just because everyone else has talked so much about it. No where else will you get this creation

There are a lot of small nations in the Indian Ocean, but none of them , has anything which can get me to visit them. Singapore has created the differentiation by bringing in so many tourist attractions at one place, that people find it convenient to go there. Indonesia/Bali have natural beauty, Thailand has beaches, but so many entertainment points at one location, that’s only in Singapore.

Now if you add, the English speaking population and the absolutely secure environment that the country provides to tourists, it makes for a default destination to visit.

In marketing, people will keep coming up with me-too items to reduce your advantage. If you have to sustain your competitive advantage, you need to keep coming up with ways to show ho you’re different from the competition. If you can differentiate clearly, in the eyes of the customer, you have a “winner” on your hands.

Till next time then.

Succeed by differentiating.

Carpe Diem!!!