The Strategy accelerator completed
move this way with
The Strategy
development alliances
Accelerator
High
Market relevancy
move this
way with
marketing Business models for sustainable
alliances
competitive advantage
Mini publication
Low
No Unique product? Yes
Alfred Griffioen has built his vision on competitive advantage as marketeer, business
development manager and strategy consultant. He is partner at Alliance experts, specialised
in matching and advising companies in the field of alliances and strategic cooperation.
Before this he wrote ‘The Senseo effect’, a practical guide for starting a partnership.
The book ‘De Strategieversnelling’ is a publication of FT Prentice Hall in Dutch. The preface
has been written by Frank Heemskerk, minister of Foreign Trade of the Netherlands.
For more information visit www.strategy-accelerator.com

Only by developing new business models you can make more profit than the
average in your branch
How to achieve growth and to make a profit? monopoly in competition
As soon as your business model
price price
Mainly by being different than others. By coming is copied and more competitors
up with new business models: completely new arise, you can’t determine the
demand curve demand curve
products, added services, different ways to pay, price yourself any more. You can
surprising experiences. In that way you can profit price of the
only sell when you’re asking the
create a sort of monopoly, in which you competitor profit
same or a lower price than your
costs costs
determine the price at which your profit is competitors. Your profits will
maximised. numbers numbers decline.
sold sold
You can do this by finding new chances in the value network: chances that you
can utilise with your organisation
Supplier Consumer
Your company does not stand alone but is part of the
value network: a network that has branches and
funnels, that extends itself even to the consumer Supplier Customer
Consumer
and that does not only contain money and goods,
but also information. Where is your expertise? Can
you skip steps, make combinations with other Supplier Company Customer Consumer
suppliers or incorporate their offerings? What means
or competences do you have that are valuable,
scarce, difficult to imitate for others and easily
applicable for you? Supplier Customer Consumer
2 3

Internet and the globalisation of financial markets have changed business:
classical strategies do not apply any more
The three strategies of The three directions of What happened in the
Michael Porter (1980) Treacy & Wiersema (1995) internet age? Current validity
Operational excellence: Cost advantage is easily
Cost leadership:
having the lowest total costs, copied or leveled down. No sustainable strategy
having the lowest costs
including costs of your client Scale can be bought
Product leadership: The enormous diversity of
Product differentiation: (Continuously) having
continuously introducing new products makes it hard to
having a better product unique products
products stand out
Customer intimacy: There are many suppliers Market relevancy:
Focus strategy:
having a complete offering for with a broad offering. being seen as relevant by
targeting on a niche
specific customer groups Customers can choose your customer group
Apart from changes in the availability of
information, the financial world has changed as
well. Not the board of directors, but the
Sustainable competitive advantage can
shareholders determine what kind of investments only be achieved by having a unique
are done. When headquarters has no added value
the company is split up. There is always money product or by really being relevant for
for a good idea and not any more for a badly
performing business unit. your customer
4 5

Depending on your sustainable competitive
advantage you can choose your strategy
High market relevancy
High market relevancy
and a unique product:
and no unique product:
As indicated before there are two generic forms of differentiation that bring Consolidate your
Combine several matching
sustainable competitive advantage in the current transparent world: (continuously) position by constant
products under your brand
having a unique product and having market relevancy. renewal and by
and become even more
keeping close watch on
A company can have one of the two forms of competitive advantage, both, or neither. High relevant for your market
your competitors
Page 10-11
The two forms have different dimensions and can be set out in a matrix, the Strategy Page14
cy
accelerator. With this model you can decide on your optimal strategy, depending on
an
your competitive advantage: ally, combine excel or consolidate
combine, consolidate.
lev
t re
Just as with a car you don’t start a company in the fourth gear: you have to carefully
r ke
build on your sources of profitability. The strategy accelerator forces a clear choice for
Ma
one of the two directions to differentiate yourself: either with a unique product or
through market relevancy. Both options don’t exclude each other, but with limited
means you can only focus on one.
Low
Low market relevancy
and no unique product:
Ally with others as the
quickest way to build up
the right competences
or product portfolio
Page 8-9
Low market relevancy
and a unique product:
Unique p
No roduct? Excel in what you do to
make sure that you can
Yes continue to develop unique
products and services
Page 12-13
6 7

Ally to expand your market The majority of the companies starts in the first gear: they have
low market relevancy and no unique product. Their profitability is
relevancy or to develop new often limited and is mainly determined by the balance between
supply and demand in the market. Instead of investing yourself,
products faster hiring these competences or taking over a company with these
competences you can better start an alliance. In this way you gain
extra market relevancy or develop a new product with a limited
investment and less risks.
When starting an alliance three Contractual Basis Balance between partners
aspects are important: the 3 B’s of
partnerships What legal form will be most Do both partners have equal
appropriate? influence?
Business model
In which way are agreements How to ensure that the
In what way will more profits be described? employees support the alliance
made jointly than by the partners as well?
separately? What happens in case of a
conflict or when the alliance How to resolve conflicts of
How will the profits be divided? terminates in another way? interests?
The business model, the contractual
basis and the balance between
partners are three important aspects
8 9

Combine products and services to create market relevancy: the
overlap between the customer needs and your brand promise
Customers pay attention to your product when Every person has a number of generic needs: security,
your message is relevant to them at that moment. friendship, relaxation, efficiency and success.
That will happen if their actual need is answered Depending on the context or situation you are in, these
by the promise that your brand makes, and how generic needs are translated to actual needs. When you
this is fulfilled in products, services, distribution or want to have dinner with your friends you will probably
your marketing communications. Market relevancy choose another restaurant than with your parents.
always starts with a clear brand promise.
Portfolio Generic
management needs
Actual
Fulfillment of Market
customer
your brand promise relevancy
needs
Distribution and Context /
communications Situation
Market relevancy is created by combining the right
products and services. Your brand stands for the Market relevancy makes that a
overall promise: the cheapest, the coolest or the
most reliable products. By combining more customer buys from you, and not
‘matching’ products and services in your offering,
your turnover and profit grow. from your competitor
10 11

Only if you excel in a Developing a unique product or service requires continuous
investments in building the right competences, in idea selection,
certain specialism you can development and the right way of market introduction. There will
be additional costs for building a new (production) organisation, for
continuously develop buying licences or the registration of patents.
clearly unique products Research learns us that four aspects are essential to continuously
come up with new products:
Within a business model a unique product always • A strong management focus on innovation. When the director
has a clear, not easy to imitate, advantage or CEO is not convinced, nothing will happen;
compared to competing products. It is not about • Openness of the business model: talk with clients, make
having a coffee machine in a different colour, a contact with universities, find partners;
camera with a few more mega pixels or a family • Skills and creativity: train people and cherish their ideas;
car with a bit different design. Being different is • A managed development process: regularly review the status
not good enough, it’s about being extraordinary. of your innovations and don’t be afraid to stop with inferior
ideas.
Openness of the
business model
Focus Managed
This requires customer on development process
New product
or service
innovation
orientation, innovation
processes and product Skills and
creativity
management
12 13

Consolidate by continuously With alliances you can
working on your market make quicker progress
relevancy and on new than with investing
unique products. Keep a yourself or taking over Move this way with
close watch on your a company development alliances
competitors
You have high relevancy for your
market and unique products or Move this way with
services. What to do to maintain this marketing alliances
strong status? The strategy for
companies in this gear is both to
combine and excel. Keep a close
watch on your competitors, when
necessary incorporate them or chase
them away. And just as TomTom or
Apple, find strong alliance partners
to gain market relevancy or to
develop new unique products or
services.
A marketing alliance focuses on the marketing or sales of combined products or
services of both partners. In a development alliance the partners aim for developing
new products or services with the knowledge and facilities of both organisations. Both
types of alliances can help to create a better competitive position with less
investments and risks.
14 15