Oberholzer-Gee's proposition is based on the well-known belief that human beings and businesses want to create value for themselves. His Simplified Strategy approach is focused on the following key action points:
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Identifying value drivers of the key stakeholders: customers, employees, and suppliers
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Choosing the value drivers that are worth focusing on
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Making the value drivers alive in an everyday customer, employee and supplier experience.
As a result, businesses will create more value for all the stakeholders and achieve enduring financial success. I will now focus on what Simplified Strategy means in the innovation and marketing context.
Simplified Strategy in innovation and marketing context
Simplified Strategy means selecting fewer and only those initiatives that will create more value to customers (end-users). As an outcome, companies will have happier and more loyal customers whose willingness to pay (WTP) has increased. A value-focused company searches for new ways to increase WTP in every single customer touchpoint. For example, Apple can charge a price premium because they have raised their customers’ WTP by designing an elegant brand and products that are easy to use.
Oberholzer-Gee also stresses the benefits of focusing on value creation over value capture (how to make money from the value the business has created). As value-focused businesses concentrate more on customer needs and increased value creation, they frequently offer new solutions that go beyond their core offering. New products enhance value capture opportunities because they allow businesses to extend their profit pools from one offering to another. For example, Apple made a shift from computer hardware to all sorts of portable devices and apps. Understanding value creation offers plenty of opportunities for product innovation.
About consumer value creation
As widely evidenced by marketing academia, all human beings want to create value for themselves; they seek to fulfill their aims and desires in life or in a certain situation. Most often something is preventing them from doing it or living the way they want. Therefore, consumers have ‘a job-to-be-done’, and brands and products can help get it done, quoting Professor Clayton Christensen. If a brand can gather and use consumer insights well, it is likely that the brand will become a regular go-to for these consumers.
Five steps to take value drivers into action
Consumers want to use brands and products that can help them achieve their goals and desires, i.e., create the most value for themselves. In order to be among ‘the chosen and loved ones’, the businesses need to go through a few simple steps.
- Identify value drivers, i.e., those brand and product attributes and benefits, that help consumers to accomplish their aims and living according to their values. Rank them based on consumer insights and data. Look at different consumer segments and examine how their value creation preferences differ.
- Understand how good you are compared with your key competitors: in which value drivers you can win the customer's heart, mind, and soul.
- Examine how different value drivers are connected to consumer value creation (how 1+1 is more than 2).
- Choose those bundles of value drivers that you can and want to own. This is where your resources and energy will be directed to.
- Implement your value drivers in the customer experience through new product innovation, bundling different products and services, and communication.
Easy start with Cambri’s market research tool
The beauty of Simplified Strategy is that it is down-to-earth and easy to implement. Any marketing or innovation team can try it with a limited effort. The reward is attractive: better product innovation and more loyal and satisfied customers.
The Simplified Strategy approach starts by understanding the consumers' value drivers. Cambri is a super-simple-to-use market research tool that enables you to do just that. You can use expert market research methods to identify the consumers' value drivers. Additionally, this market research tool will help you understand how your brand or product is positioned against your competitors and their value drivers. Use these consumer insights to inform the strategy.
Example of value drivers analysis from Cambri insights and concept testing tool:
