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Tilt
Shift your strategy downstream .
Why do your customers buy from you rather than from your competitors? If you think the answer is your superior products, think again.
Products are important, of course. For decades, businesses sought competitive advantage almost exclusively in activities related to new product creation. They won by building bigger factories, by finding cheaper raw materials or labor, or by coming up with more efficient ways to move and store inventory—and by inventing exciting new products that competitors could not replicate.
But these sources of competitive advantage are being irreversibly leveled by globalization and technology. Today, competitors can rapidly decipher and deploy the recipe for your product’s secret sauce and use it against you. “Upstream,” product-related advantages are rapidly eroding.
This does not mean that competitive advantage is a thing of the past. Rather, its center has shifted. As marketing professor Niraj Dawar compellingly argues, advantage is now found “downstream,” where companies interact with customers in the marketplace.
Tilt will help you grasp the global nature of this downstream shift and its profound implications for your strategy and your organization. With vivid examples from around the world, ranging across industries and sectors, Dawar shows how companies are reorienting their strategies around customer interactions to create and capture unique value. And he demonstrates how, unlike product-related advantage, this value is cumulative, continuously building over time.
In an increasingly customer-centered world marketplace, let Tilt serve as your guide to shifting your strategy downstream—and achieving enduring competitive advantage.
Why do your customers buy from you rather than from your competitors? If you think the answer is your superior products, think again.
Products are important, of course. For decades, businesses sought competitive advantage almost exclusively in activities related to new product creation. They won by building bigger factories, by finding cheaper raw materials or labor, or by coming up with more efficient ways to move and store inventory—and by inventing exciting new products that competitors could not replicate.
But these sources of competitive advantage are being irreversibly leveled by globalization and technology. Today, competitors can rapidly decipher and deploy the recipe for your product’s secret sauce and use it against you. “Upstream,” product-related advantages are rapidly eroding.
This does not mean that competitive advantage is a thing of the past. Rather, its center has shifted. As marketing professor Niraj Dawar compellingly argues, advantage is now found “downstream,” where companies interact with customers in the marketplace.
Tilt will help you grasp the global nature of this downstream shift and its profound implications for your strategy and your organization. With vivid examples from around the world, ranging across industries and sectors, Dawar shows how companies are reorienting their strategies around customer interactions to create and capture unique value. And he demonstrates how, unlike product-related advantage, this value is cumulative, continuously building over time.
In an increasingly customer-centered world marketplace, let Tilt serve as your guide to shifting your strategy downstream—and achieving enduring competitive advantage.
228 pages, Hardcover
First published October 15, 2013
27 people are currently reading
718 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 14, 2016
This book started off really strong but the end of it dragged out a bit for me and it had a hard time capturing my attention through the last few chapters. The concepts are quite sound - the language used in this book is a unique way to talking about creating strategic business value through marketing. It's very applicable for anyone in a sales/marketing role.
November 5, 2021
I thought the book was good, and the last chapter had key insights for marketing and branding but I don't know if any of the major lessons stuck out enough for me to recommend it to a friend. I think if I was to create a reading list that is purely based on high level managerial strategy for large, well established companies, then I would have this on the list. Included in that would be Thinking in Bets and High Output Management. Tilt was interesting and if I am ever in a managerial position where these strategies need to be implemented, I will come back and read it again, but for now, while well written, it wasn't for me.
November 13, 2017
As most business books, this one takes a central idea, which is the title of the book, and fills a book making the case with examples and stories. I was bought into the idea from the beginning, so it added little value reading pass the first few chapters.
October 17, 2019
Asks some really simple questions in how companies are competing for a 'share of mind'. It's convinced me that I've sub-consciously always trivialised and never truly appreciated the opportunity of marketing as a strategical lasting advantage.
May 8, 2019
Upstream or downstream competitive advantage? You better know. Eliminating risks and costs to customers is a downstream competitive advantage and it's what making waves in the economy right now.
October 22, 2019
Downstream activities is more important than upstream one (mostly)
September 27, 2021
The customer centric view, is emphasized, here. This is something, that has existed, but has changed, and become more data driven.
September 12, 2022
Приложение для Скорочтения (промо)
Заметки:
“революционной статье “Маркетинговая близорукость”, опубликованной в Harvard Business Review, Тед Левитт (американський экономист, считается одним из основателей современной глобалистики)”
“Господствующий на протяжении последних 250 лет подход быстро меняется на постиндустриальную модель уровня потребителя. В рамках этой модели потребительская ценность создается в ходе взаимодействия с клиентами, конкурентные преимущества возникают на открытом рынке, а основные затраты связаны с привлечением, удовлетворением потребностей и удержанием покупателей”
“Благодаря Аркрайту пряжа фактически стала первым в истории человечества продуктом, производимым промышленным способом. К 1810 г. один ткач по производительности равнялся двум сотням ткачей, живших в 1731 г., когда суконщик Джон Кей изобрел бегающий роликовый челнок. К 1812 г. себестоимость пряжи упала в 90 раз.”
“главный вопрос маркетинга: “Кто, когда и по какой цене покупает товар?””
“привычка потребителей полагаться на бренд как на самый доходчивый показатель качества”
““священным Граалем” маркетинга считается возможность предсказать, что же в следующий раз купит каждый отдельно взятый потребитель”
“многие сотрудники Hilti считают компанию в первую очередь информационной системой, а продаваемые ею оборудование и расходные материалы - дополнением к уникальным контактам.”
“выручка Amazon выросла в нуля до $65 млдр всего за 15 лет”
“Понимание устройства и правил конкурентной борьбы на игровом поле - важный шаг для подготовки сдвига на уровень потребителя”
“Получается, первым выйти из стен лаборатории или завода не столь принципиально. Важнее первым завоевать умы потребителей.”
“первый из производителей, кто установит связь между своим брендом и одним из ключевых критериев покупки, получит мощное и долговременное конкурентное преимущество.”
“Конкуренцию за умы потребителей невозможно выиграть, просто демонстрируя, что ваш продукт - лучший. Ее выигрывают, увеличивая значение определенного критерия в оценке, сравнении и выборе продуктов потребителями, а также усиливая связь между вашим брендом и этим критерием - до такой степени, что бренд фактически становится синонимом критерия”
Readlax: Скорочтение! Как научиться быстро и эффективно читать (промо)
Заметки:
“революционной статье “Маркетинговая близорукость”, опубликованной в Harvard Business Review, Тед Левитт (американський экономист, считается одним из основателей современной глобалистики)”
“Господствующий на протяжении последних 250 лет подход быстро меняется на постиндустриальную модель уровня потребителя. В рамках этой модели потребительская ценность создается в ходе взаимодействия с клиентами, конкурентные преимущества возникают на открытом рынке, а основные затраты связаны с привлечением, удовлетворением потребностей и удержанием покупателей”
“Благодаря Аркрайту пряжа фактически стала первым в истории человечества продуктом, производимым промышленным способом. К 1810 г. один ткач по производительности равнялся двум сотням ткачей, живших в 1731 г., когда суконщик Джон Кей изобрел бегающий роликовый челнок. К 1812 г. себестоимость пряжи упала в 90 раз.”
“главный вопрос маркетинга: “Кто, когда и по какой цене покупает товар?””
“привычка потребителей полагаться на бренд как на самый доходчивый показатель качества”
““священным Граалем” маркетинга считается возможность предсказать, что же в следующий раз купит каждый отдельно взятый потребитель”
“многие сотрудники Hilti считают компанию в первую очередь информационной системой, а продаваемые ею оборудование и расходные материалы - дополнением к уникальным контактам.”
“выручка Amazon выросла в нуля до $65 млдр всего за 15 лет”
“Понимание устройства и правил конкурентной борьбы на игровом поле - важный шаг для подготовки сдвига на уровень потребителя”
“Получается, первым выйти из стен лаборатории или завода не столь принципиально. Важнее первым завоевать умы потребителей.”
“первый из производителей, кто установит связь между своим брендом и одним из ключевых критериев покупки, получит мощное и долговременное конкурентное преимущество.”
“Конкуренцию за умы потребителей невозможно выиграть, просто демонстрируя, что ваш продукт - лучший. Ее выигрывают, увеличивая значение определенного критерия в оценке, сравнении и выборе продуктов потребителями, а также усиливая связь между вашим брендом и этим критерием - до такой степени, что бренд фактически становится синонимом критерия”
Readlax: Скорочтение! Как научиться быстро и эффективно читать (промо)
September 23, 2020
Good advice in the book in that understanding customer problems help you create better products and sustainable advantages. The problem is that many companies focus too much of their time in getting product done rather than understanding how their customers use their products.
I have 3 issues with Dawar's book: 1. The writing is academic, dry, and not accessible; 2. There are movements that have happened before or concurrently with the book (i.e, Lean start up, Design thinking) that are much better at what is proposed but are not referenced; 3. The industries addressed in the book have old school manufacturing-delivery models (no SaaS, no ecommerce, no fintech, no software). Would have been a really good book if published 10 years earlier.
I have 3 issues with Dawar's book: 1. The writing is academic, dry, and not accessible; 2. There are movements that have happened before or concurrently with the book (i.e, Lean start up, Design thinking) that are much better at what is proposed but are not referenced; 3. The industries addressed in the book have old school manufacturing-delivery models (no SaaS, no ecommerce, no fintech, no software). Would have been a really good book if published 10 years earlier.
November 29, 2013
A vey good read. It shows that product and process innovation is not the only way to innovate and have a competitive advantage. It gives many good examples and tools to think about different value propositions. The one I found to be the most interesting is the one related to marketplace information and customer data aggregation. Basically, using Big Data to give better information to customers and solving their problems in a much better way.
May 17, 2015
This brought a clearer perspective to what most businesses know. make customers return, make profit. brilliantly crafted and has shifted my perspective on customer engagement. it will make you sense the power you and your employees hold for your company's future. that being said, there are not many, "ah ha!" moments in this one. just extraordinary examples and ways to implement this into your business.
June 8, 2016
Dawar's book may be the best we've read on the move from HOW to WHY. His insistence on the need to change our thinking from, "Gosh we have all this stuff we need to sell," to "What do our customers want and why" feels long overdue. Overdue doesn't mean muscle memory won't obstruct, confuse and redirect even the best efforts to really love and listen to customers.
Crazy right?
Crazy right?
September 16, 2014
Excellent book!! I suspect many markets would be happy if their top management took interest in the book :-) The book’s site positions the book as a “A Powerful Antidote to Product-centricity” – and it is so wonderfully correct.
April 4, 2016
Interesting perspectives on the role of branding and added-value downstream, and definitely a good primer for someone who sits outside of marketing. Its examples were good, clear and generally well written.
February 5, 2014
Renews faith
having been at prg, who started the whole customer needs obsession, and reading this book, it's like meeting an old friend.
this book is the right way forward.
having been at prg, who started the whole customer needs obsession, and reading this book, it's like meeting an old friend.
this book is the right way forward.
January 9, 2014
Must read for beginners interested in marketing. Eyeopener and myth buster for staunch believers of 'product based success' of firms.
June 14, 2014
Good insights in this. Gave me a lot of new ideas which I now want to try on the company. Important reading for sales and marketing and customer services folks.
April 14, 2015
Quite a good book. Upstream/downstream differentiation concept nothing new but examples are worth reading.
December 23, 2017
There's some great content but it reads like a textbook. If the author had used more examples and worked on a stronger narrative then I would have enjoyed it more.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews