Better, faster, nicer, cheaper.

Porter taught us to operate at the lowest cost or differentiate so we don't get caught in the middle, but as brands start to create hybrid offerings the lines are starting to blur. Fear not brave marketers, there is help at hand. What if we simply picked one of four strategies and then stayed true to it? It works for successful brands and it can work for you too, so now is the time to take your pick (and at the risk of breaking into a Daft Punk song): Better, faster, nicer, cheaper. But, which one is best for you?

Better

Being better takes a lot of resource: Educating sales teams, educating consumers (usually through expensive advertising) and investment in technology. However, better warrants a premium: high selling prices, greater margins and not to mention the pride that comes from the people that work for the company that sells the best products and services. Better doesn't have to be in the functionality of your offer but it does have to be in the perceptions of the consumer. iPhone competitors have built handsets that are arguably better than the Apple product but the brand and the smart linkages through the supporting technology have created a perception of better. Apple could not have achieved this if they had focused on being cheaper and the demand that they have created by being better has meant that faster is not a priority either. Better doesn't mean you have to ignore faster, nicer and cheaper (you still have to build reputation, get your product to market and keep costs low to turn profits) just that they should not be the things that you should really be famous for.

Faster
Express lunch, one-hour-photo, priority boarding. Faster has been seen by many as a mere up-sell and to be fair people are prepared to pay for faster when they want to. Some businesses make faster their priority and it is this which sets them apart. Same day courier services collect a hefty premium because clients can't wait. Meridian packaging are not the cheapest packaging company in the world but they cleverly manage logistics so that they can deliver product when long lead times from the other side of the world are not an option. Meridian may well be nice and they may well be better than some of their competitors but it is their ability to fulfil quickly that differentiates them.

Nicer

Nicer sounds easy doesn't it? A smile costs nothing and surely people want to be nice so brand owners only need to appeal to a human nature to achieve this don't they? So why do so many businesses struggle with nicer? If you are in services then nicer is essential. Services are usually highly competitive and whilst many services go after better, faster and cheaper what the consumer usually wants is nicer. Pubs and restaurants thrive on nicer, in the words of Cheers 'you wanna go where everybody knows your name', and whilst there is an economic incentive for staff to deliver this (tips) it can still be hit and miss. Gearing up for nicer involves a rigorous recruitment and selection process, a focussed culture, constant education and sales and incentive schemes which facilitate and empower employees to deliver great service. However, this falls down when brand owners panic and over complicate things. The usual complications are attempts to shoehorn better, faster and cheaper into the mix but these lose sight of the prime consumer need. To create nicer, you have to work hard, but your customers will thank you in the long run.

Cheaper

A business that keeps its costs low has the power to be able to compete by selling cheaper than anyone else, but all too often do we find ourselves having a go at trying to compete on cheap without engineering our processes to deliver at lowest cost. Despite the umbrage they evoke Ryanair have stripped every conceivable superfluous cost away in their quest for supernormal profits. Ryanair's success is not just down to relentless cost cutting, but equally important is the decision not to compete on being better, faster, or nicer than their competitors. If a cost leader tries to be nicer than a competitor then they start to add in cost. So next time you find yourself getting upset at Ryanair because the flight attendant didn't smile at you - remember that smile costs money! 

By being single-minded you can build a fame-point but being caught in the middle doesn't help you or your audience. So have you picked one yet? Do your customers know? and next time you put together a campaign just think about how many successful brands are famous for being better, faster, nicer and cheaper? I would guess it's a round number. 

Brandshakes are written by Andre Johnstone. Follow him on Twitter @andrejohnstone