Creating Profit Through Alliances - business models for collaboration E-book | Page 47

higher pricing strategies, since there are no
competitors offering a similar product. Despite the
lower demand for higher priced products, this
position is often very profitable.
A unique product always has a significant, not easily
copied advantage when compared to competing
products. So this is not about a coffeemaker in a new
colour, a camera with a few more megapixels, or a
mid-range car with a slightly different design. This is
about more than just 'differentiation'. Being different
is not good enough; the point is to be exceptional.
Examples of a unique product are the Nespresso
coffeemaker, a Harley Davidson, Viagra, music by
Elton John or the „beyond first class‟ private cabins in
the latest aircraft operated by Singapore Airlines. To
imitate such products would require the right
technology, patents, extreme creative efforts, and/or
huge investments.
Many unique products are therefore protected in one
way or another by intellectual property rights:
patents for technology, copyright for books and
music, drawing and model rights for design. These
property rights ensure that competitors cannot copy
the product and enjoy the advantage of not having
suffered the development costs.
A unique product will not remain unique for ever.
Despite the protection of a technology or model, new
technologies can be developed that offer the same or
similar functionality. Patents expire and music
becomes outdated. Changing needs among
consumers and businesses, or new legislation, can
cause a product's popularity to decline.
The point is therefore to run your organisation in such
a way that it does not produce a one-off unique
product, but that you can constantly come up with
improvements and innovations. A unique product can

result from leading the field in certain competences,
such as technological know-how, design skills or
market understanding. The point is to develop these
competences further and to excel in them, so that
you can create unique products time and again.
Collaboration is an important means of ensuring that
you have the right competences and knowledge inhouse. An example of a unique product as a result of
a collaboration is the Senseo coffeemaker. The
Nespresso coffeemaker had been around since 1986,
but it never became a widely used product, partly
due to its pricing of 200-plus euros. Precisely because
the Senseo was positioned in the lower price range of
59 euros upon introduction, it became a unique
product in a wholly different market, namely that of
the 'regular' coffeemakers.
There are basically two forms of alliances that can
result in a unique product: joint R&D and technology
licensing. In the first case, different competences
from the two partner firms are brought together, and
the risk primarily pertains to the actual development
process. For technology licensing, the firms conclude
agreements about the use of existing intellectual
property rights. The two forms are discussed below.
Naturally, having a unique product does not mean
you can dispense with all kinds of marketing
communication. Collaborating with a number of good
distributors is essential, and they will need to be
persuaded of the utility and uniqueness of the
product in question.
Findability on the Internet is also vitally important. A
good example here is the Checkout cashier system
developed by the Amsterdam-based company Sofa.
This is a software applicat