We concluded that each of the five situations warrant its own
distinct strategy. With the goal of creating a framework for proactive strategy formulation, we asked, “Whatuniquestrategycanbeemployedineachofthesefivesituations?” We set out to define and name a type of strategy that would work for each unique situation. We chose a naming convention that built upon well-established strategy and innovation terminology and accurately described the uniqueness of the situation.
The five strategies we identified address all the situations a company can face as it contemplates a product or service strategy. The strategies are introduced in the Jobs-to-be-DoneGrowthStrategyMatrix shown below:
The product/service strategies introduced in this framework are defined as follows:
Differentiatedstrategy. A company pursues a differentiated strategy when it discovers and targets a population of underserved consumers with a new product or service offering that gets a job (or multiple jobs) done significantly better, but at a significantly higher price. Examples of offerings that successfully employed a differentiated strategy include Nest’s thermostat, Nespresso’s coffee and espresso machines, Apple’s iPhone 2G, the Herman Miller Aeron chair, Whole Foods’ organic food products, Emirates airlines’ international flights, Bang & Olufsen’s personal audio products, BMW sports cars, Sony’s PlayStation (original model), and the Dyson vacuum cleaner and Airblade hand dryer.
