DIFFERENTIA
The differential advantage analysis focuses on why some companies outperform others in a
given industry. A differential advantage is the potential to do something, in order to create value,
which competitors can hardly replicate. It is the ability to offer products and services with value proposals that best satisfy customer needs. Pre-requisites for differential advantages are good performances on key success factors of an industry.
By creating a customer survey on the Internet, we managed to find out what customers consider most important in ice cream. In the course of the differential advantage analysis, we compare
all four ice cream providers on the basis of these key success factors.
Location
The location of ice cream parlors is one of the
major determinants in deciding, which store to go to.
Most of Nannarella’s and Artisani’s customers live in
the neighborhood. Thanks to their favorable locations
in Baixa, Santini and Amorino are the major tourist destinations for ice cream. Ice cream is a product for which
customers on average will not travel long distances.
However, sometimes people accept these long distances in order to be served their favorite ice cream.
Since Santini and Amorino have very strong brand recall and brand recognition rates, they might have a
slight differential advantage in attracting customers,
living farther away from the parlor.
Amorino is represented in two parlors in the
Lisbon center, one in Baixa, another in Chiado. Santini
has three stores in Lisbon, namely in Belém, Chiado,
and in the “Time Out Market” of Lisboa. Artisani is serving ice cream in four stores. However, none of the
shops can be found in Baixa. Artisani parlors are rather
hidden and not easy to make out for the average tourist. Nannarella serves ice cream in one single parlor.
This makes it difficult for the brand to broaden its customer base.
Although the Amorino stores and the Santini
parlor in Baixa attract lots of tourists, they are painful to
reach by car, since both are located in pedestrian areas.
Nannarella, Artisani, and other Santini stores in Lisbon
can be easily got to by car or bus.
Furthermore, Santini is the only brand that is
represented in the “Time-Out-Market” next to the central station. Since the market is full of people every day,
Santini has a real sales advantage in being the only ice
cream provider at this popular spot.
Artisani parlors can be found in the “Mercado
de Algés” as well as in the “Mercado de Campo de
Ourique”. These locations are favorite destinations for
tourists and Portuguese people as well to increase
sales figures. Moreover, Artisani’s ice cream parlor in
São Bento is located directly next to a kindergarten. As
a result, Portuguese families frequent the store repeatedly. The shop profits from having a lot of children as
customers, since they are usually good at persuading
their parents to buy some ice cream.
Moreover, it is interesting to see, which
brands participate in Portuguese events. For instance,
Nannarella is represented in a lot of social and sports