Kyle Wong, our guest speaker, speaks to how his organization integrated differentiation, innovation, and the Internet to gain competitive advantage (
INF220 Week Two Information Systems - For Competitive Advantage
Links to an external site.
). Using Michael Porter’s Model of Competitive Advantage, analyze how you feel Pixlee uses information systems for its customers’ competitive advantage. Hint: See the Competitive Advantage Strategies in the “Business Use of Information Systems” chart in the Weekly Lecture. Give examples to illustrate your answer. Provide justification and citations for your points.
Comparing Porter’s Model of Competitive Advantage to Kyle Wong and his visual marketing firm, Pixlee, reveals that there are several competitive advantage strategies that Pixlee uses in their business approach that give them a competitive advantage: innovation, differentiation, and lower costs. I think the most prevalent strategy Pixlee employed is to differentiate
themselves from their competitors. In a 2015 interview, Wong specifically called out the importance of differentiation in response to enhanced competition: “
So what I think that requires brands to do is really differentiate
, not just around their products, but around their brand and what their brand actually stands for. In a digital world, I believe that brand is going to become more and more important just because there is going to be so many more options”. Pixlee differentiates themselves from other visual marketing firms by using actual customer photos in the digital marketing campaigns for the companies it works with.
A secondary competitive strategy emerges as a result of Pixlee’s differentiation. Wong and Pixlee realized there are already endless marketing photos available online, and that consumers tend to look at
those photos before even making a decision to do business with a company. When explaining the competitive advantage of Social Commerce, Wong said using consumer photos “shows the versatility and the overall value associated with the hotel, not just the generic fresh photography shots. It really shows what do customers actually do when I'm at the hotel” (2015). By using user-generated content, a business can lower costs
because they do not have to hire talent and photographers to create marketing
photos that aren’t as impactful as user-generated photos to begin with. I would be remiss if I didn’t also mention innovation
as a competitive advantage strategy Pixlee employs. Porter explains that innovative companies “create new products and services that include IT components” (2004). Wong confirms this when he lists “
innovative
and creative” as the second of the three important career skills in digital roles (2015). Although using user-generated content in digital marketing campaigns isn’t necessarily new, Wong and Pixlee provide a platform that incorporates timeless marketing strategies (i.e., pictures of people enjoying their products) and the power of social and e-commerce.