Telecommunications businesses are more concerned with 'differentiating' their brand from the competition than any other sector

[cellular news] Telecommunications businesses are more concerned with 'differentiating' their brand from the competition than any other sector, according to new research carried out by incremental revenue specialists Collinson Latitude.

75% of respondents from the telecommunications industry cited brand differentiation as 'very important' to their business, prioritised higher than either acquisition of new customers (60%) or increasing sales of core products or services (25%). This is compared to 30.8% of airlines, 16.7% of retail and 26.3% of travel businesses who prioritise brand differentiation as the top priority.

Despite this, 40% of telecommunications businesses still fail to offer comprehensive enhancements over and above their core product or service to help generate incremental revenue and differentiate their brand from the competition.

The study revealed that on average across the eight sectors surveyed, 70% of businesses currently provide customers with enhancements or add-ons to their core business, indicating that the telecommunications sector is lagging behind in developing added value products to reflect the changing consumer landscape.

Janet Titterton, Business Development Director, Collinson Latitude comments: "In what is an extremely competitive telecommunications environment it is understandable that differentiation is a key priority for the sector. Certainly some main players, such as O2 and Orange, are starting to explore the ways in which relevant brand partnerships can further enhance their core business.

The fact that almost half of brands in the sector still fail to do this however, demonstrates that there is a huge opportunity for telecommunications brands to develop unique incremental revenue programmes that will enable them to stand out from the competition to acquire new customers, retain existing clients and generate revenues."

Over 180 marketing and brand professionals from a range of industries, including airlines, financial services, hotels, publishing, retail, telecommunications and utilities, took part in the survey, which sought to identify what value-add products and services brands have in place and whether brands believe that these are beneficial to their customers.

Brand Differentiation Top Priority for Telecommunications Businesses