Multi-Attribute Model

The Multi-Attribute Model is a tool taught in graduate and undergraduate marketing curriculums across the globe to help students better understand competitive advantage and the Customer Needs Analysis means-end approach. Essentially, it helps us take a more objective look at the products or product features we offer our customers; whether similar or different to a competitor, through the lens of customer need. It supports the truth that successful brands commit to the following things: they build clear and compelling identity, they market effectively and constantly, and they operate in accordance with the fundamental lean principles of “build, measure, learn.” The brands that don’t operate this way or incorporate this thinking fall subject to commoditization and will be forced to offer the lowest price just to survive; simply because price becomes the only area where they can compete.

We want to help you understand the model, so here's what you need to know when looking at it: the top-left ring is your brand, the top-right ring is one of your competitors, and the bottom ring is the customer whose business both you and your competitor are vying for. Each dot represents a product feature or offer.

Here's what each number in the Multi-Attribute Model represents:

1. You offer something your customer wants but your competitor offers it too. Lowest price wins here.

2. Both you and your competitor offer something, but your customer doesn't want it. The question we must ask ourselves is this: “why are we wasting resources offering something our customers don’t want?”

3. You offer something your competitor doesn't and your customer wants it. This is a competitive advantage.

4. Your competitor offers something you don't and your customer wants it. This is their competitive advantage.

5. Our customer doesn't want these things we offer, but could learn to want them if we communicated their unique value (marketing) from a place of trust and belief (brand).

6. Our customer doesn't want these things our competitor offers, but could learn to want them if they were marketed effectively and they trusted the brand.

7. These are unmet customer needs - our greatest area of opportunity. Our brand will prove itself empathetic if we listen and respond to the needs that are voiced here.

8. This is where we win: by increasing our competitive advantage to a point where our competitor can't keep up.

So according to this tool, how do we win?

First: you must build a compelling brand identity.

Second: you must market your brand constantly and effectively.

And third: you must think lean (build/measure/learn). Don’t assume you know what your customers value. Talk to them. Discover those things by actively listening. Once you’ve done that, build what they asked for. Once built and released, measure the outcomes. What happened? Did they love it? Did they hate it? This is where the opportunity to learn, lives. What did we discover about our customers? What do they really value? What do they really want? If you really want to provide value to the customers in your space, you must create environments where they can provide feedback and you must be willing to listen.