Get Out of the Middle

By John Malmo

http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkno/local-wkno-904111.mp3

Get Out of the Middle, by John Malmo.

Memphis, TN – In case you've never played poker, some hands are played, "high, low." That means the best hand splits the pot with the worst hand. Players with hands in the middle get nothing. That's called being middle-man in a high-low poker hand.

And being a middle-brand in many business categories can be just as unprofitable. In every category, there's a top brand or brands. Those far better than all others. There may be as many as three or four, as in the case of cars. And there are those brands that are just good enough and cost a lot less.

Today, Internet research makes it a lot easier for buyers to find the "just-good-enough-and-a-lot cheaper" brands. In the electronics category, for instance, the high-low brands are having a heyday. Middle men are getting squeezed.

According to the New Yorker Financial Page, Apple has only 2.2% of the cell-phone market. Nokia has nearly twenty-times that. But Apple's iPhone alone makes almost as much profit as all Nokia phone models combined.

Most small businesses don't make products. They are retailers or service providers. The principle still applies: make your brand far better, and charge for it. Or, be just good enough, and cost a lot less. But get out of the middle.

John Malmo is a Memphis marketing consultant with more than fifty years experience. He is former chairman of Archer Malmo Advertising and specializes today in helping small businesses grow. To reach Mr. Malmo - or to buy a copy of his book When on the Mountain There is no Tiger, Monkey Is King- go to http://www.johnmalmo.com.