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What is the difference between a product and a commodity? The answer may be very simple, that a commodity has not got any brand on it and you need not toil a lot to sell a commodity as it has got a stronger pull in the market. But a product needs some
sweat to sell itself. We have to brand it, position it in proper segment, and incur a good amount of money to promote its brand in the market, so that it may percolate to the customers. But it is very hard on the part of any brand to survive in the ocean of other brands, with such a huge number of brands playing in each of their specific segments. In short, the products are getting commoditized. The corporate have to think beyond the old mantra or principles of marketing. Now-a-days, harnessing only the existing brand value and retain the No. 1 position in the market is just next to impossible for any of the business houses.

If we closely look at the current trend of marketing set by all corporate, we may find that they are all set to break or already have broken the usual mantra of marketing which they have been chanting for the last few decades. Now, hardly any bank thinks of capitalizing its customer-base only by advertising the interest rates, number of branches or ATMs. A toothpaste company is no more selling a white or red coloured toothpaste, but they have become more aggressive, and they have re-defined the segment to a greater depth, and have positioned unique solutions for each segment, starting from the customers who still cherish using salt while massaging the teeth, to the customers who find their toothpaste the best if any board of dentists approve that particular one.

In brief, we may say that all the companies have started re-defining their selling strategies and they have added greater dimensions to it, and these dimensions may not be ones or twos but a lot more (excess) in number. But, an easier solution to explain all the 'excess' in selling strategies might be found with the available 'ex'es in our dictionaries. Funny! Isn't it?

Not to confuse you, here the word 'ex'es just symbolizes nothing but the symbolic plural of 'ex'. We use a lot of words in daily life that start with the prefix 'ex', for example, 'experience', 'exact', 'exclusive', 'excel', 'explicit', 'excellence', 'exalt', 'exuberance'. If we have a close look, then we may discover that these 'ex'es get reflected in the selling strategies of most of the corporate. Almost all corporate participate in either of these 'ex'es and try to sell one of them along with their products. Here are some of the 'Ex'es: -

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Amiya Kumar Bartia is an alumni of XIM-Bhubaneswar, and is currently working as Area Manager at Dow Agro-Sciences India Pvt. Ltd.