Ángel Alloza, the CEO of the Corporate Excellence Centre for Reputation Leadership, spoke to students in the Strategic Management subject, which forms part of the Business Administration programme. Alloza stressed the importance of intangibles when it comes to standing out from the rest, being competitive and growing over the years.
According to Alloza, some years ago, companies based their success on innovation. "If you wanted to compete, you had to offer something new", he said. Moreover, because it was so difficult to imitate competitors, one of the main sources of competitive edge was innovation.
However, it is now becoming more and more difficult to be innovative and increasingly easy to imitate new innovations. Therefore, Alloza said, "It is essential to make your product stand out from the rest. This should not be based on the product, but on intangible assets". What should stand out is what is unique about each company. "The difference, i.e. what makes you truly competitive, is in your company, not the products you sell." According to Alloza, the statistics could not be clearer. He said, "The value of a company used to be made up of 80% tangible assets and 20% intangibles. Right now it's the other way round."
At this point, the company's reputation enters into play and becomes vital. "Everything the company makes has an effect on the behaviour of its customers and is converted into an increase or drop in sales", Alloza said. He concluded by saying, "It is an identity that will last over time and cannot be imitated by competitors". This identity becomes a sustainable competitive edge.
