The Quick Answers#
Mouthwash is the most differentiated category and transmission jacks are the least differentiated.
How did we get here?#
I’m a business school professor. Like many people, I wonder a lot about the practical value of research done by b-school academics. Granted, not all b-school profs are even trying to have direct practical value. Instead, many researchers are trying to solve puzzles. Clayton Christensen is a good example here, he solved the puzzle of why big incumbent brands can sometimes fall to small entrants seemingly out of nowhere. I do some work like that, but recently I’ve become interested in simple questions like “does marketing research produce useful tools for small and mid-sized businesses?”