Article by : Faculty of Cyber ​​Business Management, College of Social Communication Innovation Value Proposition Fighting
Dr. Chatmuang Paomanajaroen
Dr. Benchawan Arakkarun
Ajarn Thippawan Phollongchang

The Value Proposition Canvas
Dr. Thisirak Potawanich
Asst. Prof. Dr. Prama Sastraruchi
Dr. Wiranan Khamnuengwut
Ajarn Thippawan Phollongchang

Fighting with Value Proposition
Currently, we may see that the competition in the digital business era is at a very high level. Especially with the Covid-19 situation, it can be seen that people are using online advertising tools more, whether it is using various social media or marketplace platforms such as Lazada and Shopee because it is convenient and requires less marketing money, making it popular in new businesses that are known quickly. But we can see that new businesses are emerging rapidly and failing in a short period of time as well. Because when we can easily access the market, others can do the same, until they are overtaken by competitors. The main mistake is The presentation of products and services that do not truly meet the needs of customers. The main issue that can answer the question of doing business in the digital era is how to make the business we create different from competitors and survive sustainably, which is designing value that is superior to competitors. While products and services are almost all similar.

The key to the fate of a business is that the products or services delivered to customers meet their needs and can truly solve their problems. Importantly, there must be a customer market that truly supports those things.

What is Value Proposition?
Value proposition is literally “value delivered to customers.”
When your business has products or services that are similar to competitors or are very different, we need to add what kind of value we can provide to customers, such as benefits, unique experiences, and different feelings when using products and services.
A clear example is Starbucks coffee shops. The key to success is not the coffee, but the good experience that customers receive through the staff, the location, and the atmosphere in the shop. The value that customers receive is a place to drink coffee where customers can talk about work.
And make customers look good when sitting in the shop or holding a Starbucks cup out of the shop.

A business that has clear value that is superior to competitors will make customers more confident in choosing products and services than competitors. Which may be innovating new replacements or adding new features or characteristics (Features and Attributes)

Importantly, do not forget that the value must focus on solving problems or meeting the needs of the target customer group, which may be quantitative, such as price or fast delivery, and qualitative, such as design
or creating experiences.
Types of Value Can be divided into the following main categories:

• New things / First time / Unfamiliarity
  Providing new needs or new things that customers have never known before because they have never had this product or service before. Most of them are products related to technology or innovation.
• Efficiency
  Improving the efficiency of products and services, which is a common basis, such as computer businesses, which will offer more storage capacity or better graphics. But the limitation of this value is that sometimes the development of efficiency cannot keep up with the exponentially increasing needs of customers.
• Customization
  When customers can customize products or services to meet their needs, it is also considered to create value that is superior to competitors. When customers can customize products and services, it will make customers feel like they own it, making them feel a part of it and more loyal to the brand.
• Getting the job done Make the customer's work complete
  Products or services that provide value by helping to make certain tasks easier to complete, such as Grab Food, which helps customers not have to go out to buy food and queue during the COVID-19 situation, reducing the burden of going out to buy food during the quarantine for customers.
• Design
  Design that stands out from competitors among similar products or services is considered to create important value for fashion businesses.
• Price
  Using the strategy of lower prices than competitors is only applicable to price-sensitive customer groups. And you must be sure that the cost of running your own business is also low. Sometimes it can be adjusted to be a free promotion, such as a free discount code, free trial product, etc.
• Cost reduction
  Helping customers reduce costs or expenses is another type of value creation that is superior to competitors. For example, Lazada helps customers own a business by saving costs on building their own store website.
• Risk reduction
  Being able to help customers reduce or alleviate the risk of using products and services can also increase value, superior to competitors, such as a one-year quality guarantee or after-sales service for products and services.
• Accessibility
  Helping customers access products and services more easily, which may come from businesses that use technology or innovation, such as unit-linked insurance that allows customers to access insurance investments alongside a wider variety of fund investments.
• Convenient / Usability
  Making certain things or activities more convenient, such as iPods and iTunes, allowing customers to search for music, download music, and listen to music in digital format more easily.
  
  From all the aforementioned formats, it can be seen that presenting products and services that can help solve customer problems and at the same time help customers have a better life is creating value that is superior to competitors, which is like solving customer pain points or problems directly. But before reaching that point, we must be able to analyze what the pain points or real problems of the customers are and how to treat them to make them better (Gain).
  
   

The Value Proposition Canvas

First of all, we must understand that the Value Proposition Canvas is a tool that helps design the value creation of your products and services to meet customer needs.
Or can solve customer problems to create value that is superior to competitors. 
It is divided into 2 parts:

1. Customer Profile helps to understand customers.
2. Value Map The value proposition part

Starting a business or designing a value proposition requires looking at the design of products and services that are primarily customers, followed by the value proposition.

1. Customer Profile

This section is to understand the real needs of the target customers by looking deeply into 3 issues:

Customer jobs are behind the scenes of doing something or working (Job), including what the customer does or the problem that needs to be solved, and there are some needs to help, both in terms of tangible results and intangible emotional/feeling results. It is divided into 4 types:

• Functional jobs are things that you want to accomplish/specific problems that you want to solve, such as wanting to maintain your figure/eat healthy food, wanting to save time on housework, etc.
• Social jobs occur when the customer wants to look good/raise their power and social status, which is related to the job that the customer wants others to see them in the way they want, such as wanting others to see them as successful or wanting to be seen as a fashionista in the eyes of others, etc.
• Personal/emotional jobs are jobs related to the emotions that the customer wants to receive, such as wanting to feel good or wanting to feel secure, etc.
• Supporting jobs are jobs that support something to make it easier. Sometimes, they are also support jobs related to purchasing products and services, such as comparing prices or quality of products, reviewing or giving advice on products and services. Reselling products

1.2 Pains (difficulties that customers often encounter) is identifying what customers do not like or want to
escape from what customers have to do (Customer jobs) can occur from the product and service itself to fear or misconceptions about products and services, which will be things that customers do not want, whether before, during and after doing that thing, divided into 3 types

• Undesired outcome can be in terms of results (e.g. the product or service is not effective enough or doing this thing may have bad side effects), social (e.g. doing this thing makes the customer look bad), emotional (e.g. the customer feels bad every time doing this thing).For example, going to the gym is boring or the product does not look good, etc.
• Obstacles or things that prevent customers from completing certain tasks or delaying the work, such as not having time to exercise or not having enough money to hire a personal trainer, etc.
• Risk or something may not go as it should or have negative results, such as the customer may lose their image if they use that product, etc.

1.3 Gains (what customers expect to receive more) is a part that is connected to Customer jobs. It is what customers expect to receive from products and services. Including additional needs from existing things that impress customers, such as Functional utility, Social gain, Positive emotion, and Cost saving, which will be both as expected or exceed expectations. It is divided into 4 types:

• Required Gain (necessary gain) is a general expectation that products and services should have, such as smartphones must be able to use the Internet.
• Expected Gain (expected gain) is a general expectation that customers expect to receive from products and services, such as customers expect the iPhone to have a good appearance and design.
• Desired Gain (desired gain) is something that exceeds general expectations or is something that customers expect in addition to what they already have. Customers can be asked about this need, such as customers wanting smartphones to connect to other devices they already have.
• Unexpected Gain (unexpected gain) is something that customers never expected before or if asked, they cannot give this answer, such as customers never expected mobile phones to have a touch screen system until the iPhone was invented.

2. Value Map

This section is a diagram that helps businesses design products and services that are valuable to customers and can enter the minds of customers and meet their needs. It is divided into 3 main issues:
2.1. Products and Services (products or services that meet basic needs) is a summary of what qualities and characteristics the products and services should have, what are the competitive advantages over competitors, and what benefits customers will receive from using the products and services. It must be consistent with
Customer jobs in the Customer Profile section, which must have a clear purpose for what they are produced for. It is divided into 4 types:

Physical/Tangible (types that can be touched), such as products manufactured in factories, etc.

Intangible (types that cannot be touched), such as copyright or after-sales service, etc.

Digital (types related to digital), such as downloading music or online data storage services, etc.

Financial (types related to finance), such as investing in funds or life insurance, etc.

2.2 Pains Relievers (the ability to relieve customers' suffering) is a section that answers the Pains (difficulties that customers often encounter) in the Customer Profile. You will have to consider and thoroughly examine the problem. Because if the product and service can solve the problem correctly,
it will be able to reduce the customers' difficulties significantly. If customers still find that there are difficulties, the business can fill those gaps, like giving the right medicine, because it can answer this question by erasing, avoiding, or fixing all the things that customers don't like. 2.3 Gain Creators (the ability to create new benefits for customers) is a response to needs beyond expectations. This part will answer the Gains of the Customer Profile. If you can design additional value that is more than or beyond what customers expect, it will help create a competitive advantage, creating prominence that competitors cannot catch up with. When both sides of the diagram are identified, it will create the value of products and services that are appropriate and on point (Fit) and superior to competitors.

Summary
Designing a value that is superior to competitors is to find the right point of creating value for products and services. It must be able to answer both the problems that customers often encounter (Pains) and present what customers expect to receive more (Gains).
There are 3 steps:

Making products and services solve problems correctly or in line with market needs (Problem-Solution Fit)

This will be obtained from observing and finding information about the problems that customers often encounter (Pains) and presenting what customers expect to receive more (Gains) that are most relevant to the target group. You may not have to find evidence to support it yet, but try to specify information or answers that are most relevant to the target group.

Making customers see our products and services and want them, i.e., being attracted to buy (Product-Market Fit)

At this stage, you need to test the real market to see that products and services must be able to meet basic needs (Products and Services), relieve customers' suffering (Pains Relievers) and create new benefits for customers (Gain Creators). This step is to test whether the value of the products and services that have been designed can actually be done.
Sometimes, customers may not even be interested at all. Therefore, this step is a time-consuming step and may have to be repeated between steps 1 and 2.

Making products and services produce financial results that are profitable and grow (Business Model Fit)

This step is to confirm that a business with superior value that is superior to competitors must lead to success by having financial results that are profitable and grow continuously. In doing business, in addition to being able to deliver superior value to customers, it is also necessary to have the ability to design an appropriate business model. It must take into account other elements that will help create a strategy for growth and profit, such as building relationships with customers, marketing channels, things to do to drive the business, our key partners, the company's necessary resources, the main expenses of the business, and the business's income.

Finally, when using the concept of designing a complete value proposition according to the value creation diagram, it will be found that designing a business value that is superior to competitors is identifying the value that even customers themselves have never known before or do not even know that they need this. That is to find the hidden needs in the minds of customers that go beyond what customers expect or from the previous experiences that customers are accustomed to.

Reference documents
Osterwalder, A., and Pigneur, Y. (2010), Business Model Generation, Hoboken:
John Wiley & Sons.Osterwalder, A., and Pigneur, Y., Bernarda, G., Smith, A. (2014), Value Proposition Design: How to Create Products and Services Customers Want, Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.