Question

Topic: Research/Metrics

What Is The Origin Of The Term

Posted by Anonymous on 5/29/2007 at 12:02 AM ET 250 Points
The term "points of parity" is widespread within marketing textbooks, however I am having trouble locating the original author who coined the term. I would ideally like to sight the article in which the term was first used by the original author.

I am writing a marketing book and need to know the origin of the term when introducing the topic of my book.
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 5/29/2007 at 6:33 AM Member
    I'm not much of a betting man, but if I was, I'd tip Trout and Ries as the origin of the term.

    I do know that Al Ries sometimes frequents the forum, I'll try to e-mail him and ask if he would kindly drop by and put us out of our misery here?

    Hope that helps...

    ChrisB


  • Posted by Chris Blackman on 5/29/2007 at 5:05 PM Member
    Well, it's a good job I don't gamble.

    Al kindly replied to my e-mail and said he hadn't coined the term, and he didn't think Jack Trout did either. In fact, the idea goes against their marketing philosophy, "because while products may be similar, perceptions are not. And marketing is a discipline that deals with perceptions."

    Sorry for leading anyone up the garden path.

    ChrisB
  • Posted by telemoxie on 5/29/2007 at 8:11 PM Accepted
    Another author has referenced: Keller, K.L. 1998, Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity , Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

    saying: In analysing potential for improvement in both of these areas it is helpful to use Kevin Keller’s framework of reviewing competitive advantage in terms of points of parity and points of difference (Keller 1998).

    see https://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/63/04716901/0471690163.pdf
    (what did we do before Google?)

    a search on www.amazon.com for the term ""points of parity" yields 110 hits... you might look thru them for earliest dates...

    I did not check all 110 - but one hit from Amazon also leads to Keller:

    David Taylor, in his book The Brandgym: A Practical Workout for Boosting Brand and Business, also refers to Keller, saying, on page 130: "... Keller calls this offering a `point of parity' in addition to a `point ..."

    So if it were me, I'd ask Kevin Keller. Hope this helps.
  • Posted on 5/29/2007 at 8:53 PM Author
    Thanks telemoxie! Don't suppose you know how I could find Kevin Keller's email address?? You are right, it does appear he was the person who coined the term.
  • Posted on 5/29/2007 at 8:56 PM Author
    Thanks for trying ChrisB - given the term was essentially about positioning, Al Ries was an obvious candidate!
  • Posted by telemoxie on 5/29/2007 at 9:16 PM Member
    Of course I could find his email address... but gosh, David, you need to do at least some of the research... maybe this will get you moving in the right direction:
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kevin_Lane_Keller
  • Posted on 5/29/2007 at 9:21 PM Author
    I thought I may have been stretching the friendship :-) Thanks for your help.
  • Posted by steven.alker on 6/1/2007 at 2:15 PM Member
    Hi

    It's kevin.l.keller@dartmouth.edu

    Please give him my best wishes!

    Steve Alker
    SalesVision
  • Posted on 6/2/2007 at 2:02 AM Author
    Yes, thanks for your help. Kevin has responded to my email, informing me that it was in fact Brian Sternthal who coined the term, but Kevin helped to refine the concept.

    For those interested, the term first appeared in the Harvard Business Review, in an article titled "Three Questions You Need to Ask About Your Brand".
  • Posted by telemoxie on 6/5/2007 at 8:45 PM Member
    Happy to help. Thank you for getting back to us with the results. Good luck with your book.
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