We Sell on Taste A look at the success of The Scottish Liqueur Centre based in Bankfoot by Brian Blackburn Business Adviser, Small Business Gateway Perthshire In mature markets companies have limited strategic options open to them to maintain their competitive advantage. Mature markets are characterised by less opportunities to differentiate your products from the competition, limited cost advantage opportunities bigger companies form strategic alliances and the bigger the competition is the more difficult it gets for the smaller niche players.

One such niche player is The Scottish Liqueur Centre at Bankfoot near Perth. Established in 1982, they have for many years manufactured and sold unique Scottish Liqueurs both to domestic and export markets. Three of their core products, "Columba Cream Liqueur", "Scottish Highland Liqueur" and "Bramble Liqueur" are designed to be unique with a specialist target customer. This is a mature market with limited opportunity to differentiate themselves from the competition, and the competition are big payers by anyone's standards, Baileys, Drambuie to name but a few.

However, even in this highly competitive mature market The Scottish Liqueur Centre at Bankfoot headed up by Alistair Gilchrist sell not on price, not on value for money, but on taste. They have cleverly adopted a strategy to differentiate themselves from the competition and are agile niche players who have cleverly built up a sustainable competitive advantage in a mature market. This is a strategy that is both sustainable in the short and the long term.

They have reinforced this strategic choice by going beyond simple customer selection and targeted more "attractive" customers and also seek to turn less valuable customers into bigger spenders, classic niche marketing activities.

In partnership with advice and support from the Small Business Gateway and Export Forum, Alistair and his team at The Scottish Liqueur Centre have put together a tailored marketing plan to deliver their message "that we sell on taste". Key marketing brochures and leaflets have been designed and produced to support newly formed marketing teams around the UK and selected European countries. Alistair has even taken time out of his busy schedule to get to grips with a second European language to further develop and maintain his competitive advantage.

The team at the Scottish Liqueur Centre are an outstanding example of successful local entrepreneurial flair, driven by a detailed understanding of their market, their market life cycle and their uniqueness. Combined to the successful partnering with the Small Business Gateway Team, The Scottish Liqueur Centre continues to be a highly successful manufacturer