Escaping The Competition

The central thesis of Differentiate or Die by Jack Trout, marketing guru of the early 2000’s, is that to survive in a world spoiled for choice, a brand needs a unique selling proposition versus the competition. Twenty years on, in a world where consumption and personal identity are commingled as a result of Social Media platforms that allow people to show the world what they think/eat/drink/wear and do at all times, the marketing challenge isn’t quite as straight forward. 

I love Harvard Business School professor Youngme Moon’s book Different – Escaping the Competitive Herd, where she comes at differentiation differently:

“in this era of more thoughtful consumption, louder is seldom better, and more-of-the-same almost never adds up to the best.”

And

“…the way to think about differentiation is not as the offspring of competition, but as escape from competition altogether.”

There are some important concepts in here as we think about the nature of differentiation given today’s marketing landscape. Brand choice now arguably is driven more by affinity versus only a promise of brand efficacy. I think the process is now more akin to winning someone’s vote in a hotly contested election. Brands, in the best case, become proxies for one’s worldview and how they want to see change in it.  Warby Parker – democratization of fashion eye ware with a conscience, AirBnB – creating a sense of “home” for everyone everywhere.

In today’s marketing reality, it is less important to toil over a given brand’s proposition versus the competition, and more important to define a belief system and a path to drive behavioral integrity for it.

In a universe of brands that are trying to be all things to all people (Starbucks is opening quick serve breakfast while McDonald’s opens McCafes), uniqueness will become the sole property of lopsided brands -- Brands that over index on meaning and undervalue what the competition is doing.  

Patagonia - Using business to inspire and implement solutions to the environmental crisis

Chobani – Working towards positive change in the community one cup at a time

Zappos – Embracing holocracy internally to drive innovation and authenticity

I believe this is not only a niche approach for single category brands. There are companies that are being actively rewarded for this type of approach at scale. Disney’s mission as an example is ‘to develop the most creative, innovative and profitable entertainment experiences and related products in the world’ Creativity, Innovation and Profitability – I love it! We see this mission coming to life consistently in whatever business ventures they embark on - movies, content streaming, cruises, theme parks and merchandise. 

For the last 80 years, brands that are still around and going strong are the ones that have absolute clarity on their belief system, their mission and their purpose that ultimately work together to create a category of one, not those that only obsess over differentiating themselves from the competition. To become a category of one requires a purpose that transcends that category. At FeQ our obsession is to foster purposeful brands for thoughtful consumption. Message us on LinkedIn to learn more.