Lead An Industry by Creating It

by Matthew Bobé & Ashton Nichols

Who was the first individual to fly the Atlantic solo? You may know this figure if you’re good with historical trivia, Charles Lindbergh.

But although Mr. Lindbergh was the first person to fly solo across the Atlantic, he isn’t nearly as famous as the third, Amelia Earhart. Why is that?

In business, there is a powerful principle that explains this phenomenon taught by Al Ries and Jack Trout in their famous book, The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing.

This principle is called positioning, which is the process of differentiating yourself in the respective industry you operate in by creating a “new” category which you can be first in.

In Earhart’s case, she wasn’t the first person who flew the Atlantic solo, she was the first woman who flew the Atlantic solo.

To truly dominate your industry in business, it is crucial that you understand how to properly become a leader by positioning yourself at the front of customer’s minds.

There are 3 laws to recognize from The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing that are critical for businesspeople to achieve this dominance:

1. The Law of Leadership: It’s better to be first than it is to be better.
2. The Law of Category: If you can’t be first in a category, make a new category you can be first in & promote that category.
3. The Law of the Mind: It is better to be first in the mind rather than first in the marketplace.

The reality is that you can control the narrative in the minds of people surrounding your brand by promoting the category it operates in. You engineer the context.

For example, let’s look at the extremely competitive beer market in America. There are a few brand leaders which have carved out leadership in their respective niches:

Imported Beer - Heineken

Domestic Beer - Michelob

Domestic Light - Miller Lite

You get the picture.

A brand like Michelob wouldn’t be able to compete with incumbents of the beer category by simply being another name, it had to create its own category it could be first in. Being the domestic high-priced, high-quality beer is what made it relevant to the consumer.?

What can you be first in? Position yourself correctly by creating a category, and then promote the hell out of it.