Sail with the Shipwrecked.

'The mariner to sail with is he who has been shipwrecked, for he knows where the dangerous reefs are'.

That's a quote from Daniel Defoe. Writer, trader, journalist, pamphleteer, spy and author of Robinson Crusoe. Which, incidentally, is claimed to be second only to the Bible in its number of translations.

A man of many talents, who knew his onions.

And why is this pamphleteer important in business today? You’ve no doubt heard the saying ‘nobody ever got fired for choosing IBM’.

Keep paying the kids school fees

Which is fine for the biggest brands in a category. They can play it safe, ensure the end of year bonus and of course pay the kids private school fees.

As marketers have know since the seminal research in 2007 by Paul Dyson and Kantar, the biggest brands have a mahooosive advantage just by being big.

They can be mediocre.

But for Underdogs, the odds are stacked against you. You’ve got less physical availability, smaller budgets and less incumbent status.

Yup, mediocre kills Underdogs.

People bang on about 'culture' and forget shipwrecks

Underdogs need people who’ve sailed in the choppiest waters, the most dangerous reefs, the people who actually know where the line is.

Because only once you’ve crossed the line, and been shipwrecked do you know how hard Underdogs have to push to get noticed.

So next time you’re looking at the list of suppliers on an RFP, ask yourself how many of them have been shipwrecked.

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