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Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd

by Youngme Moon

introduction

  • pg 2: When overcome with choices, a connoisseur sees differences, while a novice sees similarities.
  • pg 8: If comparative diligence proves too taxing, the ability to differentiate dies, as does your ability to compete.
  • pg 11: The cadence of competition distracts companies from creating meaningful separation.

instinct

  • pg 27: Comparative metrics capture a brand's personality as seen by customers and relative to competition.
  • pg 31: A competitive metric brings out the herd in us; when we measure something, we immediately aspire to it.
  • pg 34: Ask customers what they want, and their requests will be driven by what the competition offers.
  • pg 37: True or sustainable differentiation is a function of lopsidedness in qualities, not well-roundedness.
  • pg 41: Conformity manifests among groups of competitors that are already the most similar to begin with.

the paradox of progress

  • pg 53: Augmentation-by-addition strengthens an existing benefit or adds a new benefit to a product.
  • pg 55: Augmentation-by-multiplication yields specialized versions of a product for specific customer segments.
  • pg 60: When an ABA becomes standard, customers feel entitled to what they were grateful for yesterday.
  • pg 63: When an ABM becomes standard, alternatives grow while the meaningful proportion of them shrinks.
  • pg 66: Business has been reduced to the artful packaging of meaningless distinctions as true differentiation.
  • pg 70: A hyper-mature category has trickling growth while ABA and ABM is more frenzied than ever.

the category blur (how we cope)

  • pg 75: Online, people reveal who they are by revealing what they consume; it's shorthand for identity.
  • pg 79: Passion and comparative expertise in a brand, even if not objective or rational, is ultimate brand loyalty.
  • pg 83: In a hyper-mature category, activity is a blur, so we associate with the category, not the brands within.

escaping the herd

  • pg 97: Strong brands change a person's consumption patterns; they create enthusiasts and loyalists.
  • pg 99: Differentiated brands render expectations irrelevant in the context of what they are offering.
  • pg 102: An "idea brand" offers a jaded, cynical, and bored group something they regard as special.

reversal

  • pg 110: A "reverse-positioned brand" takes away what we expect, but then gives us what we don't.
  • pg 114: Reverse brands assume people are "over-satisfied" from the hyper-maturity of the category.
  • pg 116: The self-defeating anti-logic of augmentation is that it can actually diminish satisfaction.
  • pg 119: If elimination of benefits is thoughtfully executed, the brand's negatives can become personal positives.
  • pg 123: Removing the extraneous to shed new light on the fundamental crystalizes the value proposition.
  • pg 126: Reverse brands are lopsided; they are under pressure to be well-rounded without diluting their purity.

breakaway

  • pg 135: A breakaway brand offers an alternative category rubric to replace the (sometimes arbitrary) default.
  • pg 139: We only buy into the re-categorization if we're ready to move from our current patterns of consumption.
  • pg 143: Breakaway brands deviate so much from our stereotypes that they cast doubt on those generalizations.
  • pg 145: Alternative category rubrics can invoke alternative but familiar behavioral scripts, so we "get it."
  • pg 151: A breakaway brand creates a new subcategory with tremendous first-mover advantage.

hostility

  • pg 163: Traction requires friction, so hostile brands give us chafe; likable products slide off smooth as silk.
  • pg 167: Hostile brands are statement brands; they become infused with identity and a host of meanings.
  • pg 170: To be a fan of a hostile brand means you are always a customer, never a king; ownership is effortful.
  • pg 174: Hostile brands create solidarity, not just divisions; commonalities are magnified among the minority.

difference

  • pg 184: Competition and conformity are linked; a race can only be run if everyone faces the same direction.
  • pg 194: Difference can't be concocted using a framework, without context; it depends on what is the norm.

marketing myopia, revisited

  • pg 211: Spending too much time focused on your competitors leads you to copy them as a reflex.
  • pg 218: Eliminating skepticism as an option for a few minutes allows improbable ideas to turn into possibilities.
  • pg 220: Customers will demand better, but can't tell you how to make products different or that surprise them.