Copy the winner, or stand apart?
Copying is cheap and proven. Standing out is how you avoid a price war.
Strategy
Copy what works
Copy what’s already proven.
Many winners didn’t invent the idea. They copied one that was already proven and ran it better. Copying is cheaper than guessing.
- Right when
- When the idea is proven and the market is still growing, but the way it’s run can be done better: faster, closer, cheaper or better fitted to local buyers.
- For example
- Flipkart began in 2007 selling books online, an idea Amazon had already proven in America. The edge was fitting India, including cash on delivery for buyers who didn’t trust paying online.
- Wrong when
- When you copy so closely that customers can only compare you on price.
Marketing
Be different
Different beats better.
If you look like everyone else, buyers compare you on price alone. Standing out is how a brand escapes the race to the bottom.
- Right when
- When the market is crowded and every option looks the same. Being the obvious different choice beats being slightly better.
- For example
- Avis was second to Hertz in American car rentals. Instead of claiming to be the best, it said “We’re number two. We try harder.” Being second became the reason to pick it.
- Wrong when
- When the difference is one nobody cares about.
What decides it
Is the market still growing, or already crowded?
In a young, growing market there’s room for a better copy, and copying saves you the cost of guessing. In a crowded one, another copy is just another price war. That’s when different beats better.
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