"The more things change, the more they stay the same," says a French phrase.
The heart of the matter in business is the ability to compete, dependent on the talent to stand out from the competition. To not be part of the herd, to really be noticed. What Seth Godin calls being a ‘purple cow”, is remarkable in the field of black and white bovines. Create a ‘Wow! factor’. Are we getting, more and more of what we really don’t want?
In case study after case study, business school students are drilled into the concept of differentiation.
“In category after category, it has become apparent that competitive differentiation is a myth, Or to put it more precisely, in category after category, companies have gotten so collectively locked into a particular cadence of competition that they appear to have lost sight of their mandate – which is to create meaningful groves of separation for one another. Consequently, the harder they compete, the less differentiated they become” writes Youngme Moon, a Harvard Business School professor of marketing.
Running fast in an endless cycle
Fancy words for what anxious marketers do is called ‘product augmentation’. Adding on more and more features, and benefits to an already existing product, like giving your detergent a lemon smell, or allowing you to send pictures, with a text message.
In simple terms, the steps are: 1) The Company augments its value proposition by offering customers a new benefit. 2) Customers are happy. 3) Competitors quickly race to match – imitate the augmentation. 4) New augmentation becomes the standard offering. 5) Customer satisfaction levels are recalibrated, customers feel entitled to what they were grateful for yesterday. 6) The expected customer value proposition has expanded, consumers expect more, and the minimum requirements to compete have increased. 7) Go back to step 1, and, so the cycle endless continues.
The paradox is that the more marketers try and compete, through the elusive process of differentiation, the more products look and feel the same.
What eventually happens is that the once distinctive valued product or service becomes a commodity. A commodity that the market soon takes for granted, able to compete only on the basis of offering the lowest price. Competing on price is a slippery slope, there will likely always be someone, who can make an offer at just a little less cost.
Today we are going through the AI – artificial intelligence craze, with many products like a new laptop, and ‘enhanced’ services AI-enabled. Perhaps unique today, a commodity tomorrow? Lack of genuine differentiation and inability to create a distinctive value proposition happens not only in business but also in the bursting to the seams, NGO community as well. So how does one stand out, and create and capture value?
Consider these four steps:
Question the status quo, question the default position – don’t take the status quo, the way things have always been for granted, after all someone created the systems, approaches, in the beginning, they are not engraved in stone.
Avoid confirmation bias – the tendency to interpret all new information, in a way that is compatible, in alignment with existing beliefs. Look out for the outliers, the ideas that look wacky, that may contain real gems.
Get out of the noise, get out of your normal workspace – and go for a long walk, or meditate. Just sit outside, breath in and breath out, and try and quiet your mind, which you will see is quite difficult to do. There will always be that constant chattering in your head, but with time it will dissipate. "Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice” was how the co-founder of Apple said it. Trust your gut, trust your intuition.
Move into action – once you have the kernel of the idea, take the first steps. Nothing happens until something moves. This may mean taking a small [low risk] gamble, doing something outside your perceived limitation. Don’t be afraid of losing, be afraid of not trying, not taking the initial steps forward. In the words of Thomas Carlyle “Go as far as you can see. When you get there, you'll be able to see further.”
