TAKING
THE FIRST-MOVER ADVANTAGE Many people believe that the basic issue in marketing is convincing prospects that you have a better product or service.
Not true, if you have a small market share and you have to do battle with larger, better financed competitors, then your marketing strategy was probably faulty in the first place.
The basic issue in marketing is creating a
category you can be first in. It is the law of
leadership: it is better to be first, than it is to be better. It is much easier to get into the mind frist than to try to convince someone you have a better prodcut than one that did get there first.
You can demonstrate the law of leadership by asking yourself two questions: first what is the name of the first person to fly the Atlantic Ocean Solo? Charles Lindbergh, right? Secondly, what is the second person to fly the Atlantic Ocean Solo? Not so easy to answer, is it? But the second person to fly the Atlantic Ocean Solo was Bert Hinkler. Bert was a better pilot than Charles - he flew faster, he consumed less fuel. Yet who has ever heard of Bert Hinkler?
Spite of the evident superiority of the Lindbergh approach, most companies go the Bert Hinkler route. They wait until a market develops. Then jump in with a better product, often with their corporate name attached. In today''''s competitive environment a me-too with a line extension name has little hope of becoming a big profitable brand.
The leading brand in any category is almost always the first brand into the prospect''''s mind. IBM in computers, coca cola in soft drinks, Gillette in safety razor blades etc. The first desktop laser printer was introduced by a computer company (Hewlett Packard). Today the company has more than 10% of the personal computer mark and 45% of the laser printer market.
One basic reason the first brand tends to maintain its leadership is that the name often becomes generic.
Xerox, the first plain paper copier, became the name for all plain paper copiers. People will stand in front of Sharp or Kodak machine and say, "How do I make a Xerox copy?" They will ask for Bic Pen when the box clearly says Reynolds. If you are introducing a first brand in a new category, you should always try to select a name that can work generically. Not only does the first brand usually becomes the leader but also the sales order of follow-up brands often matches the order of their introductions.
Dear esteemed reader, the first mover advantage is a battle of perceptions not products.
HINT: Substitute leading for first and you will have the answer to the question - What is that is found in wanting in my society or environment that people would have a burning crave for? And if you can answer this question you will not only be a person of success but a person of value with an unbeatble worth ever recorded in the books of history.
NWOSU CHIMAUCHEM.