Al Ries, writing at the excellent blog Brand Strategy Insider last week, pointed to the financial differences between first and second place brands, i.e. the originals, and their mimics. He wrote:
You see the same relationships on Interbrand’s list of the 100 most-valuable global brands. No.1 brands are worth far more than No.2 brands.
• Coca-Cola is worth $66.7 billion. Pepsi-Cola, $13.2 billion.
• Nokia is worth $35.9 billion. Motorola, $3.7 billion.
• Nike is worth $12.7 billion. Adidas, $5.1 billion.
You can read the rest here.
These findings echo the idea of marketing guru Seth Godin’s Purple Cow, who says that being remarkable is doing something others don’t do, and the way to stand out and have a USP is to be remarkable. A copy of an original remarkable idea will always be a copy – hence why we refer to vacuum cleaners as ‘Hoovers’, the act of photocopying at ‘Xeroxing’, and so forth.
In the world of Experience Economy, where consumers are driven by feeling over need, the stakes for first place are high. Disney continually enhance their experience to remain the number one family holiday destination in the world. BMW employ a high degree of restraint to make every car the ultimate driving experience.
However being the first to experientialising your economic offering is not the only first. In our realtime society, few businesses and brands are afforded the luxury of a second chance. If the coffee isn’t right, next time I’m at the coffee shop next door. If the service in this retail store is less than satisfactory, I’ll go the store across the road. If you’re online experience is unintuitive, slow and inconsistent, then I’m on Google in a click or stroke.
The experience has to be compelling the first time. It can be wrong, as long as it is compelling (see a story about that here). But it cannot be mediocre, boring and unremarkable.
The window of opportunity for businesses and brands to be the first to experientialise is closing, and with it, the grace period of the second chance is also shortening.
