Strategic Design | marketing & branding thoughts by Nick Rice

"If you mimic market leaders, you'll only add to their dominance."
- Jon Spoelestra

I love Jon's book "Marketing Outrageously". He has some great insight (much like Seth Godin) on differentiation. He's absolutely right, copying the 800lb gorilla only solidifies his place in the minds of consumers. As human beings, we're trained to only recognize differences.


I believe it's one reason why Apple is experiencing a comeback. Their products are always different from their competitors. The iMac, iPod, iBook, Final Cut, iTunes, etc... They have done a great job at breaking through the clutter and creating products that appeal to a wide audience, work pretty easily, and make money for shareholers. Apple doesn't copy anyone. Remember when the iMac launched w/ it's crazy translucent colors? How many accessory companies jumped on that bandwagon? The sea of translucent teal was insane.

Their innovation made them appear bigger than their marketshare and it pays off in profit.