Finding a Playground Where No One Else is Playing

“Since we believe that what we’re doing is so unique, everyone will have the same perspective and want our product.” 

It is really, really hard to create a unique product or service. Even when you do create something unique, there’s no guarantee you’ll gain meaningful visibility. First you have to position it to cut through the clutter. Advertising and information overload is the norm. Whether you’re battling to reach consumers inundated with an endless set of choices for virtually each product or service, or corporate buyers overwhelmed by the number of potential solutions they review, it is almost impossible to cut through the noise. Cutting through this clutter, even with something head-turning and new, can be difficult.

Passion for their vision convinces many entrepreneurs that their product or service is so singular and exceptional that it will cut through the clutter on its own. Other entrepreneurs acknowledge the competition but believe that their improvements in the industry—better product, more efficient service, better design innovation—will cut through the noise. Some may believe a clever strategy is enough to out-maneuver the competition—even when the competition comes from some of the largest and well-funded companies. “We will understand the competition, analyze their marketing and we will just do it better and more creatively. We will take them head on and let our uniqueness shine through!” There are companies that have successfully faced off with the competition and come out the winner. That said, entrepreneurs need to ask themselves a difficult question, and understand their business well enough to give an honest answer. They may have a unique, newly improved idea, but do they have the differentiation, capital and resources to beat the competition at their own game?

If the answer is any version of “no,” instead of taking on the competition, why not look for a market segment in which your competition is not playing. Don’t fight them on their playground—find a playground where they are not playing. For example:

The leadership of our technology vendor that helped us launch IncentOne’s first product had grown up in the telecom business. They told me that they had been building a service that allowed each individual to have their own personal “800” number that would be the only number anyone would call. An individual could set preferences that would direct it to ring on their home phone, office phone and cell phone at times they set. Imagine that—you only had one number and it rang wherever you wanted. Seemed like a great idea.

But despite a great service and clear value for the consumer, they were having trouble selling it. They were pitching it to the telecom companies. I had two reactions. First, wouldn’t telecom companies be the last companies that would want this service? Wouldn’t someone using one number instead of many have the potential to hurt their revenue? Second, it seemed to me that the telecom companies—with all of their technological resources, probably already had this technology.

I suggested that they look for a market that didn’t live and breathe telecom. Was there a place in which this service could add value to the consumer but wouldn’t be measured against or by the leading thinker in the telecom space? After all, even though the technology might not be unique, the service would clearly benefit consumers. Was there a market where companies were looking to provide differentiating services like this to consumers?

After some debate, we thought about the credit card companies. They were constantly spending marketing dollars and offering consumers value added services if they signed up for one of their credit cards. Capital One, American Express, Citibank, Discover, MasterCard and Visa, among others, were spending lots on customer acquisition. Wouldn’t a service like this offered to a new credit card holder differentiate an offering? They started offering it to that market and one of the major credit card companies became their biggest customer.

Same product. Different market.

When you bring something to market, focus on the path where your competition is not playing. It’s unlikely that you’ll develop something truly unique on a regular basis, but it is likely that you will find “an empty playground” or a unique distribution channel where your idea will thrive.

When the pressure, passion, pleasure and pain are impacting our perspective (especially our passion), we believe that we can create something different that stands out from the crowd on its own merits. This happens all the time. This requires your product or service to be better, faster, stronger. To accomplish this, you will need to spend significant time making your product or service the best out there. You may also need to spend significant capital and marketing funds. These are certainly formulas for success, but ones that require time and resources most entrepreneurs don’t have.

Look at competition and success from a different perspective. Take some of the time, effort and resources normally devoted to your product, and direct them to finding the right “playground”—one where you can maneuver and gain visibility that cuts through the noise. Imagine if your effort was not spent on Release #10 of your software or your ninth perfume bottle design, but on the distribution channels that will value Release #5 or bottle design #8, and the niche markets where that value has room to be unique. What is often inferior on one playground is superior on another. The uniqueness of your solution is important. It might be even more important to go to playgrounds where no one else is playing.