Clark Kent – Role Model? The Dubious Virtues of “Leading” from the Rear

by Freddy Tran Nager, Founder of Atomic Tango + Differentiation Advocate…

Thanks to the jury in the Apple-Samsung case, product differentiation is now mandated in the marketplace (at least in the smartphone industry). Unfortunately, differentiation — and creativity and daring — are harder to find despite every company’s claim of “leadership”…

Did you know that 99.999% of all companies are “leaders” or “leading providers”? I discovered that by reading their press releases.

AND YET…

When you challenge these “leaders” to actually lead, they ditch their superhero capes and don thick glasses. “Oh, you want me to make a decision? Well, uh, what’s the market leader doing? We’ll just do that.”

Rock on, Clark.

I wish business school had taught me how to lead by following.
Oh, wait, they did: those were called “best practices.”

The Extra-Ordinariness Continues…

While treading water in tepid seas of blandness, these masters of conformity avoid advertising. They claim that “word of mouth” will score them customers. Can’t you just hear those customers shouting, “OMG, you must buy from them! They’re just like everyone else!”

I’ve experienced this mind-searing blandness up-close and personal. When I was a young copywriter, these leaders would ask me to describe them as “next generation” and “cutting edge” — and only leaders use terms that went out of fashion during the Ford administration. I would present several creative options, and they’d invariably select the safest, most conservative one. Or sometimes they’d reject ’em all and tell me to just copy what the competition had written.

“Here We Are To Save The Day!” Enter the Challenger Brands…

You know who’s spoiling the mediocrity fest by spiking the punch and putting muy caliente salsa in the tamales? Smaller, entrepreneurial ventures who fully acknowledge that they’re NOT market leaders. They will just do everything they can, creatively, to rise up. We call them “challenger brands.”

These challenger brands strive to be different, because the only way they can overcome larger foes is by taking risks. They actually advertise ’cause they want people to know they exist. And those ads go on to win awards and views and shares and, yes, sales.

Consumers who also view themselves as challengers will buy challenger brand products for a higher price than they’d pay for “leading” products. And as more people look at the challengers, more higher priced goods get sold. And you know what happens as a result? That’s right: those higher prices cause inflation, and everyone knows inflation sucks.

Yet at the same time, the market leaders resort to cutting their prices and offering regular clearance sales just to “move product.” So it all balances out.

So let’s all play it safe by being leading leaders who lead as leading providers of leadership. You can’t go wrong there. Or, really, anywhere at all.

Note on the featured image: How does one show an image of Clark Kent without getting harassed by copyright trolls? Ah, I know, show a related product on Amazon, where I have an affiliate account. (And, yes, buying via this link supports the Atomic Tango Martini fund.)