Market leadership: the -out and the -est

Two thoughts that I really like, brought together.

The first was one introduced to me by Rob Smith, CEO, Paper Plus back in August 2008. It’s called –est. It goes like this:

There are a very small number of fully competitive positions in a sector and you need to own, and align yourself, to one:

Quickest
Biggest
Cheapest
Coolest
Specialist.

Anything else is the middle ground.

Everyone I raise this with debates the number and raises other possibilities. But you get the idea. It’s superlative and competitive and combative. To me, this is the –est test in brand positioning. Who are you going to be? And are you sure, are you really sure, you want to be that?

Second thought, introduced recently by Seth Godin in this post.  Out-. You win when you:

Outsmart
Outlead
Outcare
Outlisten
Outconnect

He gives others. They’re fabulous of course. To me, they are the market leading opportunities. They signal how you intend to win.

I think this question brings the two together:

Who are you going to out-______ in order to be the ______-est in your sector?

What I really like about this is how scary it is on the one hand.

And how specific it is on the other …

More reading

The business of cloning
Always be branding
You can’t lead as a brand if you follow another brand
Great brands unearth
Is your brand ready for the experience war?
Brands at the speed of life

Other perspectives

• 3 Questions for Innovation (changingthewayyouwork.wordpress.com)

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