It’s easy to look at the success of a market leader in your category and consider “borrowing” some of their approach. But as a smaller, challenger brand this is the last thing you should ever do.
Again, the temptation is obvious.
By definition, market leaders have done a lot of things right:
- They nailed their product-market-fit
- They learned how to build trust at scale
- They studied their customers to understand their needs
- They iterated on their message for years to find the best fit
The natural assumption would be that mimicking their positioning and messaging is the perfect shortcut.
It’s at least one contributing factor for why we hear the complaint of “everyone sounds the same”.
The truth of course is this isn’t just a bad move, it’s the polar opposite of what you should do.
Your goal as a brand is to own a unique place in the minds of your customers.
You want a specific type of customer with a specific job to be done to always think of your brand first.
This will never be possible if your value proposition makes your customers think of the market leader.
It’s like setting up your tent next to a skyscraper.
To hammer this point home let’s run through 5 reasons why you should never, ever copy the positioning of a market leader.
1) They operate at a totally different level
Market leaders have one massive advantage you can’t fake – brand equity. This only comes as a result of a certain breadth of success achieved over years or even decades.
As a result of that long history of success they also likely have a range of products or services aimed at a variety of customer segments.
These two key factors – a high level of equity, and a large family of offerings – usually lead to broad umbrella positioning and messaging.
Small brands look at the top-level and get influenced to also speak in broad, high-level terms.
The problem is small brands don’t have the equity built up where customers already know what they do. They also don’t have the range of offerings that require this kind of unifying approach.
When a small brand mimics this type of positioning it leaves customers confused about what they actually do.
2) You force a head-to-head comparison
Copying the positioning of the market leader begs customers to compare you head-to-head.
The goal is to send a message that you’ll get the exact same quality from us that you can get from the leader but often with one key difference – e.g. lower price.
Sounds like a winning formula.
But this drastically underestimates the power of trust with well known brands.
When customers buy from the market leader it’s not just because of great quality. In fact, market leader products often suffer from feature bloat, complexity, and weaker customer service.
What they offer to balance this out is a massive reduction in risk.
People default to market leaders in part because it’s an easier choice. It’s also the choice that won’t get them fired.
When you force customers into a head-to-head choice, even with a discount, trust and risk reduction will still likely win out.
3) It’s not a space you can own
This is arguably the most critical point of all.
The whole point of developing strong positioning is to own a unique space in the minds of your customers.
When you align yourself with not just a competitor, but arguably your biggest competitor, you’ll always be overshadowed.
If you ever hope to own a space it needs to have separation from the market leader in some meaningful way.
When you copy a market leader’s positioning it pushes your brand in the wrong direction – closer.
4) Your customers are too savvy for this
Customers are smart. They dial in their radars to detect false and inflated claims (see, avoiding risk above).
When a small, lesser known brand tries to look and sound like a well known market leader it sends up red flags and instantly erodes trust.
Rather than trying to convince customers that you’re big and established, embrace the benefits of being small.
Small brands have a massive advantage over large organizations in their ability to move quickly and support their customers on an individual level.
Don’t insult your audience’s intelligence. Be transparent about who and what you are.
5) Market leaders aren’t perfect either
Despite the fact that market leaders have achieved a certain level of success it doesn’t mean they’re always right.
Even with all their resources, big brands get misaligned with customer needs too.
They may base their positioning on outdated ideas, or they may be coasting on past reputation.
Because of their equity market leaders can often get away with some level of misalignment.
Small brands don’t have that luxury.
Copying those kinds of mistakes could have a much bigger impact for a brand without that extra equity cushion.
Don’t set up your tent next to a skyscraper
The takeaway here is not to ignore the competition.
You should study them and understand exactly what they do and why customers choose them.
Learn what their biggest strengths and weaknesses are…and then use that to create as much separation from them as possible.
Instead of making your tent look like a skyscraper, embrace your tented-ness.
- Take the time to learn exactly what your customers need
- Get hyper specific about the value you provide
- Communicate that value in clear, direct terms
- Support your customers on a personal level
These are things that big organizations can’t replicate because of their size. They’re the exclusive superpowers of the small brand.
So forget about copying the positioning of those market leaders. Instead find the open field where customers can see and appreciate what makes your tent great.
Find the right challenger brand positioning
If you’re ready to build stronger connections with your customers, reach out for a free consultation. We’ll help you transform your best business thinking into an actionable, shareable, growth-oriented guide. Click below to learn more about the Brand Guidebook process.
