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Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd

by Youngme Moon

I, Michael Parker, own this book and took these notes to further my own learning. If you enjoy these notes, please purchase the book!

introduction

  • pg 2: When overcome with choices, a connoisseur sees differences, while a novice sees similarities.
  • pg 8: If comparative diligence proves too taxing, the ability to differentiate dies, as does your ability to compete.
  • pg 11: The cadence of competition distracts companies from creating meaningful separation.

instinct

  • pg 27: Comparative metrics capture a brand's personality as seen by customers and relative to competition.
  • pg 31: A competitive metric brings out the herd in us; when we measure something, we immediately aspire to it.
  • pg 34: Ask customers what they want, and their requests will be driven by what the competition offers.
  • pg 37: True or sustainable differentiation is a function of lopsidedness in qualities, not well-roundedness.
  • pg 41: Conformity manifests among groups of competitors that are already the most similar to begin with.

the paradox of progress

  • pg 53: Augmentation-by-addition strengthens an existing benefit or adds a new benefit to a product.
  • pg 55: Augmentation-by-multiplication yields specialized versions of a product for specific customer segments.
  • pg 60: When an ABA becomes standard, customers feel entitled to what they were grateful for yesterday.
  • pg 63: When an ABM becomes standard, alternatives grow while the meaningful proportion of them shrinks.
  • pg 66: Business has been reduced to the artful packaging of meaningless distinctions as true differentiation.
  • pg 70: A hyper-mature category has trickling growth while ABA and ABM is more frenzied than ever.

the category blur (how we cope)

  • pg 75: Online, people reveal who they are by revealing what they consume; it's shorthand for identity.
  • pg 79: Passion and comparative expertise in a brand, even if not objective or rational, is ultimate brand loyalty.
  • pg 83: In a hyper-mature category, activity is a blur, so we associate with the category, not the brands within.

escaping the herd

  • pg 97: Strong brands change a person's consumption patterns; they create enthusiasts and loyalists.
  • pg 99: Differentiated brands render expectations irrelevant in the context of what they are offering.
  • pg 102: An "idea brand" offers a jaded, cynical, and bored group something they regard as special.

reversal

  • pg 110: A "reverse-positioned brand" takes away what we expect, but then gives us what we don't.
  • pg 114: Reverse brands assume people are "over-satisfied" from the hyper-maturity of the category.
  • pg 116: The self-defeating anti-logic of augmentation is that it can actually diminish satisfaction.
  • pg 119: If elimination of benefits is thoughtfully executed, the brand's negatives can become personal positives.
  • pg 123: Removing the extraneous to shed new light on the fundamental crystalizes the value proposition.
  • pg 126: Reverse brands are lopsided; they are under pressure to be well-rounded without diluting their purity.

breakaway

  • pg 135: A breakaway brand offers an alternative category rubric to replace the (sometimes arbitrary) default.
  • pg 139: We only buy into the re-categorization if we're ready to move from our current patterns of consumption.
  • pg 143: Breakaway brands deviate so much from our stereotypes that they cast doubt on those generalizations.
  • pg 145: Alternative category rubrics can invoke alternative but familiar behavioral scripts, so we "get it."
  • pg 151: A breakaway brand creates a new subcategory with tremendous first-mover advantage.

hostility

  • pg 163: Traction requires friction, so hostile brands give us chafe; likable products slide off smooth as silk.
  • pg 167: Hostile brands are statement brands; they become infused with identity and a host of meanings.
  • pg 170: To be a fan of a hostile brand means you are always a customer, never a king; ownership is effortful.
  • pg 174: Hostile brands create solidarity, not just divisions; commonalities are magnified among the minority.

difference

  • pg 184: Competition and conformity are linked; a race can only be run if everyone faces the same direction.
  • pg 194: Difference can't be concocted using a framework, without context; it depends on what is the norm.

marketing myopia, revisited

  • pg 211: Spending too much time focused on your competitors leads you to copy them as a reflex.
  • pg 218: Eliminating skepticism as an option for a few minutes allows improbable ideas to turn into possibilities.
  • pg 220: Customers will demand better, but can't tell you how to make products different or that surprise them.