April 2000

Be First In The Market Or Forget It! 

BY NADJI TEHRANI

During my many speaking engagements at various trade shows and conventions in the United States, Europe, Latin America, Southeast Asia, Japan and elsewhere, I have discussed the first law of positioning and have been challenged occasionally by a few people who asked me to prove my claim. I chose the following examples to drive home the point.

Example 1
I asked my audiences to name the first person from the United States to cross the Atlantic by air. Many people would raise their hands and reply, "Charles Lindbergh." I would then ask the audience who was the second person to cross the Atlantic by air, and no one would raise their hands. Why? Because no one cares about or remembers number two.

Example 2
I would then ask the audience to tell me the name of the horse that broke all speed records and won the Triple Crown in 1973. I would find that those who were old enough and cared enough about horse racing (as I do) would quickly reply, "The great Secretariat." I'd then ask those same people for the name of the horse that came in second to Secretariat in The Kentucky Derby, The Preakness and The Belmont Stakes. I'd find that 99.9 percent of the time, if not 100 percent of the time, no one remembered the name and no one cared. (In case you ARE curious, the horse's name was "Sham.")

Example 3
In the computer industry, it is a well-known fact that IBM was the first company to gain worldwide dominance as the leader of computer technology. Thereafter, most computers that came about by other manufacturers were touted as IBM-compatible because IBM was the first. Such was the case even though many of the clones were superior to IBM PCs. Once again, the conclusion is that everyone cares about the first and hardly anyone cares about number two.

The Internet Revolution Makes Being First Even More Vital!
Today, the globalization of the marketplace and the creation of an information technology democracy have lowered the barriers between many businesses. For example, by lowering the barriers, one finds that suddenly those that manufacture digital cameras are now competing with filmmaker Kodak because the conventional film is no longer necessary. Suddenly, every manufacturer of digital cameras (and there must be thousands of them) is now a competitor to Kodak, however inadvertently, and they are all competing for the same market share. In short, globalization and democratization have created a revolution where the walls and barriers to entry are dropping and we are entering a new Internet economy where suddenly we are all in each other's businesses. What all of that means is the faster-than-lightning speed of technological growth and evolution has created an environment where, thanks to the Internet revolution, your competition, no matter what business you are in, could be only a click of the mouse away! In such an environment, therefore, where competition could be a fraction of a second away, to be first is more than vital for any enterprise that intends to have a viable business in today's supremely competitive environment.

A Case In Point
It took Barnes & Noble 125 years to develop its brand name, which everyone respected as one of the leading bookstores in the world. And yet, thanks to the Internet revolution, it took Amazon.com less than one year to introduce a new brand, which grew into a giant with a huge market capitalization. For all practical purposes, Amazon.com stole the show on the Internet, and is now considered as THE global marketplace. Having said that, how many of us actually remember who is number two behind Amazon.com in the same line of business on the Web? I think if you pose this question to as many people as you wish, you will find that few know and few care who is number two.

It is apparent that in this Internet economy, more than ever before, it is not only vital, but also a do-or-die situation to be first in the marketplace.

The Second Law Of Positioning
The second law of positioning states that if you are unable to be first in a given endeavor, find a niche in which you can be #1.

Obviously, a niche business will deal with a much smaller market, but it tra-ditionally provides a higher profit margin. On the other hand, in an Internet economy where the competition is breathing down your neck, a niche business could be gobbled up by a competitor if either one of the following cases exists:

1. The company that thinks of the niche business first does not engage in far-reaching, mass marketing to capture the entire marketplace literally overnight and position itself as the leader.
2. The company does not continuously position itself with massive advertising and marketing on the Web and elsewhere to remind the market of their leadership position.

Marketing Is Not A Part-Time Job!
In the rapidly changing Internet economy, if you blink, you could find yourself out of business. In this case, blinking means marketing whenever you feel like it instead of on a daily, hourly or minute-by-minute basis. One company that does a terrific job of marketing without blinking is The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company. They practically dominate most significant football games with their blimp, which states, "Goodyear...#1 in tires." Furthermore, all of their advertising in publications, on the Web and on television always carries the Goodyear logo with the permanent tagline "#1 in tires." Now, let me ask you a question. Who is number two in tires? Did anyone answer Michelin?

Michelin Deserves A Great Deal Of Credit
Michelin deserves a great deal of credit for finding a niche in the tire marketplace to compete against Goodyear: the safety niche. Michelin's advertising is tremendously creative and convincing. It features a baby sitting inside a tire in the middle of the road with ducklings waddling by and the tagline: "Because so much is riding on your tires." This strategy seems to work well, thus Michelin also has a good market share.

The Bottom Line

1. You must be first in any business you start or forget it.
2. When you are first and #1 in a given business, you must constantly advertise it, promote it and remind the public that you are the first and #1 in your field.
3. Always remember that marketing in any economy is not a part-time job. In fact, it is more than a full-time job if you intend to maintain your #1 position in any business.

I wish you good luck in your marketing and hope to see you April 26-28 at the Communications Solutions EXPO Spring 2000 in Washington, D.C.

Sincerely,

Nadji Tehrani
Executive Group Publisher
Editor-in-Chief
ntehrani@tmcnet.com

I would like to invite the readers of C@LL CENTER CRM Solutions to attend Communication Solutions EXPO Spring 2000 and take advantage of many informative learning opportunities, as outlined below. I look forward to welcoming you in Washington April 26-28. For more information, please refer to the brochure between pages 32 and 33.

• Special Microsoft Communications Development Track: Attend this unique conference track to learn about Microsoft's vision of the future of communications and how to leverage powerful new operating system features, development tools and other software resources to build tomorrow's solutions today.
• 6 Learning Centers: Technology-specific "no sales, no hype" areas where you can compare and evaluate cutting-edge communications solutions from industry leaders. The specific centers are ASPs, E-Sales/E-Service, Next-Gen Wireless, Speech Recognition, TAPI 3.0 and IP Testing Tools.
• ConvergeNET: A live, on-site network serving as the multivendor interoperability proving ground, showcasing IP telephony standards compliance.
• Live Office of the Future: See the latest products every professional needs to work smarter and more productively. These products will be shown in-use by live office workers, on the show floor.
• Consultants' Corner: The industry's brightest minds made available to answer your questions -- for FREE.
• Next-Gen Telco in a Booth: Explore the nuts and bolts of an actual ITSP (Internet Telephony Service Provider) complete with profit-generating enhanced services.
• Live, Web-enabled Multimedia Call Center: A live, on-site working call center employing the latest Web-enabling technologies and applications, making over 10,000 customer contacts in two days. Sponsored by CellIT.
• Live CRM Showcase: The latest CRM solutions enabling you to manage any type of customer interaction in a consistent and highly flexible fashion. Sponsored by Aspect Communications.
• Your Remote Office: Take advantage of next-generation communications server technology to redirect your phone and fax calls to this special area of the show floor, which has been set aside as your personal workspace. You will also be able to conduct conference calls, receive voice mail, send faxes and check e-mail. Sponsored by Interactive Intelligence.
• Internet Phone Center: Make free long-distance calls anywhere in the world, using a variety of the latest Internet telephony services. Sponsored by Quicknet Technologies.
• Job Fair & Career Resource Center: Find your dream job in the booming communications industry and learn about the latest educational programs that will further your career.
• Messaging Center: See the latest Web-based unified messaging in action. Every Communications Solutions EXPO attendee will receive a free account courtesy of TelePost. See how unified messaging compares to your current e-mail service, which will be accessible as well.

Win products worth tens of thousands of dollars such as a new Jeep Cherokee, digital cameras, Internet telephony gear, Palm Pilots and more. Drawings will take place at the conclusion of the show on April 28, 2000. (Must be present to win.)

PS. Don't forget. Exhibit Hall pre-registration is FREE!

Save $50 off on-site Exhibit Hall registration at the show (and avoid the lines). Register online today!