Y&Rs Day of the Clones

Filed Under Advertising, Digital Signage, digital ooh

Thanks to Marketing with Meaning for the link to this (@mktgwithmeaning)

This is such a great read that I highly recommend. It’s a piece by Y&R on differentiation and why it’s the cornerstone of heavy return and high performance companies.

The basic thesis is that you, as a Brand Manager (or agency or publisher) are one of thousands of clones, towing the generic company line, trying to be innovative by doing things that are “best in class”, which really only means you’re doing exactly the same thing your competitor is doing (best in class, by its very meaning, means it’s proven and…as the article puts it…boring – everyone else is already doing it). You must differentiate if you want to be more than you are.

Per the paper:

What’s the problem?
‘Seeking best practice’, ‘benchmarking’ and ‘best-
in-class’ sound important. But they all mean Tom is
copying his competitors.
And because his competitors are professionals
too, they are copying Tom back.
In today’s world, everyone is searching for the
same best practice.
Everyone benchmarks against each other.
And everyone optimizes their communications
plans.
Everyone is copying each other.
And so their brands are becoming clones.

They did a great job of going through how to differentiate various industries too – pulling out ideas and examples of how to get out of a boring slump and be something different. Be advised that this does mean you have to step out of the norm and take risks, but the benefits are apparent and well documented.

The Clone Zone – I love it

Part of why I got a kick out of it is simply this:

I build companies for a living. I like doing it. It makes me happy (although has given me more gray hairs than I deserve for my age). It involves other people who invest money in my ideas and the teams I’m able to pull together.

Invariably, when I am asked to justify my ideas or my approaches or a market which people don’t think exists (after having been through the beginnings of Internet, Mobile and now Digital OOH you’d think I’d have a little bit of street cred but no ) the VERY FIRST THING that people ask me, whether it be VCs, agencies or brands is….

…wait for it…

What makes you different and why should I buy into you?

Whether they’re comparing me to a competitor (idea), the way they currently do business (approach) or to “the way that business has always been done” (the market), it’s always been the same question.

Now, entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial ventures and products are, by their very nature, “differentiated”. To the general market, they are disruptive and interuptive ideas that can change entire landscapes (google, facebook, twitter….ING, Viagra, etc ). We HAVE to be differentiated if we’re trying something new.

You HAVE to be differentiated if you want to excel.

What this paper may make you take pause in is, ask yourself what makes YOU different from your competitors or their ideas. I get the question daily and I know my answer….what’s yours?

In the Digital OOH space, there are lots of opportunities for differentiation. Whether it be great content strategies like Danoo or Captivate, great technology like eCast, great infrastructures like Ripple or great social stickiness and consumer value like Locamoda – pick your piece and stick to it.

I said a while ago that all of these networks look the same at a cursory glance (to an outsider) but when you get into the weeds, some of them excel and others subsist and copy the leaders.

The simple fact that Digital OOH is a new medium IS a differentiator. Brands who have made the leap in FULLY using the space like Verizon, GM and Bank of America ARE by their very nature differentiating by making use of the medium early. They will, of course, be followed by the clones who see their success and results. By that time, they will figure out how to further differentiate and use the medium to greater depths because of their desire to be leaders and different – not clones. Oh – and their head start in using the medium before their competitors.

Folks like Joe T. (VP Marketing at Coke) and Jim Spengel (ex-CMO of P&G) have been talking about innovation and not fearing innovation in advertising and media for some time. To be fair, they’ve been pretty brutal on their own people and agencies to this effect.

This “clone” business is what these two pretty smart gents have been preaching against.

The reason it’s important to me is we preach it all day long in trying to help the brands and agencies we work with differentiate by using the Digital OOH medium in new and creative ways that provide value to them and their customers.

I’ll close with this from the paper:

In the analog era, he who shouted the loudest got heard.

In the digital era, no one clicks on a brand unless it’s got something different to say

Digital OOH is…um…digital…it’s another form of media that’s not the Internet that’s creeping its way into mainstream. The scary thing is, it has the power to extend all of the things that happen online into the real world. Do you have something different to say? Because if you don’t your customers will and they’ll say it through our medium for all to see if they can.

The Y&R paper can be downloaded here

Thanks Simon !