Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd

I have an MBA from Harvard Business School, and to be perfectly honest, I think it was one of the biggest wastes of my time and money. I regularly discourage people from going to business school, telling them that they'll make more "connections" in 2 good years of work in a reputable company, and that anything they NEED to know will be a fraction of what is taught, and is available in categorical business books.There's one exception to my education at HBS - the part I don't think was a waste. It was the Consumer Marketing class I took with Youngme in my second year.I am not a marketing person. I have tended to work for technology/internet companies and have a technical/math background. First year Marketing at HBS opened my eyes to the fact that marketing was more than just advertising fluff, but it was Youngme (second year) who really taught me things that I regularly use today to both see the world and shape the products I manage.I remember when she was able to tell us - *4 YEARS BEFORE THE IPHONE CAME OUT* that the ipod was obviously a stealth way for Apple to get back into the smartphone business after their brand disaster with the Newton. That if they came out with anything that seemed like they were entering the smartphone business, there would be too much baggage. I went back and told my friends (outside of school) "The ipod is Apple's entry into the phone business!!!" and they all thought I was nuts. Apple was too pure for that. Well of course, she was right and in hindsight it seems obvious (but go back and ask people in 2003/2004 what they thought and it wasn't so obvious then ...). The reason I bring this particular example up is because from then on I was able to look at how a company introduced a product and understand what the fundamental strategy might really be, and also how I could understand market dynamics to position a product.Anyway, by far, Youngme Moon's CoMa class was my favorite class at HBS and the ones where I learned the most. So what does that say about this book? Well, I'll say for one thing, I found a lot of what was in this book to be redundant to what I had learned in her class. I'll consider that a plus for everyone who didn't waste $200k and 2 years on an HBS degree. Read this book and you'll learn pretty much everything (and in some areas a little more and in some a little less) that I learned from my HBS education.fwiw - I'm not a hater of HBS. If you need it to get ahead in consulting or private equity or investment banking or to switch careers, go ahead. But as far as what I found to be valuable learnings, I'm really not kidding when I say that it's all in this book.It will change the way you see the world.It will change the way you see markets.It will change the way you see companies.And ...By Example:It will teach you how the market is likely to see you.It will teach you how to position yourself in the market.It will teach you how to play to your strengths.It's also an easy read - the chapters are well organized and insights are quick and intuitive once you're led to them. I think this is an important point - business books are often a pain to read because they tend to be dense and say in 10 paragraphs what could have been conveyed in 2. This is a fun and easy read that will leave you thinking about the world ... well ... differently.

As I started reading this book I initially felt that this was a book written by an academic with limited commercial marketing experience putting forth old concepts using a new, invented language based on anecdotal evidence from a limited group of students, family and friends.Indeed, an experienced brander will recognize that when Youngme Moon talks about the competitive herd engaging in organic collusion she is really talking about brand managers who assess their brands and work toward ensuring that they remain competitive on consumer-expected points of parity within their categories. She invents language such as "augmentation-by-addition" that is really nothing more than the old, familiar concept of adding Plus-1 features. When she talks about "reverse positioned brands" you may become infuriated thinking to yourself that she is really talking about brands that truly understand their core brand values and realize what their customers want and then merely strip away features and product attributes that don't really matter to their customers in order to narrow and strengthen their brand promise.As I kept reading I found myself thinking broader and deeper about why she wrote her words and what conditions caused her to become somewhat cynical of modern branding.I conclude that she is commenting on a commercial world in which every product category is crowded with brands and options that are all relatively good choices. She is describing the challenge faced by marketers and branders when they have to find the most subtle of ways to try to differentiate when all available options look basically the same to everyone except a few category aficionados who take the time and effort to distinguish between the most trivial points of difference to make their decisions. After all, if a strong brand is to serve as a shortcut for some perception of value then there should be no need for anyone to be forced into becoming a category aficionado to find small differences in the first place. This book isn't just about shaping consumer perceptions, it is also about product development philosophy.Youngme is describing a corporate environment in which the pressure to seek ever-increasing sales and profit forces marketers to constantly seek ways to eek out the slightest bit of competitive advantage in order to try to experience a slight increase in sales over the short-term while knowing the whole time that the competition will copy the concept or catch up very quickly. My favorite quote in the book comes on page 124 when she states that, "less is more only when more has become a commodity" and that is the whole point. More features, more benefits, more slight points of differentiation have become commodities because incremental tweaks have become the expected norm.This book will prompt you to notice brands that seem comfortable in their own skins and that do not seem to get caught up in the vicious cycle of incremental improvements and over-hyping of trivial points of differentiation. By the end you'll be refreshed by they way Youngme has found a way to tell us that it is OK to create brands that stand for some core brand values that don't compromise just to slightly improve the next quarterly sales report or satisfy investors' short-term expected rate of return. You'll start thinking about ways to simplify your brand and zig while others are zagging. You'll start to daydream about what your brand would look like if you got off the competitive treadmill, took the time to reflect and get back to basics for the long-term rather than getting caught in the vicious cycle of responding to your competitors' moves. When your brand is constantly striving to match competitive moves you'll wind up with a brand that is a jack of all trades and a master of none that looks just like every other brand in your category.This book will make you think. You will assess whether or not you've allowed your brands to evolve in a fog of marketing myopia to the point where they really aren't making specific promises of value anymore.While not loaded with findings from research, case studies or literature review this book will have you challenging your basic assumptions about what a strong brand should do and how one should act. As such, it is well worth the purchase price.~~Review by the author of the e-book, "How to Build and Manage Your Brand (in sickness and in health)."

I give this 5/5. The author is so intelligent and has a strong writing skills, that reading her thoughts makes me feel smarter. Even though I have to re-read what she really means, I find this book valuable.

If you've been a marketer for a while, you will realize what a gem this book is. It doesn't pander, it doesn't pretend to pontificate or worse, provide some easy 'how to fix a problem in 10 steps.' It offers insights, fodder for thought and a deep, deep appreciation for what great marketing can look like. Easily the best marketing - nay, business book - I've read in a while.

This was a really interesting and thought provoking book about differentiating your product offering from your competitors to act as an advantage. The book is written in a style that is very easy to read with several personal examples from the authors own experience. I enjoyed the book and read through it quite quickly as it was difficult to put down.

Um livro para os inconformistas. Indico para quem curtiu o Blue Ocean Strategy, Zero to one ou Originals. Youngme Moon é tão inconformista que ao final ela quebra o próprio modelo com exceções.Moon nos ensina como fugir da competição obsessiva que leva ao incrementalismo que quebra qualquer sistema de inovação capaz de gerar conceitos originais. A consequência é uma visão turva dos clientes que passam a enxergar apenas categorias ao invés de marcas e produtos. Você ouvirá falar da Ikea, Apple, Cirque du Soleil, Jet Blue, Mini e como cada empresa destas conseguiu se diferenciar em sua origem. Mas antes de tudo, você irá ser apresentado a um novo ponto de vista sobre como é para os clientes, de um ponto de vista psicológico e de satisfação pessoal, viver em um mundo capitalista, com luxos e opções abundantes e uma mentalidade competitiva extrema focada no incrementalismo.Outro ponto que ficou bem claro foi a preocupação constante em como as empresas devem manter a busca por um significado claro em mente ao se diferenciarem.

「差別化がすべてだ」と説く、ハーバード大学のヤンミ・ムン教授の力作。邦語訳のタイトルは『ビジネスで一番、大切なこと』（ダイヤモンド社）職業がら数多くのマーケティング書を読んだが、『Positioning』と並んで最も感銘を受けた書でもある。ハウツー本ではなく、マーケティングを哲学的に論じている。企業は、差別化と言いながら、なぜ不毛な模倣競争に陥っているのか。この問いに哲学的に答えている。原書は見慣れない単語などがあって理解が難しいかもしれなが、邦語訳の方は非常に分かり易い。翻訳者の北川知子さんの翻訳力によるところ大だと思う。頭に自然に入ってくる感じ。マーケティングを深く理解したいと思うのであれば、これ以上ない名著。お勧めです。