Of debatable importance: first to market
With all due respect, I find many of Al Ries’s confident assertions about how to build a brand suspicious. I’m sure that there are significant exceptions to most of them (and not just of the “proves the rule” variety), but haven’t gone to the trouble to find many. Then this article in The New York Times pops up in my email with the synopsis “It is not always the first one to market who wins but the one with the most aggressive marketing plan.” It goes on to explain how Snuggie, at least second to market if not third or fourth, is beating the competition (Slanket, primarily), by outspending them in advertising.
I’m pretty certain one of Ries’s mantras that rubbed me the wrong way was about how critical it is to be first to market. I don’t have Positioning in front of me right now, but I found a summary online that says:
“The easiest way of getting into someone’s mind is to be first. It is very easy to remember who is first, and much more difficult to remember who is second. Even if the second entrant offers a better product, the first mover has a large advantage that can make up for other shortcomings.
However, all is not lost for products that are not the first. By being the first to claim a unique position in the mind the consumer [sic], a firm effectively can cut through the noise level of other products.”
But the only unique aspects of Snuggie’s position as compared to Slanket are a lower price and beefier marketing budget, and I don’t think that’s what the authors of Positioning had in mind. If so, any me-too brand that undercuts the category leader is a success from a positioning standpoint. Then again, maybe this calls for a separate debate about price versus market versus brand position. Anyway, while I agree that it’s a nice to be first to market, I think this example–and probably plenty involving less silly products–shows that it’s not as sure-fire a road to success as Ries implies.
(Full disclosure: I am a happy Slanket owner.)
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More from the New York Times on Snuggie (different authors). Basic point: Snuggie’s success is in part due to well-executed marketing. Purposely campy ads have led to parodies and a cult following, according to the article.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/15/magazine/15wwln-consumed-t.html?_r=1&emc=tnt&tntemail1=y