Tom Peters is ranting again. (As if he ever stopped.) This time he has a list of 16 MUSTS in order for the little guy to eat the BIG GUYS’ lunch. Methinks Paul and I will adopt some of this to our jumboSHRIMP marketing concept of getting bigger by being smaller.
1 | Niche-aimed.
(Never, ever "all things for all people," a "mini-Wal*Mart.”)
2 | Never attack the monsters head on!
(Instead steal niche business and lukewarm customers.)
3 | "Dramatically different."
(La Difference ... within our community, our industry regionally, etc ... is as obvious as the end of one's nose! THIS IS WHERE MOST MIDGETS COME UP SHORT.)
4 | Compete on value/experience/intimacy, not price.
(You ain't gonna beat the behemoths on cost-price in 9.99 out of 10 cases.)
5 | Emotional bond with Clients, Vendors.
(BEAT THE BIGGIES ON EMOTION/CONNECTION!!)
6 | Hands-on, emotional leadership.
("We are a great & cool & intimate & joyful & dramatically different team working to transform our Clients lives via Consistently Incredible Experiences!")
7 | A community star!
("Sell" local-ness per se. Sell the hell out of it!)
8 | An incredible experience, from the first to last moment — and then in the follow-up!
("These guys are cool! They 'get' me! They love me!")
9 | DESIGN!
("Design" is a premier weapon-in-pursuit-of-the sublime for small-ish enterprises, including the professional services.)
10 | Employer of choice.
(A very cool, well-paid place to work/learning and growth experience in at least the short term ... marked by notably progressive policies.) (THIS IS EMINENTLY DO-ABLE!!)
11 | Sophisticated use of information technology.
(Small-"ish" is no excuse for "small aims"/execution in IS/IT!)
12 | Web-power!
(The Web can make very small very big ... if the product-service is super-cool and one purposefully masters buzz/viral marketing.)
14 | Innovative!
(Must keep renewing and expanding and revising and re-imagining "the promise" to employees, the customer, the community.)
14 | Brand-Lovemark* (*Kevin Roberts) Maniacs!
("Branding" is not just for big folks with big budgets. And modest size is actually a Big Advantage in becoming a local-regional-niche "lovemark.")
15 | Focus on women-as-clients.
(Most don't. How stupid.)
16 | Excellence!
(A small player ... per me ... has no right or reason to exist unless they are in Relentless Pursuit of Excellence. One earns the right— one damn day and client experience at a time!— to beat the Big Guys in your chosen niche!)
SOURCE | Tom Peters weblog | July 20, 2005
Very true points. In the end, there are only 3 positions a company selling products or services (all companies?) can take:
* Low Price Leader
* Unique Value Proposition (Niche)
* Somewhere in-between the first two, which usually = a slow death.
Posted by: David Culbertson | July 22, 2005 at 07:49 AM
I also agree with all of the points.
I'm very happy to see more people are realizing that design is one of the things that is going to allow them to go from good to great. Design allows you to easily "lie" (Seth Godin) on how impressive your company is, or how remarkable your product is - etc.
By creating a lovemark (a strong emotional brand) with the appropriate design around it, your company/brand/business can speak visually (semiotically) to the customers.
Posted by: Levi Brooks | July 22, 2005 at 11:55 AM
This is a great list - what struck me were #14 -innovative - you can't sit still anymore - or rest on your laurels - you have to keep moving - (makes me kind of long for the life my parents had) and #16 - women as clients - let's kid no one - with more women than men getting college degrees - it's only a matter of time. Even the fact this has to be listed as something to remember makes me laugh.
Posted by: nellie lide | July 24, 2005 at 12:22 PM