As a marketer working with clients on marketing strategy, my conversation often begins with a review of their unique value proposition – how they differentiate themselves from their competitors.
What are they better at than everyone else in their space?
But ‘better’ leads to marginal improvements, whether measured in time, quality, service, price, or other factors.
Truly successful companies don’t achieve that status by being marginally better. They create entirely new competitive categories. Netflix didn’t try to be a little better than Blockbuster. Amazon didn’t set out to improve on the Barnes and Noble business model.
Instead of asking, “How can we be better than our competitors?” ask, “What unique position can we create that no one else is delivering?” This will require looking deeply at your organization’s capabilities, culture and resources, and then using them to offer a market solution that others cannot.
This approach will require…
Courage.
Determination.
Commitment.
It means investing in areas that don’t have an immediate ROI and developing capabilities that the company doesn’t currently possess. While everyone else is thinking about optimization, your focus should be on transformation.
The most powerful strategic move in 2025 might be to stop competing. Don’t try to be the best. Instead, be the only one who does what you do the way you do it.
That’s true – and lasting – differentiation.