Why It’s Better To Be The First Than The Best

 “Being second is to be the first of the ones who lose.”

Ayrton Senna

Many people believe that the main point of marketing is to convince prospective buyers that your company has a better product or service.

This isn't true. If you have a small market share and you have to battle it out against much bigger, more established brands, then your marketing strategy was probably faulty in the first place.

Consider these examples:

Gatorade was the first sports drink. What was the second?

Neil Armstrong was the first person to walk on the moon. Who was the second?

George Washington was the first president of the United States. Who was the second?

Gillette was the first safety razor. What was the second?

Apple created the first smartphone. Who created the second?

Arriving first in a product category - any category means your business will have a natural competitive advantage because your brand will be top of mind to your prospects.

It establishes your brand as a leader and an innovator. It also means your brand has the highest chance of being the generic name for your product or service - such as Kleenex, post-it notes, Scotch tape, Band-Aids, Asprin, Jello, etc.

Sometimes a cleverly marketed brand name becomes a verb (the holy grail of branding) - such as Google it, FedEx it, etc 

Companies that come after these innovators struggle to make their voices heard in marketing because they're playing catch up. 

Yes, Samsung smartphones might be superior in function and technology and cost 67% less than an iPhone - BUT because they weren't first, they're not perceived as the market leaders. This means getting their marketing message heard will require a much more sophisticated marketing strategy and a bigger marketing budget to grab market share.

Unfortunately, most companies still think their marketing is about showing how their products are superior.

This better product-strategy approach often uses benchmarking - evaluating their products against the best in their industry. Unfortunately, benchmarking doesn't work because people perceive the first product into the mind as superior regardless of reality. Marketing is a battle of perceptions, not products.

Can it still be accomplished?

Can you be successful with your marketing by convincing prospects that your services are superior?

Yes, you can. But it can feel like rolling a boulder uphill unless your marketing strategy is sophisticated enough to create a real point of distinction that essentially puts you in a new category - so you can lead (and not follow).

The main point in marketing is to create a category you can be first in. It's much easier to get into the mind first than to try and convince someone that your product is better than the company that did arrive first. 

Put simply, it's better to be first than it is to be better.