Advent Blog

In the cor­po­rate world there is evo­lu­tion­ary strug­gle in which com­pa­nies engage in a pri­mal strug­gle to sur­vive and thrive.  At the cost of time, oppor­tu­nity, and wealth, com­pa­nies often com­pete to be the best in the busi­ness and wage fero­cious mar­ket­ing wars to sway con­sumers, win the lion’s share of resources, and claim the top spot on the cor­po­rate food chain.  But they exhaust them­selves in the process.   

What is to be done?  Perhaps the mar­ket­ing majors mar­shal­ing these adver­tis­ing cam­paigns should have paid more atten­tion in biol­ogy class.  Freshmen text­books will tell you the com­pet­i­tive exclu­sion prin­ci­ple states that no two organ­isms can occupy the same niche in the same envi­ron­ment for a great amount of time. Invariably, the two organ­isms are dif­fer­ent and thus one must be bet­ter suited and will out-compete the other.  That sounds a lot like the busi­ness world.   

So what is mother nature’s answer to this conun­drum?, you might ask. Well, let us turn to her and pon­der the epic strug­gle that plays out every­day on the bat­tle­grounds of the Eastern decid­u­ous forests between two avian combatants. Both the red-breasted nuthatch and the brown creeper are small birds that feed on smaller insects from the bark and crevices of trees but nei­ther attempts to be the best at the gen­eral task of for­ag­ing insects from the bark of trees. Instead, they each take a dif­fer­ent and more spe­cific angle. While the brown creeper is the best at for­ag­ing insects while spi­ral­ing up the tree the red-breasted nut-hatch has become the best at for­ag­ing insects while spi­ral­ing down the tree. It’s the only bird that fills that spi­ral­ing down niche and thus is the best at what it does. Marvelously, by dif­fer­en­ti­at­ing them­selves, each becomes the best and each thrives.   

Likewise, in the cor­po­rate world you should never go to a trade show to mar­ket the best tooth­paste.  There are way too many tooth­pastes com­pet­ing to be the best, and who knows what being the best tooth­paste entails?  Amidst this strug­gle, your mes­sage becomes stale, less believ­able, and less rel­e­vant to the con­sumer.  It will be more prof­itable to nar­row your focus and shoot for the whitest smile, the fresh­est breath, or the clean­est feel­ing.  I’ll even offer my per­sonal 100% guar­an­tee that if you posi­tion your­self as the only com­pany to do what you do, then you will be the best at what you do.

In short, real­ize your niche in the mar­ket and scream about what makes you unique. Relentlessly exploit your dif­fer­ences by devel­op­ing a clear mes­sage and broad­cast­ing it loudly and clearly to your con­sumers. If you are at a trade show, dis­play a booth that high­lights your unique­ness and under­lines your dis­tinct mes­sage. Take a dif­fer­ent angle down the tree and be the best at what you do by being different.