Protect your brand and take on the competition

It will inevitably arise, that sense of profound irritation when you see a competitor beating you at your own game.   You see them mentioned EVERYWHERE – on blogs, in magazines, on twitter, on the news…Their product is inferior to yours, they’ve stolen your messaging and made it their own, and they have managed to steal your thunder.   What to do?

You need to protect your cave without being a baby about it.  Your goal, therefore, is not to resort to the old “My dad is bigger than your dad” kind of bluster.  You need to move the battle to your own turf, where the competition can’t compete.

What does that mean?  You need to create an environment in which your company’s natural strengths are obvious.  You position the company as strong, credible, fair-minded, and nimble.  You’re above the fray and antics of the competition.  Your ego is not invested, and therefore the company appears stronger.  

First, spend time isolating what your product or service’s top 2 strengths are.  Maybe it’s your small, nimble size and your top customer service. 

Let’s say, for example, that you’re up against a product that has been in the industry for much longer, a behemoth of longevity.   But your company was formed because the behemoth was falling behind the times, reacting slowly to change, a virtual Titanic that was impossible to turn around quickly.

Your CEO is bright and engaging, not a semi-retired executive looking for the nearest golf course.   You haven’t been in the industry as long (past), but you are more in tune with where the industry is headed (future).   And once someone has bought your product, you’re there to help them every step of the way with superior customer service.

Now that you’ve identified your key differentiators, create a strategy of integrated marketing communications to promote those differentiators consistently.   From a PR standpoint, your goal with bloggers, analyst, reporters, editors and consumers is to educate them about your accurate differentiators in a fair, ethical, and practical manner.  You will incorporate:

• surveys using real-world data
• interactive website content
• blog posts with customer content
• webcasts
• meetings one on one
• analyst data
• speaking appearances
• tweets to relevant links about the industry

These tactics are much more successful (and much more sophisticated) than trying to take on the competition in chest-beating wordplay.   You’re creating your own fight based on reality, not merely reacting to what the competition is doing.   By reacting, you only accomplish unworthy goals:  you add credence to the competition’s claims, and you create a negative impression of your company as a bit player in the behemoth’s industry.   Don’t fall into your competitor’s trap.  

Your brand, your cave, may not be the same as your competitor’s cave, but hey look, you’re Cro-Magnon Man, and you’re the better artist.    Remember that from junior high social studies?    Protect your brand by focusing on your strengths, not the competition’s.

This is especially important if you deal frequently with industry analysts.   According to Andy Chatha, president and CEO of ARC Advisory Group:  “Too many companies forget to focus on their unique strengths, and instead try to issue press releases that are specifically geared towards competing vendors.   As an industry analyst group, we prize companies who can articulate their differences without bashing the competition.” 

For more information on this topic, see Chapter 9 in my book, “Press Releases are not a PR Strategy”