FOLLOW TO LEAD
Is there really much advantage in being a
“first mover”? Technology evolves at the bleeding edge,
but followers are
often those who realize the advantage from advances. Google was not the first search
engine, nor
Facebook the first social network. Windows was not the first operating system.
The iPad was not the first tablet; it wasn’t even Apple’s first tablet. And
while Apple has led the way in smartphones, Samsung has eclipsed its market
share.
The evolution of
technology is a leapfrog process in which first movers frequently get left
behind by “fast followers.” Part of the reason is that technology leaders tend
to focus on the technology, while followers focus more on the business model.
Followers get to see the marketplace before launching; leaders have to jump in
sight unseen.
For most brand
marketers, the issue at hand is a mix of bringing their own new technologies to
market and using new technologies from other categories. Either way, they face
the decision of whether or not to be first.
This is an
especially difficult challenge in today’s digital marketplace, but it is not a
new one.
For example, it
has long been common for large packaged goods companies to wait out
innovations.
When a novel
product proves itself, these big companies will follow, introducing copycat
products that
have the advantage
of vast marketing support to overwhelm smaller innovators handicapped by fewer
resources, less
scale and weaker retail relationships.
Through their
cultures and processes, these big marketing companies have long operated in a
manner that
recognizes they can lead without having to be the first mover. Pioneering
something wholly new through discovery and invention is just one way to
dominate. Sometimes it is smarter to scan and imitate, yet too few marketers
have this orientation or skill.
Leading by
following has macroeconomic implications, too. The leapfrog pattern of
technology evolution is one reason why developing economies are catching up.
Every technology requires an embedded
infrastructure to
support it. The costs of transitioning away from current infrastructure can be
astronomical, so the places and firms that get the advantage of new
technologies often are those not invested in prior technologies and preexisting
infrastructure. This explains why Africa, the global economy’s stepchild
continent, is a global leader in mobile payments.
Marketers are
heading into a future of mammoth changes. But an itchy trigger finger can be
trouble.
Discovery and
invention will be needed, but must be balanced by a parallel patience to scan
and imitate.
Marketers need
reserve no less than boldness to ensure an opportunity to lead
.
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