You’ve heard it said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. In fact, I would guess that many of us spend our time imitating someone we want to be like. That’s a good thing in some cases, particularly when the qualities we are imitating are universal such as caring, respect, or betterment of oneself. However, imitation in branding can sometimes be detrimental, and copying something that’s successful for others can be a sign that you don’t know who you are.
Take, for instance, Radio Shack. I remember shopping at Radio Shack for electronic gadgets when I was in middle school. I was a bit of a geek, and Radio Shack was the only place in town I could find the cases, breadboards, resistors, and other DIY electronic items needed for my projects.
Somewhere along the line, Radio Shack lost track of what it was best at. It seemed from the outside that they had an identity crisis and tried to become a regular consumer electronics retailer. The trouble with that strategy was that it diluted what they were good at. Their competition then, was Best Buy, Amazon.com, or the local Verizon, Sprint or T-Mobile store.
Radio Shack began to sell cell phones, like everyone else. I understand there’s money in selling cell phone contracts, but that’s a crowded market. Are there not a hundred other places that sell cell phones? In my town, there’s a free-standing Radio Shack next to a free-standing Sprint store, next to Target, across the street from the Verizon store. Why would anyone go to Radio Shack? What could possibly be better about buying a cell phone at the local Radio Shack?
Radio Shack missed the Maker Revolution, which it should have been poised to be one of the leaders of. Radio Shack could have been the go-to place for creating, not for everybody-else-sells-them headphones and cell phones.
Maybe focusing on a smaller niche wouldn’t have made shareholders happy. Maybe by focusing on what Radio Shack could do differently would have significantly changed the revenue or profit potential of the company. I’m sure there were reasons, but by trying to be like everyone else, the brand became diluted, stood for nothing, and by becoming like everyone else, signed a death sentence.
We see imitators in our clients’ industries. We develop brand identities, and marketing campaigns focused around what our clients’ companies do best. We develop strategies that the company can sustain, instead of trying to imitate a competitor. Why? Because imitation isn’t sustainable.
Let’s look at some positives and negatives of imitating other brands:
- Imitation can lead to a bump in sales
Imitating a brand that has found a niche or marketing tactic that works can work for you too! It can – and probably will – work for a period of time. Whether that’s sustainable or not depends on if the imitation can be internalized. - Imitation will make you seem like a hero
Imitating another brand will cause those around you to think you’re brilliant, until they realize you’re copying someone else. Then, they’ll think you don’t know what you’re doing and lose trust. Innovators learn from others, but they don’t copy others. - Imitation will dilute the market
It’s much better to find your own personal voice, and what your brand stands for, than to imitate someone else’s. You’ll both be left at the end with a customer base that can’t choose between you and your competitors. Too many choices for essentially the same thing leads to analysis paralysis, and can be detrimental to the market. - When there are no differentiators, price is
All things being equal, when everyone carries the same services or products, price too often becomes the differentiator. But, all smart marketers know that price is seldom the real driver of a decision. Start imitating, and you’ll be more likely to start selling on price – which is not smart. - Imitation isn’t genuine. At least, not at first.
Imitation can lead to genuine sustainability. Some companies give to their customers, and go above and beyond. They do it not because it’s good for profit, but because it’s good for customers. They believe it will eventually be good for profit.Take Chick-fil-A, for instance and their unique culture of customer service. They instill in each of their employees their the customer is a real person, not just a customer. I’ve been to the local Chick-fil-A and several other Chick-fil-A’s, and I can attest that they have a feeling of caring about me as a person, not just because I’m going to spend money.On the other hand, I have been to other fast food places that claim to care that I’m happy, yet when I walk to the counter, the feeling I get is that the person doesn’t care about themselves, much less me, and is annoyed that I want my order to be correct.
Marketing can, and does claim anything, but if the rest of the brand can’t hold up to the promise, then the success of marketing will be short lived.
Instead of imitating another brand, find out your own brand identity. What are you great at? What are you better at than anyone else you know? If you don’t know, then stop imitating, and instead, spend that time and energy and find out. Because until you find out what you’re better at, your brand identity is being diluted, and you’re doing yourself and everyone else a disservice.
Stop imitating, and be uniquely you.
Jason Todd