Strategy & Operating Notes
The Death of Best
A classic positioning play is to call yourself “the best X.”
From broad: “the best CRM”
To narrow: “the best time tracking software for freelance programmers”
But in all cases it involves the seeker being explicit about the solution they are in search of.
The rise of personalization—accelerated by AI—means there is no longer a global best*. Or even a need to start with a specific solution in mind.
Every shopper is now building a personal contextual layer that adds another filter to the selection process (whether deliberately or just through the use of algorithmic tools).
As a basic example, a user may search for “best car” but their contextual layer can understand what they really mean is “what is the best mid-priced car for a family with elementary school age kids…etc & so on” based on the accumulated understanding from prior queries and tasks.
For humans, your brand is a story.
For algorithms, your brand is a list of attributes to be matched against.
Two sides of the same coin. Same core, different package.
*there was never a global best
Are You Smarter Than Your Customers?
Brands are acts of co-creation.
& brands are built upon and defined by what they sell.
a “product” or a “service” is defined by the customer, not by the producer.
It needs to work continuously on challenging itself in respect to the utility and value that its products or services contribute to customers.
As the old saw goes, the customer is always right.
The greatest danger…is to “know better” than the customer
what the product or service is or should be, how it should be bought, and what it should be used for.
The act of shopping is the seeking of transformation, but one of their choosing. Not one that is defined for them (that is for doctors and advisors).
Businesses are not paid to reform customers. They are paid to satisfy customers.
The real work is not in finding customers. It’s in embracing the customers that find you.
via The Daily Drucker by Peter F. Drucker 📚