by David Heitman
Clive Thomspon, in a recent column in Wired magazine, said the following:
“Even as a two-man upstart, Google had an audacious goal: ‘to organize the world’s information.’ Tiny Microsoft envisioned ‘a computer on every desk and in every home.’ Facebook aimed to track ‘the social graph’ of the planet, and eBay wanted to create an entirely new global marketplace. Big goals produced big results.”
He goes on to lament the not-so-innovative innovation taking place at many start-ups.
Jim Collins long ago lauded companies that hinged their hopes and treasure on BHAGs (Big Hairy Audacious Goals).
While it seems that the recession has chilled much of that kind of bravado, to lose sight of mind-bending, company-focusing, brand-enhancing ambition is the wrong way to proceed.
Every company, every non-profit, every insititution thrives best when it’s focused on delivering the absolute best of something, and refusing to be commoditized.
That “better-than-anyone-else-at-_________” commitment fans the flames of employee loyalty, customer affection and analyst/media interest.
Often referred to as a Unique Selling Proposition (USP), we’ve come to prefer the term Differentiating Value Proposition (DVP). Rather than focus on trying to “sell” people, we find more substance in the idea of delivering a unique value in a unique way to a unique audience.
That kind of focus allows any organization to be first in its category or, as Trout and Ries would advise, to create a new category to be first in.
We’ve been blessed over the years with attracting and retaining clients that desire to become and have the capacity to actually be the best within their respective categories. Often our work entails helping company leaders put a finer point on their DVP, (the greatest compliment we ever get is “Hmmm. You’re making us really think about this one…”) and then creatively marketing that differentiation in ways that resonate with their audience.
But before we can be very useful, it all starts with the client’s commitment to be the best and reach some ambitious goals.
