Benchmarking as a proxy for strategy

March 29, 2011 | Author: Tim Williams

In a capitalist society, shouldn’t agencies be focused their competition?  My answer is no.  Focusing on your competition will only make you more like them instead of different.

An acquaintance of mine who runs a very large accounting firm said in a recent email:

“We've allowed benchmarking to peers to be our proxy for strategy for so long that I can't say that there's much that's truly unique about any of accounting’s Big 4.  And what's implemented by one is quickly copied or adopted by another.  I do believe that we have the potential to truly differentiate, but we're not seizing it.  We haven't found our competitive advantage or created a "blue ocean.”  In my mind, the Big 4 is the epitome of competitive convergence.”

Are you incomparable?

The way to be “incomparable” is to avoid offering the commonplace.  If you as a consumer were asked the average price of a gallon of milk, you’d have a pretty good answer.  What would you expect to pay for a bottle of white truffle oil?  Because it’s an uncommon item, most of us wouldn’t have an accurate guess. 

So marketing firms that offer up the standard list of services are easily compared with other firms.  Most say that their work is better than other firms’, and that’s what makes them different.  But simply being better isn’t different.  Only different is different.

Are you remarkable?

Look up the definition of the word remarkable: “Worth noticing or commenting on.”  That’s a good standard for your firm.  What’s different enough about what you do that’s worth noticing or commenting on?  The most “remarkable” brands are in fact the ones that get talked about the most.  A new database called the Engagementdb ranks the most talked about brands.  Not surprisingly, companies like Starbucks, Nike, and Apple—all remarkable brands—rank near the top. 

Peter Drucker said that well-defined value propositions work “not because they are clever, but because most institutions do not think.”