Years ago I read a book by Dixit and Nalebuff, Thinking Strategically a text book on Game theory. The book covered several examples from business and academia on the topic but the one that caught my fancy was the example from the robot competition. The likes of the one held at MIT every year. The game theory insights gained from watching the robots compete were interesting and yet common sense.
The best way to stay in the game with the strongest and swiftest robot was the strategy “tit for tat” or “Monkey see monkey do”. Clearly those robots that were sub par failed, those that were at par but have a unique tactic had a chance to succeed and obviously risked failure as well. The only chance of survival for two robots at par with each others abilities was the copycat strategy.
Brands are much the same way, copying the leader can guarantee survival but true relevance and differentiation is the only way to success. For those who have ever read Jim Collins’ Good to Great know the difference between Survival and Success.
Let the brand chart its own unpaved path with the lights of consumer metrics.
