Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd by Moon Youngme

Author:Moon, Youngme [Moon, Youngme]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Published: 2011-10-23T06:01:50.855000+00:00

AIBO doesn’t always respond to commands…. These displays of “attitude” are … scarcely distinguishable from “not working.” [But later in article:] The AIBO is an impressive, entertaining and often joyous little beast.

Meanwhile, this is what the Independent in London had to say:

“Move back!” I commanded in a clear voice. To no avail. In the next hour I was to discover that this was a robot with a serious attitude problem…. [But later in article:] With batteries running low, I had to hand “Rolo” back to one of Sony’s representatives. I must confess to a pang of regret. We were just beginning to build a bond.

Notice the tone of these reviewers. Both are acutely attentive to the device’s flaws, but are also warmly approving of the creature’s playful attributes. The new frame of reference—PET as opposed to ROBOT—has become an almost magical transformative device, transforming an instrumental product into a playful one, transforming a series of product flaws (“the voice recognition doesn’t work, and the thing rarely obeys commands”) into actual product benefits (“it’s a pet with a mind of its own”).

This, in a nutshel , is what breakaway brands are: They’re transformative devices. By presenting us with an alternative frame of reference, they encourage us to let go of the consumption posture we’re inclined to bring to a product and embrace entirely new terms of engagement instead.

In an earlier chapter, I made reference to the effort that companies like Kimberly-Clark (Huggies) and Procter & Gamble (Pampers) wil routinely expend trying to manufacture the perfect diaper. What I didn’t mention was that what’s tough about competing in the diaper industry is that the customer life cycle is so short. Most parents like to transition their children out of diapers around the age of two, in part because there’s a bit of a stigma associated with keeping them in diapers for much longer than that. Diaper manufacturers have historical y found it near impossible to market diapers designed for older kids for precisely this reason—the resistance among parents (not to mention the kids themselves) to extending the diaper life cycle has been too strong.

This gave the folks at Kimberly-Clark an idea: Why not create a product for older kids that pul ed up over the legs like ordinary underpants, rather than being fastened at the sides? The result was the creation of the “Pul -Up,” a product that was expressly designed to distance itself from the DIAPER category by evoking the associations of the alternative category of BIG-KID UNDERPANTS. Needless to say, the breakaway was a success; almost overnight, Pul -Ups became the fastest-growing brand in the industry. Apparently, many of the same parents unwil ing to keep their children in diapers beyond the age of two had no qualms about keeping them in Pul -Ups wel beyond the age of four.

What’s interesting about breakaway brands is that what they’re doing is actual y pretty quintessential: They are suggesting that we replace one mental archetype with another. They know that we’re inclined

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