ZAG: The #1 Strategy of High-Performance Brands

Radical differentiation, on the other hand, is about finding a whole new market space you can own and defend, thereby delivering profits over years instead of months.

And what about your company? Where’s your passion?

Differentiation, the art of standing out from the competition, is not front-page news. What IS front-page news, in a world of extreme clutter, is that you need more than differentiation. You need RADICAL differentiation. The new rule: When everybody zigs, zag.

Instead, you have to find the spaces between the fielders. You have to find a zag.

On the chart, the “good” axis can include any attributes that customers typically value: quality workmanship, good aesthetics, low price, high functionality, ease of use, speed, power, style, and so on. These are the qualities on which most offerings compete. The “different” axis is for any attributes that make an offering, well—different.

the advertising industry is fighting back with even more intrusiveness. This is the first reason for advertising’s death spiral.

Research shows that most commercial messages contain too many elements, all competing with one another for our understanding. And the elements themselves may be uninteresting, unclear, or off-message.

If nobody’s doing it, you’d be crazy to do it yourself, right? Wrong.

Look for a job people are already trying to get done, then help them do it.