Master coach instructor, creator of Metacognitive Programming, a coaching and therapeutic technique. Founder and CEO of IMCP.
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Ogilvy wrote, and I agree, that without a big idea, customers will not buy your products and your advertisements will go unnoticed, like ships at night. Conversely, a big idea can make your product a monopoly in its category. Here, I will try to answer several common questions related to big ideas and monopolies more generally.
Where do big ideas come from?
Regardless of the field they aspire to change, big ideas usually come from subconsciousness. Yet, for your subconsciousness to yield a big idea, your conscious thinking needs to be well-fed with information. Once you have acquired enough knowledge, you turn off the rational thinking process. Relaxing activities such as long walks may help with that. Big ideas may only emerge from an open mind.
What's a good example of a big idea?
Think of the largest transportation company in the world, which does not even own its own vehicles! Uber’s founders concluded that every driver can be a cab driver. The driver is in front of your house within minutes, it is more affordable than regular taxi rides and no cash is needed. That was Uber’s big idea. They have created a service no one before them thought of, so there was no competition. Monopoly was in sight from the very start. Soon after, it became a reality.
Still, the big idea, albeit necessary, is not sufficient. When I think about the monopoly that my company and I have created, there are several factors in addition to the big idea:
1. Provide high-quality service. Constantly. People will then know what they can expect from you, and that predictability can build a reputation.
2. Unique meanings. Although many people do great with words, only a few can do well with meanings. Think radically and create your own language.
3. Inability to replicate. Create a business others cannot replicate, even if they understand what you are doing.
4. Patience. Always keep in mind that beginnings are the hardest. Big companies grow faster because the bigger you are, the more growth you can afford. Do not let this discourage you!
5. Think of your strengths. You can create a monopoly by focusing on the product, marketing or both.
What about a marketing monopoly?
Monopoly can be created at two levels: product and marketing. Understanding product monopoly is pretty straightforward—to establish a product monopoly, you need a secret that is unavailable to your competitors but becomes available to your customers.
Marketing and marketing monopoly are more complex, as illustrated by the “blue watermelon” example. Imagine creating a blue watermelon. That is your secret—your product monopoly. Taking out a billboard showing an image of it together with information about where to purchase it is advertising. Placing the billboard on the main street and offering free tasting is called promotion. Imagine you make a deal with a celebrity who claims not only that your watermelon tastes heavenly but that it also increases metabolism. That is PR. Getting that celebrity's claims published in the newspapers is publicity. Imagine now that you make a deal with some good restaurants, so they start serving your watermelon. That is called sales. Marketing involves all these parts—advertising, promotion, PR, publicity and sales.
Now that we have gone through the marketing components, you are likely wondering how to establish a monopoly at the marketing level.
What's the difference between component-based and performance-based marketing?
A classic example of how focusing on a single component can lead you to a marketing monopoly comes from the Procter & Gamble Corporation. This company used the popularity of television in the 1950s and 1960s. Which kind of commercials would typically interrupt the movies you watched on TV as a child? Tide, Ariel, Head & Shoulders. Buying prime-time on all major TV channels and denying access to prime to other companies paved Procter & Gamble’s way to monopoly.
While Procter & Gamble focused on advertising, some companies chose to focus primarily on PR and publicity. Think of Nike. Signing a contract with Michael Jordan, who was, at the time, popular globally, was one of the most, if not the most, lucrative deals in the history of the Nike corporation. Nike invested quite a lot of money in this contract, but the contract changed everything for Nike. Monopoly was there.
Creating a marketing monopoly sometimes requires courage to take risks others would rather avoid. It is this courage that makes you deserve a monopoly. And the risk? The risk is often on the branding side. Richard Branson did not have much money to spend on advertising, so he made courageous (some may even say risky) moves, such as zip-lining from the roof of one of his companies on its opening day. That undoubtedly drew attention to his brand! Nike’s idea of just doing it was risky, too. After all, very few professional athletes would agree that you can “just do it." Nike did their calculation, concluding the total balance would be positive. And they were right!
In modern marketing, often called performance marketing, we usually do not focus on single components but the relationships between them. When all the components are so well-calibrated relative to each other, you can grow and make money more easily.
You can count on your fingers the number of companies in the world that have been able to create a monopoly. The road to get there is difficult but worth it. As I have covered much in this article, I conclude by emphasizing several key points you can easily use as a take-away note.
A big idea is necessary but is by no means sufficient. Other factors, including engaging language, high-quality service and patience, especially when you are just starting, are also important. Once you have your secret product, you can pursue a marketing monopoly in different ways. I advise people to always start from what they consider to be their strongest point. Yet, performance marketing should always be the final goal, as although it is most demanding, performance marketing can bring the most benefits.
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