If You Can't Be First...

After reading the first law in the book 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, I was a little discouraged because I knew that I wasn't the second or third person to enter the safety sign manufacturing arena, I was probably number 1,000,0001.

That's why I was so thrilled to learn the second law, which reads, "The Law of Category - If you can be first in a category, setup a new category to be first in." The authors then ask the name of the third person to fly the Atlantic Ocean solo?

If you didn't know that Bert Hinkler was the second person to successfully cross the Atlantic, what are your chances that you'd know the third?

If you're like me, you have heard of the third person but you didn't know it. It was Amelia Earhart. Now here's the question. Was Amelia the third person to cross the Atlantic or the first woman to cross the Atlantic?

Throughout the chapter, the authors show mega successful businesses that found a category to be "first" in, even though the product had already been on the market for years before they showed up.

The chapter gave excellent illustrations of companies that found new categories to dominate.

By now, everyone should know that DELL is not the first company to produce personal computers, but DELL does dominate the category of personal computers ordered by phone. Charles Schwab didn't open a better brokerage firm, he opened the first discount brokerage firm.

One point the book brings out, is that people usually aren't interested in what's better, they flock to what's "new"!

My first marketing campaign started from an inspiration I had while watching one of my favorite John Wayne movies. I had just started researching my potential in the oil drilling industry when I noticed in the weekly TV Guide that next Saturday afternoon, Hellfighters with John Wayne was going to be on. In case you haven't seen it, the movie is about the legendary oil well firefighter Red Adair.

I had seen the movie several times over the years, but this time I noticed that every vehicle in the film, from the company airplane to the John Wayne's Lincoln Continental, had a screen-printed decal stuck on the doors. I'll never forget saying to myself, "Wouldn't it be great to get an oil well firefighting company as a client?"

The next Monday, I made a call to a safety directory friend, who had by this time been transferred to Houston, Texas. I asked him if he had worked with any oil well firefighter companies. Believe it or not, one such company had an equipment yard next to his. One phone call and 8 months later, we had produced the most elaborate and gorgeous sticker the oil industry had ever seen, for Neal Adams - Firefighting and Blowout Specialists. The stickers had six different colors on a gold chrome background.

My plan was to print a bunch of extra stickers to use as samples. One thing I learned about the industry is that hard hat stickers are the items of desire. Almost everyone collects them and if a new one comes out, everybody goes crazy trying to find the source.

Being that the wild well control business seemed exciting and glamorous, every company seemed to compete as to who could have the best logo and sticker design. I decide to leverage my company into the hype.

The first marketing plan involved a DBA name that the industry would see as a connection to the oil industry. We called it Wild Ink Control - Safety Sign and Decal Specialists. The logo I designed was worthy to be compared to the ones in the fire fighting business. I'll never forget that first industry convention we went to in Houston.

We had black coveralls with our multicolor logo embroidered on the back, and hats to match. We had people come by thinking we were another fire fighting company.

One thing I teach about trade show marketing is that if they hesitate they're mine. You've got to have something visual that makes them stop, even if it's just a second. That's all I need.

We invited them to fill out a 4 question survey for a chance to win one of our hats. We gave them a hard hat sticker just for spending time with us. Even today we create give-a-ways based on what we've learned that people hang on to the longest. That's the goal!

Randy's SuperQuickReminder: People usually don't pay attention to what's better, that's why you've got to get their attention to pay for what's new!

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