Your Copycats Know Something About Your Business That You Don't
HBR research from Graham Kenny and Ganna Pogrebna argues that how customers respond to an imitation shows which parts of your offering they actually value.
Prompted by “How Copycats Can Reveal Your Competitive Advantage”, HBR (Graham Kenny and Ganna Pogrebna).
Most owners treat a knockoff as an insult, or as something to hand to a lawyer. This research suggests it's information: the way customers respond to an imitation shows which parts of your offering they value and which are easy to replicate.
Lululemon is the lead example. Instead of only fighting imitators, it took them on directly with its “Dupe Swap.” Swatch's MoonSwatch is cited as another way a company can answer imitation.
What are customers really paying you for?
For small and medium-sized businesses, copying is arriving faster and cheaper than it used to. Marketplaces and AI tools mean a competitor can put up something that looks like what you sell in weeks, not years. A big brand can absorb that. You probably can't afford to find out the hard way what customers were paying you for.
Whether you're a CEO or an owner-operator, the answer may be uncomfortable. You likely assume customers buy the product or the process. Often they're buying you: your judgment, your responsiveness, your name on the phone. That's a real advantage, but it's a different and riskier one, and no knockoff will show it to you unless you go looking.
Test it out: call your two best customers this week and ask: “If someone offered you something similar for 20% less, what would you miss?” Don't prompt them or defend anything. Write down their exact words, then compare them to what you'd have guessed.
Working out what customers really value in your company is the kind of thing we explore in Strategic Advisory.
Looking for a place to discuss issues like this with other local business leaders? Join one of our no-cost Rochester CEO insight sessions and test your ideas with your peers.
Originally posted on LinkedIn ↗