If I asked you to name three cutting edge companies, you probably wouldn’t think of brand stalwarts Gatorade, USA Today, and Amazon.com. But when Gatorade first came out in 1967, USA Today in 1982, and Amazon.com in 1995, each was about as edgy as a new company could be. Most people had doubts that such new concept brands could survive, but one thing, and one thing only, has made each of them a market leader and a safe, top of mind choice for today’s customer. That one thing is value.  

The only way you go from being the new brand on the block to being an established market leader is by providing consistent value. That means you stay relevant through continuous market changes in customer demands, technology, the economy, and society in general.  

You can’t “market” your way to market leadership without value. No company can gimmick or advertise its way to anything more than temporary success without value. Planet Hollywood was red hot through marketing, until it went under because quality and value weren’t there. Circuit City was a “Good To Great” company in Jim Collins’ classic book, until it went bankrupt because it couldn’t stay relevant. 

Start edgy, like Gatorade in 1967, USA Today in 1982, and Amazon.com in 1995. Create value like all three of those brands created value. Then stay cutting edge at what matters most to customers. That’s how a new brand becomes an established brand.

On August 18, 2012, the Little League World Series U.S. Championship game was played between teams from Goodlettsville, Tennessee and Petaluma, California.  It was the bottom of the ninth inning, and Goodlettsville led by four runs.  There were two outs and two men on base for Petaluma as their batter approached the plate.  You could tell this kid was nervous and felt the weight of his team’s fate on his shoulders.

What happened next was, in my opinion, truly inspired leadership and coaching.  The Petaluma coach had been wired with a microphone and what he said to that young man was broadcast on television as it happened for all to hear.  He told his player, “You can’t lose this game and you can’t win it.  We’re down four runs and that’s because of everything that happened before now, so you can’t lose the game.  We’ve got two men on base and even if you hit a home run we’re still one run short, so you can’t win it for us.  You just need to do what you’re good at and have fun.”  The coach patted the batter on the back and you could just see the pressure on that kid dissolve.

He hit a home run.

My daughter’s soccer coach, David Marmalejo, always tells the team, “I don’t mind if you mess up.  We can fix that.  But I really mind if you don’t try.”  The team wins almost every game and they have a blast.  They try hard and they know that they will be coached, not yelled at, if they make a mistake.

Before a week of extremely important tests my daughter’s teacher, Jared Brett, told the class, “You guys have worked hard and you’re ready for these tests.  Don’t freak out over it.  You’ll do fine.  Just relax.”  (There were other teachers who stressed their students to shreds.)

His class did a great job with the tests.

Great leaders prepare people to succeed, they don’t pressure them to succeed.  There’s a difference.  Weak leaders scream.  Strong leaders teach.

Life will provide all the pressure that any of us need.  Life is hard sometimes.  Really hard.  A weak, ineffective leader adds more pressure, creates stress needlessly, and gets in the way of success.

Yes, there are the occasional Bobby Knight style coaches who win.  But there are lessons being taught beyond basketball.  I’d rather my kid play for a John Wooden, win championships, and also learn class and character instead of how to throw chairs onto the basketball court.

A strong leader supports her players so that they can handle intense pressure.  That means being a teacher, being tough when you need to be (re: Pat Summit), yet always having the team know that you believe in them, you’re on their side, and are their biggest supporter.

Whether in sports, business, or any other endeavor, a weak leader has players who doubt themselves and are afraid.

A strong leader has players who believe in themselves and each other, and are confident that they can, and will, win the game.

Really cool companies.

It seems that the conventional wisdom in business today, and what we hear from business authors, speakers, and consultants is that, above all, you must be unique.  They say that to compete and win you should focus your efforts on being different and doing things that absolutely none of your competitors are doing.  They back these ideas up by telling really cool stories about really cool companies.

Barneys vs. Nordstrom.

A couple of years ago I heard a marketing consultant tell his audience that they should emulate Barneys New York because it was the hip, edgy way of the future in retailing.  His example of the kind of business model to avoid was tired old Nordstrom.  He said that Nordstrom was, in effect, a dinosaur of retailing and simply wasn’t cool enough to survive.

Flash forward to today.   Nordstrom is booming and The Wall Street Journal recently reported that oh-so-cool Barneys New York “skirts bankruptcy.”  You know what’s cooler than Barneys New York?  Making a profit and staying in business.

Imagine that.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m not saying that being “hip, cool, and edgy” won’t work.  It may be exactly what you need to do in order to be the best at what matters most.  My point is that all around us are books and articles and speakers and experts who are telling us that to succeed in business today we have to to do the unexpected, the unique, and the outrageous.  What I’m saying, based the facts of who is winning and who is losing in the marketplace, is that you win, not by being the most unique, but by being the best.  Imagine that.

The Myth:  People fly Southwest Airlines because they have singing flight attendants and their employees do all sorts of fun, wacky things.

The Reality:  We’ve surveyed Southwest Airlines customers for six years now, and there are three reasons people are loyal to Southwest:

1. Value
2. Reliability and consistency
3. Easy to do business with

What does this have to do with your business?

If you find yourself thinking about your version of singing flight attendants, you should switch gears and start thinking about:

1. Value
2. Reliability and consistency
3. Being easy to do business with

The funny songs can wait. Being great at the basics can’t.  It’s a matter of where you focus and put your energy.