Nobody likes copycats. But the reality is — no matter how different you are or how many great features you have — any one of your competitors could copy your product tomorrow.
So if just anyone can just copy your product, how can you win?
A Guide to Fending Off Copycats
Just ask Whitney Wolfe Herd.
She’s the founder of Bumble, a social and dating app, and the world’s youngest self-made female billionaire. Yep, that’s billionaire with a B.
She was interviewed by Guy Raz on “How I Built This” (one of the A Team’s favorite podcasts.) Raz asked Herd whether she worried about losing her competitive advantage to a challenger brand or other competitor.
She said:
“Anybody can copy a product. I could go find five really talented young engineers, and they could build Bumble. With the right support, somebody could rebuild any piece of technology.
However, you cannot just copy someone’s brand and become them. There has to be authenticity when you build a brand, and there has to be true purpose.”
The Bottom Line
Brand builds value. It’s the only surefire way to create market differentiation, own unique whitespace, win the hearts and minds of customers, be unrivaled — every time.
Your brand prevents copycats from eating your lunch.
And when you’re ready to win your market, you need an edge. That edge is brand.
So, build your brand. Get the edge. Be unrivaled. And…