• 0

Marketoonist | Tom Fishburne

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne. Marketing cartoons, content marketing with a sense of humor, keynote speaking.

  • Campaigns
  • Speaking
  • About
  • Cartoons
  • Contact
  • Book
  • 0

Competitor Myopia

September 11, 2022

Competitor Myopia cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)

Gary Rogers, former Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream CEO and Levi Strauss Chairman, used to encourage his teams not to obsess too much on “worm races.”  

“Worm races” were Gary’s nickname for line charts that showed competitive market share over time.  He observed that marketers often spent too much time focused on what their competitors were doing and not enough on their customers.   Staring at the ups and downs of these share lines could caused them to miss the bigger picture.  

I once worked at Dreyer’s when Gary was CEO and his words always struck a chord.  Too often the way we often thought about our brands came from arbitrary Nielsen categories instead of actual consumer insights.  I was a Häagen-Dazs brand manager and we narrowly thought of our category as “super-premium ice cream” and other “super-premium ice cream brands” as our competition.  However, most consumers don’t think about ice cream that way.  They’re choosing a dessert out of a whole range of options.

Competitor myopia can lead to copycat products and a sea of sameness in the market.  It’s ultimately a race to the bottom.

I like how Tara-Nicholle Nelson suggested in an HBR article that we re-define our competitors as our customer’s obstacles:

“The question is not who your competition is but what it is. And the answer is this: Your competition is any and every obstacle your customers encounter along their journeys to solving the human, high-level problems your company exists to solve.”

Or, as Jeff Bezos famously said:

“If we can keep our competitors focused on us while we stay focused on the customer, ultimately we’ll turn out alright.”

Here are a few related cartoons I’ve drawn over the years:

sea of sameness - August 2021

Sea of Sameness cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

watching the numbers - August 2018

Watching the Numbers cartoon
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

mind to market in 3,000 days - March 2004

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post

safe is risky - July 2014

  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Share
  • Share this Marketoon
    • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
    • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
| Read Post
Your Ad Ignored Here
"If marketing kept a diary, this would be it."
- Ann Handley, Chief Content Officer of MarketingProfs
Order Now

Filed Under: data-driven

Get a new marketoon each week:

Previous Post Next Post

Lifecycle of Social Media

Lifecycle of Social Media cartoon

Procurement and Partnership

Black Hole of Procurement cartoon

Browse similar cartoons in: data-driven

Browse By Category See All Marketoons
  • Paid licensing options include high resolution download.
  • Presentation $35.00 Add to Cart
  • Newsletter or Website $100.00 Add to Cart
  • Corporate Blog/Sponsored Post $50.00 Add to Cart
  • Looking for other licensing options? click here
  • View Cart
Your Ad Ignored Here Book Image

15 years of Marketoonist compiled for your marketing pleasure.

Order Now

About Marketoonist

tom_image

Marketoonist is the thought bubble of Tom Fishburne a career marketer and cartoonist. Learn More...

Subscribe

Get a new marketoon delivered to your inbox each week.

 

Browse Blog Posts

Most Popular Cartoons Browse Categories

Marketoon Campaigns

contentmarketing

Content marketing with a sense of humor.

Learn More

Keynote Speaking

speakingworkshops

Insightful, funny, and visual keynote talks and workshops.

Book Tom to Speak

Search Blog Posts

Interested? Let’s Talk!

Marketoons

Browse Categories

Get New Cartoons Weekly

About Marketoonist

Tom Fishburne is the Founder and CEO of Marketoonist, a content marketing studio that helps businesses reach their audiences with cartoons.

© 2023 Marketoonist