Direct Competition Is Most Difficult
By David Golding
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By now I’m sure you’ve heard of Microsoft’s new Zune player. Whether or not it is any good, I really don’t care. And even if it beats out the iPod in terms of features, etc., it’s been one of Microsoft’s biggest blunders if you ask me. First of all, they tried to out-do the market leader, Apple. They came out in direct competition, calling the Zune the “iPod killer” with the hopes of stealing away share from Apple. Well, if you’re going to go head-to-head with the market leader, remember, you have to exploit a weakness inherent in the strength.
For example, and I’ve used this one before, Avis rent-a-car in the 80s advertised: “Rent from Avis. The line here is shorter.” Would Hertz, the market leader, start to kick folks out of their line to do battle with this? No way. A weakness inherent in the strength of Hertz’s position was that their line was long, and Avis successfully attacked it.
Marketers need to remember to keep their offensive attacks on as narrow a front as possible. In this example, Zune right now is going all out, trying to grab hold of any and all distribution channels. Their push is to dethrone the iPod, pure and simple. Big mistake. The iPod will always win because it occupies the higher ground in the battlefield of the consumers’ minds. Zune would be wise to hunt for exploitations in the iPod’s strength, attack one, and stick it out.
One might be guaranteed stock. Many iPod retailers run out quickly and take orders; Zune could make the guarantee that when you want one, you can always walk out of the store with one.
Another could be piggy-backing on Windows. Honestly, for Mac users, the iPod works seemlessly with the OS. Right now, Microsoft is trying to catch up with the Zune. Not only should it be compatible with the Windows platform, it needs to be so fully integrated with it that you literally just plug it in and it works. Then Zune could be pushed as the definitive Windows MP3 player.
Instead, Microsoft is doing what it has done in the past: brawl out in some kind of feature war. But in this, they cannot possibly win. Other players with better features have surfaced in the past and gone the way of all the earth in the wake of iPod’s mammoth market strength.
Next year: Zune, R.I.P.
