Part 5: Go Where the Competition Is

In the last post for How to Be an Innovator on January 15, we discussed the importance of strategic partnerships. This week we’ll tackle the importance of competition.

For all its downfalls, competition makes us better. As the proverb says, iron sharpens iron, and this is rarely more true than in the marketplace. Producing innovation and being an innovator means choosing to embrace competition. It means choosing the difficult route and going where the competition is, rather than away from it.

When Proctor and Gamble decided to enter the luxury cosmetic market, A.G. Lafley, then the Global Head of P&G’s Beauty Care business unit, applied two important principles. First, he and Paolo De Cesare, the Vice President of Prestigo Beauty and Skincare, jointly placed great emphasis on innovation and the quality of their SK-II product. According to Lafley, to get great innovation, one should choose to innovate where there potential consumer is most demanding and most discriminating (Bartlett, 2003). That is why the executive team chose the Japanese market first and why they continue to only place the SK-II product where the product has the ability to become part of the top five in that market (Barlett). Innovation requires constant research and advancement, so P&G chose to open a first-class research facility in Japan first because the best skin care research is happening in there (Bartlett, 2003).

Second, Lafley believed that one should choose a market where there is strong innovative competition (Bartlett, 2003). According to Lafley, “If you’re in skincare, you’d better be in Paris and Tokyo” (Bartlett, 2003). Lafley believed that P&G’s experience in Japan with very good competitors helped them succeed even better in other markets. The result? The SK-II product is now the number one prestigious skin care product in the world (Bartlet, 2003).

Strong competition drives innovation and improvements across the board. Others may have seen Lafley and Cesare’s decision to go where the competition is as risky for a startup product, but Lafley and Cesare stood strong, and their organization and the development of their product benefited from their decision.

Who are your competitors? Where are they? What are they do? How can you get close to them? How can you be sparked, irritated, and motivated by them? Getting betters isn’t always pleasant, but the greatest innovations are the result of constant feedback and improvement. Going where the competition is the most direct route to moving your skill, product, or organization from good to better to great.

Reference:

Bartlett, 2003, C. (2008). P&G Japan: SK-II globalization project. Harvard Business School. Video. Retrieved November 20, 2008, from Regent University Blackboard.