The crippling clutches of Category Conformity
You might have noticed this newsletter has had a lil rebrand. It’s because I’ve recently reworked my own POV for my agency, LEFTFIELD.
And I wanted to reclarify the enemy I’m fighting against. I was clear on what I did, less so about why I was doing it.
So I used my own process on myself and came up with my shiny new POV.
And so today I want to share that with you.
Here goes…
B2B categories are becoming increasingly oversaturated. Some already are. Most will be within the next couple of years. Why? More and more people want a piece of the pie. Categories are maturing. AI has made it easier to build and launch a product. Barriers to entry in terms of hosting, marketing, hiring, etc. have never been lower. Take your pick.
Historically speaking, something interesting happens as categories mature. The competitors within a given category all start to blur together. At least as far as prospects and buyers are concerned.
Products end up doing the same thing with the same features and capabilities. Companies strive for “feature parity”, which is a nice way of saying “copying each other”.
As a result their messaging starts to say the same thing in the same way. Pull up a few competitors websites side-by-side, cover up the logos, and see if you can tell the difference. Spoiler: you can’t.
And as a result of that the marketing ends up the same too. And the branding. And well, everything.
In trying to outcompete, companies blend in even more.
This is a natural evolution of categories. It’s nobody’s fault. It just happens.
And I call this phenomenon Category Conformity.
We interrupt this newsletter to bring you a classic experiment from the world of Psychology. There’s a reason for it, trust me.
Let’s rewind to 1951, the early days of social psychology. Where a man named Solomon Asch was about to discover something fascinating.
He gathered a group of people in his lab and showed them a series of lines. Their task? Choose which line matched the control one.
It was simple. I mean, we’re talking this simple:
Unbeknownst to the participants, they were placed in a room full of actors, all pretending to be fellow participants.
Every now and then, the actors would give an obviously incorrect answer.
Which put the real participant in an awkward position: Do they go along with the crowd and give what was clearly a wrong answer? Or do they go against the grain and give a different answer?
Well, roughly one-third of the time the participant would agree with the crowd and give a demonstrably incorrect answer. All because of the pressure to conform.
Okay, back in the room.
Asch’s study is a classic staple on any Psychology 101 course. It shows how strong a force conformity can be.
And sure, you could flip it round and say: “But the majority of people did NOT conform!”
That’s true, but consider that there was an obviously right answer. There was no reason to think you could be wrong.
Which isn’t the case when it comes to positioning in a category.
Positioning is subjective. It’s ambiguous. There’s no obvious right answer. (Some people would argue there’s no right answer at all, but that’s a different story.)
So imagine the pressure to conform when it’s hard to know the answer.
In fact, studies involving more subjective tasks do show higher levels of conformity.
My point is, it’s completely natural to conform in a given category. Sticking your neck out is risky. It’s much safer to follow the herd and go along with the “normal” way of doing things.
And that’s why everyone ends up saying the same thing in the same way about the same product.
Category Conformity.
And it’s a real problem. Because once you’re stuck in Category Conformity it can be hard to escape. You can’t just be better, you have to be different.
Because if you aren’t, then prospects have no real reason to choose you. Chances are they’ll choose the market leader or the cheapest. And if you’re part of that mass in the middle then they might never even see you as a potential option.
This is why I do what I do. This is why LEFTFIELD exists. To help companies escape Category Conformity.
How?
By helping them uncover their unique category POV. Their different perspective on the world they’re in, on the game they’re playing. And then communicating that to their target audience through messaging, marketing, and branding.
So that they stand out. So they’re top-of-mind when that 95% of the market are ready to buy. So they become the only obvious option for their ICP.
And this newsletter is going to focus on one thing:
POV.
Teaching you how to think about and develop your own. Inspiring you with real-world examples. And helping you escape Category Conformity.
Stay tuned.
Thanks for reading,
Joe