Welcome Back To Coffee & CompeteYour bi-weekly brew of CI and product marketing news, insights, and strategies.
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What’s On The Menu ☕
~ 5 min read ~ |
TODAY’S CUP OF WISDOM |
🍎 What Product Marketers Can Learn From Apple’s Legendary “Welcome” Ad |
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Picture this: It’s 1981. Apple has just gone public, creating 300 millionaires overnight. But their champagne-popping celebration is short-lived.
IBM, the Goliath of mainframe computing, announces its entry into the personal computer market. For most companies, this would be terrifying – imagine Google suddenly deciding to compete in your space today.
But Steve Jobs saw an opportunity. He took out a full-page ad in The Wall Street Journal welcoming IBM to the PC market.
The ad featured a headline that would change tech marketing forever: “Welcome, IBM. Seriously.”
The Genius of Apple’s “Welcome” Ad Apple’s “Welcome” ad was more than just a greeting. It was a masterstroke of marketing strategy. Here’s why:
Other Tech Brands That Riffed On The Ad The “Welcome” ad format would be referenced and remixed for years to come. Notable examples include: Key Takeaway For Product Marketers and Compete Pros When a new competitor enters your space or launches a product, resist the urge to panic-list features they’re missing.
Instead, view these competitive threats as opportunities to tell your unique story. For up-and-coming startups, consider positioning yourself as the innovative expert or savvy underdog.
If you’re an established player facing new competition, consider taking the high road by “welcoming” them to your field. This unexpected approach can:
Remember: A well-crafted response to competition can reinforce your market position and spark interest – just as Apple did decades ago |
WHAT’S BREWING THE WORLD OF COMPETE |
🔒 Proton Docs Takes Aim at Google with Privacy-First Approach |
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Swiss privacy company Proton has officially launched Proton Docs, a secure document editor designed to rival Google Docs.
Its key differentiator? Robust end-to-end encryption.
Privacy as a Competitive Edge
Privacy is becoming a go-to differentiator in the tech world, especially for software companies looking to stand out from the giants.
Why? Consumers are increasingly wary of data handling practices. Two-thirds of global consumers worry about tech companies’ control over their personal information.
Businesses aren’t faring much better either. Cyber attacks spiked 28% in Q1 2024, with potential losses topping $12.5 billion in 2023 alone.
These growing concerns about cybersecurity have highlighted weaknesses in the privacy practices of tech giants like Google and Meta, creating a unique opportunity for smaller, privacy-focused companies like Proton to position themselves as trustworthy alternatives in the market.
Why Should You Care?
As a product marketer or compete pro, it’s worth examining how companies like Proton are positioning and communicating about privacy – even if you don’t work in the space.
As privacy goes “mainstream,” there’s a noticeable shift away from the jargon-heavy, high-end security branding of companies like Norton. Instead, we’re seeing a move towards simple, accessible messaging.
Look at Apple’s recent Safari ad It’s direct, accessible, even a tad playful. And it’s leveraging this messaging to call attention to Google Chrome’s greatest weak point – privacy. |
FROM THE NETWORK |
🔒 New Episodes: We’re Not Marketers, The Marchitect |
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Build an Internal Brand, Using CI with Patrick Wall | We’re Not Marketers
In this episode, Pat Wall, Director of Competitive Intelligence at MongoDB, highlights why PMMs must build their internal brand to influence cross-functional teams and excel in competitive intelligence.
How to Craft a Sales Pitch That Wins in Competitive Markets with April Dunford | The Marchitect
In this episode of The Marchitect podcast, product marketing expert April Dunford shares how to craft compelling sales pitches that help customers confidently choose your solution
Coming soon (recording goes live next Tuesday 👀) |
PREMIUM ROAST |
😅 Adsum Turns Back Time On the Apple Watch Hype |
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SIPS N’ CLICKS |
🗞️ Other Compete News |
Threads nears its one-year anniversary with more than 175M monthly active users. See how its numbers stack up against rival X [link]
Apple unveils a new AI technique to better compete against ChatGPT [link]
Tubi enters the UK’s competitive streaming market, positioned as a free alternative to Netflix [link]
AI search engine Genspark challenges Perplexity and Google, offering custom summaries and other unique features [link] |
💼 Compete Jobs |
POWERED BY KLUE |
🚀 Klue Launches New Gong Integration |
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Buyers have a lot to say about your competition.
But too often, what they do say slips through the cracks.
Which is exactly why we’re excited to announce Klue’s Gong integration 🎉 .
With Klue & Gong, you can:
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Before You Go! |
Consider sharing this newsletter with a product marketer in need 🙏
Also, if you wanna binge hours of on-demand content, connect with others, and learn from some of the best in the industry?
Join the 3,000+ other product marketers, compete pros, and GTM leaders in the Compete Network community.
Cheers, Niko |
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Klue, 1600-777 Hornby Street, Vancouver, British Columbia V6Z 1S4 |