The First Mover Disadvantage - Uwe Hook

What brand built the first island on Second Life? What brand marketed itself first on Twitter? Quora? MySpace? Napster?

Who cares?

It's good to be the first on the moon. It's great to introduce the first touch-screen tablet. It's an advantage to feature the first hybrid car.

Nobody cares if you're the first to market yourself on a new platform.

Let me rephrase that: Nobody of your prospective customers cares if you're the first to market yourself on a new platform.

Your agency might care. It's good PR and communicates they're an innovative marketer.

Your communication department might care. They get featured in trade magazines and invited to speak at conferences.

And your customer? They are busy living their lives.

It can cost you a pretty dime to be the first mover.

Remember the iAd? The first movers had to pay $1 million just to get in. Within a few months, the price dropped to $300,000.

Think about it.

The user base was very small in the beginning and Apple charged a million.

Now, millions are using the tablet and the price dropped dramatically.

It's the premium you pay when you are the first mover.

The next Gold Rush: Google+

Google+ launched a few weeks ago. Apparently, it has a lot of traction. Social Media experts are falling all over themselves to squeeze money out of that new platform by marketing webinars how to make money from Google+. Brands and agencies are anxious to get in on the deal. Ford is already in.

Good for Ford.

Did they sell any more cars because of their Google+ presence? Did they change anybody's mind about the brand because they "hung out" with 14 people?

Of course not.

Look, I like what Ford and Scott Monty is doing. They utilize Social Marketing in very innovative ways. They got a lot of PR and applause from the echo chamber for their Google+ initiative.

You're not Ford.

You have a lot of time. Take that time and explore what others are doing. Only geeks and nerds are on Google+ right now. No reason to rush into it. Understand the landscape, participate as an individual to understand how people are using it. Make a business case and dive into the platform with a Direct Marketing approach: Start small, test, layer and, once you found something that works, expand.

Don't think of yourself as a teenager that missed a party: The world is not coming to an end. You're an adult now. There will be many more parties.

Uwe Hook is the CEO and Co-Founder of BatesHook, Inc. (www.bateshook.com) and a veteran of the advertising and marketing industry with the goal of building connections between people and brands. Uwe can be reached at uwe@bateshook.com.

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