Posted on Apr 8, 2013

The Value of Dominance in Marketing

The value of dominance means authority; power over others; supremacy.

Marketing Questions:

If there was only one market you could be market leader, which one would you choose? Why?
Which of your customers respect your market leadership and authority the most? Why?
Who benefits the most from your market dominance: customers, employees, shareholders, or significant others (e.g. partners)?
Power and authority brings responsibility. In what ways is your organization potentially being abusive through its dominance in the market?

Dare to be Dominant

In 1981, when Jack Welch became CEO of General Electric, he made an important strategic decision: GE would be #1 or #2 in every market they served, or they wouldn’t be in that business. This was a bold move because at the time GE had about 350 different businesses or product lines.

Under Welch’s leadership, the number of businesses that remained eight years later was just 14. Only 14 businesses! Think about that…. But all 14 businesses were either #1 or #2 in the world, within their market category.

In other words, Welch selected dominance as a differentiating value for GE.

Did this strategy work? Well, during Welch’s tenure, GE went from a valuation of about $12 Billion to over $200 Billion, and was ranked as one of America’s most admired companies. Clearly, it worked.

Now, there are some significant challenges that come with being a dominant market leader.

There’s a temptation to abuse power and authority, and ignore the needs of customers. There’s a risk of creating a culture of entitlement or indifference, which bleeds into poor decision-making. And of course, there’s a risk that the market will choose to hate you.

Interestingly, humans love to hate dominant leaders. Think about Microsoft. A lot of people seem to enjoy expressing their hatred of Microsoft. Then there are the big cable companies, or the wireless carriers. Unfortunately, it’s easy to find complaints about one of these dominant companies.

Is it possible to be dominant and likable? It depends on your personal experience with a brand.

There are a few that I feel have mastered this skill: Apple, Coke, Ford and Nike are a few that come to mind. I also believe there are a lot of smaller companies that fit this bill, many in the B2B space, but with names only a select few are familiar.

So, if you are a business leader or marketer and decide to embrace the value of dominance, you will also need to decide if you want people to like you or hate you. Go on. I dare you….