The Black Hole of Marketing is in the Middle

A perceptual map of any category will include a few dominant players, some specialty niche entries, and a lot of losers who are destined for oblivion. Some of the latter will go silently in the night, but a lot will expire violently, with a big bang as they get sucked into that black celestial hole. 

Just as a star system expands too fast and collapses into itself with such gravitational attraction that not even light can escape, a swirling, whirling vortex of a seemingly liquid business can suddenly spiral down the drain.

The poet Yeats said, “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold.”  The center is untenable. The biggest brands usually have a big enough base to straddle the middle. The specialists cling to the edge. The rest have one of these characteristics—

1. They try to appeal to all sides, but they don’t have the wherewithal to stretch that far.
2. They have a niche, but no exclusivity.
3. They strangle themselves by hiring poor employees.
4. They fall easy prey to stronger players who delight to under-price and out-service them.

The drown-ees are stuck in the middle of the pool, can’t swim, have no life-preserver and no paddle. 

 Here’s what they need to do:  

1. A Persian proverb says, “No matter how far you’ve traveled down the wrong path, turn back.
2. Cut your losses and begin again. You’ve already stopped to smell the roses, so act.
3. Get back to basics and create a useful brand. Pick an edge to the perceptual map and latch on to it with a strong product and appealing positioning.

There’s a big enough place for you.  But it’s not in the middle.

George Lemmond