2 builders who never spoke to each other

Hold one constraint long enough to become known for it

Commit to a rule you will not break, a price floor, a single format, a giveaway, an interface you refuse to modernise, and let the years of consistency do the positioning work. Expect commentators to call it a mistake for most of that period, since the refusal to compromise is exactly what makes it legible.

The method

1. 01

   Hold one constraint for decades so it becomes the brand: a floor price you never go under, a single product format, or a giveaway you never stop.

2. 02

   Accept unpopular consistency as a position in itself, and expect commentators to predict your death for it.

3. 03

   Keep the material unfiltered rather than softening it for the gatekeepers who rejected you - the lack of compromise is the differentiator.

What it returned

• $5,000

  Rolex never prices a watch below $5,000; Subway kept one sandwich type for 54 years; Doubletree has handed out chocolate chip cookies for 39 years

• $1

  Craigslist chose a plain, unchanged interface and user experience over monetisation, was written off for twenty-five years including by a Harvard Business School analysis, and did $1bn of revenue in 2020 with about fifty staff.

• Author contrasts a network-safe political joke with Schulz's version of the same subject.

Sources

• What makes a strategy greatJason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · Decisive · 2023-08-13
• The genius of no name's brandHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · What can we learn from no name? · undated
• The marketing genius of Andrew SchulzHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Part 2 · undated