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You should try to understand the point and the context of these examples. I would suggest you read Al Ries books. These examples were picked in the early 1990s
by ElBarto 8y ago
You should try to understand the point and the context of these examples. I would suggest you read Al Ries books.
These examples were picked in the early 1990s, and are specific to the US market. Things change.
For example the US car market has long been largely dominated by GM and Ford with Toyota only recently breaking that (and VW is non-existent). GM and Ford are still the two largest manufacturers:
https://knoema.com/infographics/floslle/top-vehicle-manufacturers-in-the-us-market-1961-2016 https://knoema.com/infographics/floslle/top-vehicle-manufact...
The point is that there is usually very few dominating brands in a market, with the top 2 (approximately) yielding the power and the others following and filling the gaps.
- cbsmith 8y ago> These examples were picked in the early 1990s, and are specific to the US market. Things change. ...like whether that claim is well founded or not.
- ElBarto 8y agoIn the tech sector this has often reduced to 1 single brand instead of 2. The worst mistake we engineers tend to make is to dismiss the 'wisdom' of professional marketers and branding experts...
- slededit 8y agoIt’s incumbent on you to make your point with contemporary examples or heavily explain why old ones are needed (and even then it severely weakens the point). I too was extremely confused with your examples. Sure there should be charity in reading but the default assumption is not that your examples are 26 years old. Many people here were either children or not even born yet.
- ElBarto 8y agoEven if those examples are old-ish, anyone should understand the point if they actually tried. As for being children... You don't say.
- slededit 8y agoIf your only examples are 25+ years old then the question becomes why are there no contemporary examples for this supposedly common phenomena. Its not a good rhetorical tactic. Nor is insulting other participants in the conversation.
- ElBarto 8y agoThese are not 'my examples', these are the ones from Al Ries book. It does not mean that there are no examples of it right now. Examples illustrate a point, they are not the point. In fact, as mentioned the fact that there is sometimes not even space for a second brand right now illustrates the relevance of the insight. What is insulting is the laziness and arrogance here.
- slededit 8y agoWell I think we're past being constructive, but don't you find it at all arrogant to demand people invest time researching your comments? There are thousands of comments made here every day. We're not peer reviewing articles here - comments should stand on their own.
- ElBarto 8y agoThese weren't my comments... I was explaining the examples given by a quoted classic book by Al Ries, which someone apparently better qualified than Al Ries thought were all wrong. You apparently haven't followed at all or made any effort. Quite extraordinary to see that on HN.
- ummonk 8y agoIt's odd to see the traditional industry of the "big three" automakers being used as evidence for the "law of duality"...
- ElBarto 8y agoIt's not odd when you look at the link I posted that shows that the 3rd of the "Big Three" was much smaller than the other 2 in terms of volume and brand.
- ummonk 8y agoIn 1990, GM had 35%, Ford 23%, and Chrysler 12% of the US market. That doesn't seem like an overwhelming dominance by GM and Ford.