The Vancouver Sun ran an article last Tuesday about Chef Daniel Boulud. The famed restaurateur who owns 5-6 restaurants across the US is partnering with the current owners of Lumiere and Feenies. If you’ve been following the story of Rob Feenie’s departure, there’s likely a lot more than meets the eye. But that’s not what I’m writing to you about today…

Hidden deep inside that Vancouver Sun article was a gem. A precisely-cut and glittering diamond of marketing wisdom.

It appeared when Daniel Boulud was asked why he chose to come to Vancouver over Toronto or Montreal, the largest Canadian cities (Vancouver holds 3rd place).

Boulud’s reply was spot on. He said

“I went to Palm Beach in Florida first, instead of Miami, and I’m opening in Beijing China rather than Shanghai…I’d rather be the first somewhere than the last. I’d rather be the first outside chef in Vancouver than maybe the last in Toronto.”

Positioning yourself as THE FIRST. As Number 1. It doesn’t matter what market you are in, what product or service you sell. When you establish yourself as the first in your market, in your category, in your niche — you become the authority, the leader, the trusted advisor.

Jack Trout and Al Ries wrote a whole book that focuses on this topic called ‘Positioning.’ One of the later books, the “22 Immutable Laws of Marketing” and then another one covering ‘branding’ all developed cases with clear examples as to how important and powerful this concept is.

Friend, you don’t have to recreate the whole market, you don’t have to become an inventor and build the latest gizmo — being the first can be as simple as making a guarantee that your competitors don’t have the guts to, offering a new service that complements your main product, it can be the same product or service adjusted (made hotter or colder or bigger or smaller) to become different.

The crux here is that it must be relevant to your market. People must want to buy what you’re selling. If they do, if you become first in your market, and do an awesome job of communicating that difference, that reason why you are first place….the crowds will gather and your profits will climb.

To your success,

Michael Zipursky
Relagy Marketing