From “Product-first” To ”Movement-first”

Some companies thrive because their product is so amazing that people have no choice but to fall in love with it. Therefore, the other competitive alternatives disappear from people’s minds. Think about Sonos, Clarins, or Dropbox. They’ve set the bar so high for the quality of their offering that it’s hard for anybody else to keep up with them. Their goal is a fast and incremental improvement of their product. We could call them “product-first” companies.

Other companies thrive because they’ve created a movement so meaningful and so important to people that all other competitive alternatives become irrelevant. Think about Netflix, Zappos, or Buurtzorg. They set the goal to achieve a mission greater than themselves by promoting a complete shift in the way we live. Their goal is to create swiping change. We could call them movement-first companies.

These two approaches are not mutually exclusive. You can, and you probably should mix them in your strategy. Tesla did this brilliantly. They fuel a movement about the electric economy and also build the best cars ever.

“Product-first” and “movement-first” may also be two phases. Depending on how you started your business, one may have seemed more natural to you. For instance, if you are an engineer passionate about solving a frustrating problem, you may have invented something others really want. So you focused on the product at first. But at some point, you may need to rally people to adopt your idea and turn it into actual innovation.

I realize that I might not have explicitly said it until now, but here is the thing:

A strategic narrative helps you move from building a “product-first” company to a “movement-first” company.

It does not ignore a strong product mindset. In fact, one of the four pillars of a strong strategic narrative is to have a solid Product Story.

But a strategic narrative helps you start with WHY and create urgency for people to act, thanks to your product, of course.

Build a strategic narrative, and you will be able to create a movement. It matters.

The Strategic Narrative Workshop shows you how, and it starts on July 27th. Register now. Early bird pricing ends tonight.

It’s time to build your strategic narrative.