The First, Only, Last Framework
This is my latest newsletter for my weekly Marketing & Growth newsletter, Marketing Unfiltered. Subscribe for it to land in your inbox every Friday morning at 7am.
I often review my Apple notes for gems (i’m currently at 9584), and this week I believe I found one I haven’t revisited for a while but will help you step out of your day-to-day to guide your business to success.
Most companies obsess about what competitors do, often blindly copying features, instead of what customers actually want.
To channel my inner Rory Sutherland, this creates market opportunities for those willing to be different.
The Problem(s) We Face
Product and Marketing teams view the same customer feedback through different lenses, leading to scattered insights and conflicting priorities.
Some being “customer obsessed” and only follow the customer views, others will ignore every piece of feedback and customer support tickets and just build and market almost blindly.
Leadership teams often makes decisions from incomplete data, either one vocal customer's opinion or broad assumptions that miss critical details.
Growth Can Be The Strategic Differentiation
Strategic differentiation isn't about being different for the sake of it, it's about identifying where industry standards can actively harm customer experience and taking the opposite position.
While competitors pile on features and friction to optimise metrics, you can win by strategically removing barriers.
My framework helps identify three types of market positioning:
(i) being first to solve emerging problems,
(ii) being the only company to take a principled stance, or
(iii) being the last or refusing to adopt harmful practices.
Each position creates defensible competitive advantages because most companies won't sacrifice short-term metrics for long-term customer happiness and loyalty.
The key insight: customers complain loudly about industry practices on third-party platforms like Reddit, X/Twitter & forums, but companies will rarely discover feedback, listen and action.
These complaints are your roadmap to differentiation, especially in the AI world becoming overly copied and optimised for the same metrics.
Be The First
Send audio-first emails
Send community-driven savings (and savings community members can share)
Ending "ask fatigue" - stop asking for more, more, more from your customers
Removing fake social proof counters
Use push notifications for critical info only
Not to chase every social media trend (no one will remember the Taylor & Travis engagement congrats post)
Offer quick unsubscribes
Killing creepy retargeting and retargeting when the customer has purchased
Allow downloads without phone number requirements
Be The Only
Not over Marketing your new “AI features”
No blog entry pop-ups
Smart retargeting that doesn't stalk you around the web
Skipping forced social trends
Limiting those multiple Trustpilot review requests
Offering available customer support
Using plain English that your customers understand, lose the jargon
Be The Last
No unsolicited WhatsApp updates
No SMS spam
No direct mail desperation
No fake scarcity tactics
No 10-minute surveys
Your Opportunity
While competitors add friction to boost more vanity metrics, you can win by removing it.
If you lead a Growth Department, you will have a number of tests to move forward with.
Customer happiness often trumps short-term conversion gains, but, most companies won't make that trade-off or don’t know how to score or scale.
Monitor third-party channels (Reddit, Twitter, and old school forums - they are goldmines) for real customer complaints about industry practices.
These reveal your differentiation opportunities and enable you to grow and stand out & above the crowd.
