Two Rabbits

Hunters aren’t the only ones who learned this.

Nature. Biologists call it the confusion effect: predators chasing a crowd catch less than predators chasing one.

Productivity. Switch between two simple tasks, and each switch costs nearly a second, spent not on the work but on remembering which work you were doing.

Business. Continental Airlines tried to stay full-service while launching a cheap copy of Southwest called Continental Lite. Michael Porter reports it lost hundreds of millions of dollars. His lesson:

"The essence of strategy is choosing what not to do."

A predator, a mind, a company: the fix is the same. Pick one.

Every brand faces this hunt.

Segmentation spots the rabbits.

Targeting chooses one.

Positioning is where you stand to catch it.

Trouble starts when one decision has to satisfy incompatible goals:

• Make it premium, but inexpensive.
• Speak to teenagers, without alienating retirees.
• Be specialized, but appeal to everyone.

The brand starts doing what the hunter did.

Left. Right. Left again.

Customers never see the plan. They only see the footprints: a campaign leaning one way, packaging leaning the other.

Specificity requires exclusion.

Not forever. Just for this decision.

You can’t lose a rabbit you never had, and you never had either until you chose.

Here’s how to choose.

1. One product, one problem. A tool built to do everything rarely does anything best. Start with a product that solves a specific problem for a specific person.

2. One page, one audience. Give each audience its own landing page and one message about their specific problem, or about the one thing your product does for them.

3. The "not for" test. Finish this sentence: "We’re not for…" If you can’t name anyone, you’re chasing everyone.

Somewhere on your list right now is a second rabbit. A project, a client, an audience you keep in view just in case.

What are you willing not to chase?