The copycat advantage

Imitation as a business strategy

When Amazon allegedly copied Peak Design’s Everyday Sling, the bag brand promptly made a video titled “A Tale of Two Slings.” When a similar thing happened to Allbirds a year or so ago, they were considerably less amused by it. Down the coast in Silicon Valley, Snap has a “Voldemort” dossier, which documents all of Facebook’s aggressive Snapchat feature ripoffs. Businesses have been stealing best practices from each other for decades. What they haven’t been absorbing is wisdom.

Being a first mover is touted as an advantage. In reality, it’s often a curse. First movers are often the first ones to fail — providing valuable lessons to fast followers. Now largely forgotten shopping app Spring pioneered years ago a shopping experience that was almost too seamless for its own good. Instagram watched and learned and years later developed its Checkout feature, with a user experience not unlike Spring’s. Netflix successfully introduced a completely new business model and viewing experience, only to see itself in stiff streaming competition with HBO, Hulu, Disney and NBC Universal.

In the modern brand economy, copycats win. They are able to swiftly peruse a road map laid down by the Springs and the Netflixes of the world to launch, iterate, improve and grow their own businesses. They are also able to study established brands and…