#NoMarketing
Competition
Is For Losers...
...And The Winner Takes All
AI and algorithms have made marketing easier than ever. The bad news is that everyone’s doing it now, so competition has never been tougher. The good news is that most brands end up sounding and looking the same. That’s where human creativity comes in. When everyone blends in, even a small difference gets noticed.
So what’s the true story only you can tell? The one your competitors aren’t telling, and your customers have been waiting to hear? You won’t find it by asking AI. We call these secrets: hidden truths that, once you see them, get you out of the competition trap. And on the other side, profitable marketing and real growth are waiting for you.
The Compounding
Effect of Sameness
The more you look at what your neighbor is doing, the more you start to look like them. Even if you start with something small, over time you will end up copying them more and more, and end up looking like their semi-clone.
Look at how people shop in big cities. Usually following the same clothing trends, wanting the same cars, applying for the same universities, etc.
According to René Girard’s mimetic theory:
“Man is the creature who doesn’t know what to desire, and he turns to others to make up his mind. We imitate others’ desires.”
The problem with even looking at your competitors for a quick second and trying to emulate them in any way, shape, or form is that it starts off with one small thing before compounding itself and making you look increasingly like them over time, turning your company into a clone.
We call this the compounding effect of sameness.
You Win by Not
Competing at All
We often get on calls with founders because their marketing just isn’t working. Their ad CPMs are crazy high and aren’t leading to conversions. They’re hardly making any sales. This is normal and extremely solvable, but we see founders make a lot of mistakes at this stage.
They become convinced that they just need to run their ads on a different platform. Or they think the solution lies in some magical set of optimization techniques that will turn things around overnight.
These things may have worked in the past, yielding huge benefits for the founders who took advantage of them. But things have changed. Today’s marketing landscape is oversaturated with startups and has become hyper-competitive. There’s no longer as much to be gained by growth hacking or ad-optimization techniques.
Chasing these tricks is a losing battle that will at best help you gain small percentage points here and there. Instead, the best way you can spend your time is by learning how to build a micro-monopoly: A business that’s playing by its own rules so it doesn’t have to compete.
Succesful Startups
Do No marketing
Today’s marketing seems to be all about platforms, AI, tricks, and noise. If you believe that this is marketing, then successful startups do no marketing.
The kind of marketing that successful startups engage in involves avoiding competition and evolving into market-leading companies (micro-monopolies) through in-depth market research, messaging, and storytelling.
A micro-monopoly benefits from low cost per acquisition, market leader status, profitability, high prices, and no competition. A micro-monopoly is a one-of-a-kind company that naturally draws in customers and investors.
#NoMarketing principles are followed by now-established leading companies that were once startups themselves, such as Apple, Airbnb, Uber, Snapchat, Tesla, and also by new startups that are making an impact, such as Nothing, reMarkable, Notion, Figma, or BeReal. It’s also the philosophy we follow at Ratio for every client.
