Back in 2006, Microsoft launched the Zune, boldly trying to dethrone Apple’s iPod. Side-by-side comparison tables were everywhere, touting features like bigger screens or wireless sharing. Blah-blah. Ambitious? Yes. Effective? Not at all. Zune sank without a ripple but iPod zoomed ahead.

iPod dominated 76% of the U.S. MP3 market and remained the gold standard of digital music for two decades. The bitter lesson in marketing is claiming parity DOES NOT make you the leader. Listing features side-by-side only exposes the gap. Comparing without understanding your core strengths can backfire. There is a classic lesson in marketing wisdom : Comparison Kills Credibility.

Even Bill Gates sheepishly admitted: “Certainly, the iPod is a great success.”
Steve Jobs did not hold back: “Was he inebriated? Do you even know anyone who owns a Zune?”

Fast forward to today:

Few months ago my sales team sent me a web link. A wannabe competitor put up a side-by-side comparison table against Leanworx in his company website, claiming they are better; without actually understanding what Leanworx can do. Features? Misrepresented. Benefits? Overstated. Net outcome? Comparison table full of ‘masala’. Later, I learnt that they are good at masalas.

Their bravado only highlighted how far they are from the gold standard.

Leanworx quietly delivers real results in hundreds of machine shops monitored, real-time uptime, accurate utilization, and hidden profits while the competitor’s table just exposes what they do not even comprehend. The moment you line yourself up against the benchmark to claim parity, you have admitted what the benchmark is. Ah!! Leanworx is the gold standard benchmark others measure against.

Moral: Do not compare what you cannot comprehend. Claiming parity without mastery only makes your weaknesses obvious. Comparison kills credibility.

The fun part was that for months our sales team cheekily shared the link to this side-by-side comparison page with prospects and had a good laugh over it. Their fun, however, ended when our SEO consultant warned us about the risks of letting our company’s name be used without authorization. On his advice, we had to ask the other party to take the page down.

Sadly, we now miss the all the fun.