First is relative (3/22)

In branding, technicalities don't count for much.

Technically being first isn't nearly as important as being seen as first.

Maybe fact-checkers are concerned with what's going on out in reality, but all you need to care about is what's going on inside the customer's mind.

Xerox blew the market away with their copiers. Then poured billions into trailblazing the modern computer. But no matter what great strides of innovation they made, they were always cemented as the "copier company" in the minds of customers.

So, their groundbreaking prototypes, pioneering things like the GUI and the mouse languished in their PARC research facility until young Steve Jobs and Bill Gates came along and stole them (true story).

Positioning is not a battle about facts, or right and wrong. Every battle for market position is fought inside the prospect's mind.

Never forget it, or you might technically win, only to find out you've actually lost.