Marketing concepts and principles are designed to make life easier for entrepreneurs and improve their communication with the target audience. The demand for goods and services depends on the brand promotion strategy. Even a flawless product can remain unknown if its creator hasn’t presented their idea correctly or failed to convey it to potential clients from the perspective of their business’s strengths.
Much also depends on where and when the advertisement is placed. By getting to know the hedgehog concept and the fox principle, and the burrito principle, you can make adjustments to your marketing strategy or fundamentally change your team’s action plan.
What will be discussed?
- The Hedgehog and the Fox Concept
- The Hedgehog Concept in Jim Collins’ book “From Good to Great”
- The Burrito Principle in Marketing
- Conclusions
The Hedgehog and the Fox Concept
The Hedgehog and Fox concept comes from an ancient Greek fable by Archilochus. It tells the story of a fox that watches a hedgehog every day and invents new ways to catch it. The hedgehog, on the other hand, calmly goes about its business and, at the crucial moment when the fox attacks, simply rolls up into a ball. Its spikes protect it, and the fox ends up with nothing. This repeats day after day.
The hedgehog does what it does best. It is slow, clumsy, and small, but these weaknesses do not hinder it. The fox is beautiful, cunning, and fast, but its efforts are constantly “scattered”, thinking about everything at once, so it can’t achieve its goal.
This story is easily transferred to the world of business, where to gain popularity and large profits, a brand does not necessarily have to be perfect. It is much more important to timely identify your “superpower” and use it, focusing on your tasks rather than the competition.
In 1953, the essay “The Hedgehog and the Fox” by the 20th-century philosopher Isaiah Berlin was published. Taking the Greek parable as a basis, he described two categories of people — hedgehogs and foxes.
- Foxes want to achieve many goals at once, develop various complex strategies for this, compete, and always hope for victory.
- Hedgehogs see the world in a simple and unified way, reducing everything to one idea. They subordinate all their actions and thoughts to certain principles and concentrate on the main thing.
In Isaiah Berlin’s work, two types of personalities are described, but these can also be categories of companies. A business has a better chance of success if it directs all its resources towards developing one, the most optimal direction in a particular case. For a beauty salon, this could be eyelash lamination services; for a marketing agency, targeted advertising on social networks; and for a psychotherapist, cognitive-behavioral therapy. However, not every service or product can be key, and not every project can turn a company into that “hedgehog”.
The Hedgehog Concept in Jim Collins’ book “From Good to Great”
Jim Collins developed the Hedgehog Concept in his book “From Good to Great” in 2001. He examined the concept through the examples of outstanding entrepreneurs and pointed out that in business, achieving greatness is only possible by answering three questions:
- What can we be the best in the market at?
- What drives our economic engine?
- What is our team truly passionate about?
“To move from good to great, you must overcome the curse of competence. A special resilience is needed to acknowledge: ‘Just because we are making money and growing by doing something well does not necessarily mean we can become the best at it.’ Companies that went from good to great understood that merely doing what you are good at can create a good company. Focusing exclusively on what you can potentially do better than any other company is the only path to greatness”. “From Good to Great”, Jim Collins
The author of the book visually represented the essence of the concept using a Venn diagram. The truth lies at the intersection of the three circles.
The diagram itself cannot be a company development strategy. It is merely a foundation for understanding what that strategy should be. A hedgehog has only one way to defend itself, but this method is always effective. Similarly, in business: it’s enough to identify your key potential, a true advantage that doesn’t depend on market competition or any external circumstances. Narrowing the focus allows concentrating all specialists’ attention on one goal, directing resources towards a common purpose.
To use the Hedgehog Concept:
Gather key company specialists and organize a brainstorming session. Together, answer the following questions:
- What are we best at that doesn’t require special advertising or competing?
- What brings us the most profit, and what brings the least?
- Which tasks bring us joy and inspire us?
As a result of the brainstorming, you need to address a number of issues.
Find out what everyone in your organization is passionate about, including the founder and management.
Identify which processes or outcomes related to the company’s activity employees feel passionate about. This feeling cannot be induced; it must be identified.
Remember what you pay attention to during interviews with potential new team members.
What character traits, knowledge, skills, and abilities are most valued in your company? What do people who work for the company and bring the best results like?
Analyze the unique selling proposition.
List the competitive advantages of the product or service that make it special in the market.
📌 Read in blog post: How to create USP
Conduct a SWOT analysis
Identify the company’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
Determine how your organization makes money and whether this aligns with your answers to the previous questions.
You may be focused on a direction that does not actually bring you significant profit.
Review the company’s mission
Detail the target audience portrait and compare the average customer’s needs with what you offer them.
Do not expect a quick change in the company’s behavior model if you have previously invested an equal amount of time and finances in different directions and now want to become a true “hedgehog.” One conversation can only serve as a stimulus for insights and initiate changes. Visible results will require a gradual change in strategy and possibly even the company’s mission.
“Companies that went from good to great spent an average of about four years to articulate their Hedgehog Concept. Like scientific research, the Hedgehog Concept simplifies the complex world and makes decision-making much easier. Crystal clarity and elegant simplicity emerge only after the concept is fully formulated”. “From Good to Great,” Jim Collins
By investing your time and energy in the development and expansion of your core business, you increase the chances of long-term popularity.
“Companies that try to sell and promote many things to many people can succeed. However, those who focus on what they are truly good at can always succeed”. Amir K., SEO and content marketer at Incorporated Zone, «What Is The Hedgehog Concept»
However, if a company lacks a flagship product, that is, a key product or service that sets it apart in the market, an alternative is to make the service unique, come up with the best “feature” for the target audience. This could be closely located outlets in convenient locations, instant delivery, or professional consulting, personalized selection of something. The main thing is that it should be done best by you, bring pleasure, and the maximum possible profit.
The Burrito Principle in Marketing
The effectiveness of advertising posts on Facebook, Twitter, and other social networks depends on the timing of their publication. The best hours are those when potential readers have more time to scroll through their news feed, for example, while enjoying a burrito for lunch. This is the essence of the Burrito Principle, created by Darian Rodriguez Heyman from the organization “Social Media for Nonprofits”.
“The Burrito Principle belongs to those marketing principles that help maximize the output from online marketing channels, such as social media posts or email marketing”. Kevan Lee, «The Burrito Principle and Beyond: 12 New Marketing Ideas That Are Memorable, Actionable, and Useful»
The idea’s author considers the following hours ideal for posting texts on social networks or sending emails:
- 8:30 AM — people may browse new posts and messages on their way to work.
- 12:30 PM — the same time for a burrito or something else just as tasty.
- 5:30 PM — returning from work or school, people can leisurely scroll through the news feed.
- 10:00 PM — at this time, children are asleep, chores are done, so it’s time to “sit on the phone”.
Strategic use of social networks plays a crucial role in promoting a brand or project. Utilizing the Burrito Principle increases content views, making it more conversion-friendly.
Conclusions
- The Hedgehog and Fox concept and the Burrito Principle both allow companies to improve their results without increasing or even decreasing their marketing expenses.
- “The fox knows many things, but the hedgehog knows one big thing,” wrote Archilochus in his fable “The Hedgehog and the Fox.” It’s important for marketers, directors, and company owners to understand the true strength of their product and focus on it. This big thing should be something that the leaders and employees like best, do best, and that brings in good revenue.
- The Burrito Principle helps increase subscriber activity on social networks, gain more views of emails and messages in messengers, and more clicks on links. The amount and quality of content can remain the same as before. The main thing is to understand when your potential customer is eating a burrito.
