Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery

I was reading through the posts on a technology vendor's marketing blog the other day, and was intrigued by a quote that highlighted one of their "recent" posts (I put this in quotes because they are not all that great about keeping their blog up-to-date).  I was intrigued partly because it was blatantly making fun at one of my old company's recent product launches, but also because of the genius that statement includes from a personal and a business marketing standpoint.

By the way, the blog post is here: Netezza "Me Too" blog post

The quote is this:  "Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."  Obviously, it was intended to showcase their relevance in the analytics systems market upon the release of the incumbent data warehouse vendors' recent foray into the appliance market (by the way, that's all I'll say about that here because it's "technology talk" and I usually don't talk shop on this blog... if you want me to geek things up a little I can talk to you offline :-) )... but it's also philosophically true of any great endeavor, or of any great person.  Once something is seen as being a great thing... it is always imitated and the imitation of the original almost always speaks to the glory of the original.  For example, some recent and not-so-recent examples:

- McDonald's release of the "Southern Style Chicken" products highlighted the greatness of the Chick-Fil-A original chicken sandwich. 

- The prevalence of the "West Coast Offense" in the NFL and college football speaks of the brilliance of it's inventor Bill Walsh, the San Francisco 49'ers, and Joe Montana's four Super Bowl victories.

- Every iPhone copy might as well be an advertisement for the iPhone (see all of the stuff Verizon is trying to release that has "iPhone functionality")

- Ever wonder why Christopher Columbus was so famous even though he didn't really (admittingly according to him) "accomplish anything?"  Because so many followed him to "discover America." 

- Ever wonder why "Coke," "Kleenex," "Ziploc," "Band-Aid," and "Popsicle" (yes, "Popsicle" is a brand) have almost all become generic terms for their product categories?  They came first with a great product, and the copies became marketing for the inventor.  

The same goes for great leaders... aspiring Democrats want to emulate JFK or Bill Clinton (in more ways than one, I suppose) and aspiring Republicans want to emulate Reagan.  Their accomplishments and contributions created a brand for themselves that others want to copy.  And in every instance, it strengthens the reputation of the one who is emulated.  It's what makes great leaders great... the ability to share leadership, giving of yourself, and recreating leaders that can accomplish what you accomplish has the strange side effect of enhancing your own reputation.  Interesting.

And finally... this has to take a little bit of a spiritual twist... in creating us in His image, isn't that one thing that God himself is doing with you and me?  Do we not, when we imitate God's character and live as He would want us to live, highlight His glory?  When we do that, glorifying God is not really even something we really have to "try" to do, just like a copy of the original (in which we are created in God's image) we shine the light on the amazing awesomeness of our creator when we live out His purposes for us and let His character flow through us.  

Thoughts from the bottom of the Starbucks (another original) cup...

chris <><