Famous Y Bridge – Zanesville, OH
In 1960, driving across Ohio on Route 40 with a group of fellow Boy Scouts, we pulled in Zanesville, OH and were greeted by a goofy looking bridge. (“Go to the center of the bridge and turn left,” we were given for directions.) A Historical Marker at one end declared, “The Famous Y Bridge — the largest bridge of its kind in the world.”
Now this was not a big bridge. I was from greater New York, and we had some pretty big bridges there. You know, the George Washington Bridge? The Brooklyn Bridge? Heck, even the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was under construction.
Who were these rubes with their specious claim? Then I noticed the modifier: “of its kind.”
Brilliant! With a little work, you could create a category you could dominate. This is really popular in startup companies. “XYZ is the leading provider of blahed, yahed widgets in North America.”
The only limitation on this maneuver is the silliness of the category or the shame of the promoter. But all that gets avoided if you don’t articulate the category. Just remember, you read this insight in the best blog of its kind in the world. ;)