A few years ago something genuinely strange happened.
A hundred year old company that made rugged vacuum flasks for construction workers and hunters suddenly became a fashion object. A large insulated tumbler, in pastel colors, sold out repeatedly. People lined up. Resale prices went silly.
It was, briefly, one of the most talked about products in America.
Now here is the interesting part, and it is the reason for this article.
While everyone was watching that, a different bottle quietly started outselling it in parts of the market. Not by being a cheaper copy. Not by being a better version of the same thing.
By solving a problem the famous one had, and by aiming at people the famous one had stopped serving.
This is one of the clearest lessons in competition you will ever get. Let us open it up.