How do you differentiate when competitors constantly copy new products and features?

Shift the Battleground: Compete on Outcomes, Not Just Features

Competitors can copy what you build, but they can’t easily copy the results your product delivers.

Reframe the Narrative Around Business Impact

• Instead of “We have Feature X”, focus on how it solves the customer’s problem more effectively than any alternative.

• Example:

  • Weak: “We offer threat intelligence feeds.”

  • Strong: “Organizations using our intelligence reduce threat detection times by 70%, preventing attacks before they escalate.”

Align to Business Priorities, Not Just Feature Sets

• If a competitor copies your feature, reposition it as part of a larger, more comprehensive solution.

• Example:

  • Slack vs. Microsoft Teams: Microsoft copied Slack’s chat features, but Slack positioned itself as the "future of async work," differentiating on usability, integrations, and developer ecosystem.

Build a Differentiation Moat That’s Hard to Copy

Own the Workflow & Ecosystem

• Instead of just selling a tool, embed into the customer's workflow in a way that makes switching difficult.

• Example: Figma vs. Adobe XD → Adobe copied Figma’s UI, but Figma owned the collaborative design workflow, making it indispensable for modern design teams.

Create a Proprietary Data Advantage 

Features can be copied, but proprietary data and intelligence cannot be easily replicated.

• Recorded Future’s Competitive Moat:

  • Competitors may claim to offer similar threat intelligence, but Recorded Future  spent years aggregating one of the world’s largest intelligence datasets, using machine learning to analyze trillions of data points across open web, dark web, and technical sources.

  • The historical dataset + AI-driven insights allow it to predict threats before they escalate—something that new entrants or copycats can’t instantly replicate.

  • Differentiation Angle: Recorded Future’s positioned its dataset and created an industry index to shine a light on real-time intelligence, historical threat context, or predictive analytics.

How to Use This Against Copycats:

• Reframe the value proposition: “Our intelligence isn’t just a feed—it’s a predictive model trained on decades of threat intelligence data that helps you act faster and reduce risk.”

• Focus on long-term learning models: Competitors starting today won’t catch up overnight because they lack historical training data.

Out-Execute: Speed, Community & Brand Loyalty

Out-Iterate & Release Faster

• If competitors copy, accelerate development cycles and keep moving forward.

• Example: TikTok vs. Instagram Reels → Instagram cloned TikTok, but TikTok moved faster with new features, monetization, and algorithm improvements.

Invest in Community & Thought Leadership

• Building an industry reputation and loyal user base makes it difficult for competitors to overtake you.

• Example: Recorded Future regularly publishes high-quality threat reports that position it as a leader, while competitors focus only on selling.

Use GTM Strategy as a Differentiator

Optimize for Buyer Experience

• Even with feature parity, how you sell and position your product can be a major competitive advantage.

• Example: Datadog vs. New Relic → New Relic had legacy enterprise sales, while Datadog won with developer-first self-serve adoption.

Control the Pricing & Packaging Narrative

• If competitors copy features, package them differently to force differentiation.

• Example: AWS vs. Google Cloud → AWS had more features, but Google Cloud won over startups with simplified pricing and developer-friendly incentives.

Companies that focus only on features will always be vulnerable to copycats. Instead:
- Sell the outcome, not the feature.
- Build deep integrations & workflow lock-in.
- Use proprietary data & insights
- Use GTM & pricing as a competitive edge.

Positioning is what your company uniquely provides a specific audience in a particular market.  As market dynamics change, it needs to be updated, but it should be durable enough to stand some test of time.  If you’re finding your positioning is constantly out of date because competitors are shipping new products and features that you likely have not dug deep enough to truly understand your differentiation.

People, speed, customer success and employer brand are the secret sauce to any business because they are proprietary and CANNOT be replicated. This is your differentiator and it makes up your brand.

Invest in talent. Ship quickly. Build and nurture customer advocates who authentically love your product and brand. If you do this - it won't matter what bits and bobs are across the competitive hall. Your Brand is the differentiator and the aforementioned pillars are the raw ingredients that make it sing. This can come through in every launch / PMM program and should consistently be present to reinforce and deliver customer promises.

If you haven't conducted an NPS program in awhile (or ever) this is a great way to objectively gauge customer health and understand whether or not a feature frenzy is actually problematic or not.

Imitation doesn't feel like the highest form of flattery when competitors copy work that required months of research, customer validation, and building. Here are a few tips to stay ahead of the competition.

• Impact Metrics: Whenever possible, leverage a customer to beta the product or feature you're launching to come out of the gates with impact metrics (ie, time/money saved). We did this a lot at Dropbox to build credibility with strong customer logos, especially when entering new markets. It also exposes copycat launches as fluff vs substance.

• Resonance: Brand Marketing is PMM's right hand to help stay top of mind & differentiated among competitors. Share competitive intel and persona research with them to empower them to build campaigns that keep target audiences consistently engaged across channels and loyal to your company.

• Innovation: Always plan what you're building in 6-12 months to stay ahead of the curve & focused on what will differentiate you in the broader market landscape. At Brex we have a 2+ year roadmap to keep teams & resources focused so we can innovate at a faster pace than competitors.

Finally, don't write off competitors copying your products and features - understand how they're positioning, pitching, and packaging a similar offering to strengthen your strategy. I've found gaps in my approach from competitors just as much as customer research, so use it to your advantage!