The Highest Form of Flattery

The Highest Form of Flattery

Competitors copy us all the time.  Sometimes it’s big things like product features or strategy.  Sometimes it’s little things like marketing collateral or a logo or product name.  Those are always a little annoying, but really, there’s nothing one can do about it.  As we say at Return Path, it’s the price we pay for being a market leader.  And to be honest, I’m sure we do the same on occasion, whether inadvertently or on purpose.

But we spotted one today that’s so incredibly egregious and just plain silly, I don’t even know where to start.  A competitor — name will be hidden to protect the guilty — just ripped off our boiler plate language at the top of all of our job descriptions.  I know this because I personally wrote the copy for ours, and I did it before this competitor even existed.  At least I think they did…let’s compare:

Here is ours:

If you’re obsessed with creating a world class organization and looking for a great company to call home, we want you! Return Path is a growing, thriving company full of smart, motivated people. Our 140+ employees are a tightly-knit, super-focused and incredibly dedicated team. We work hard, and we’re passionate about making email work better for both our clients and their customers.

And theirs:

If you are a smart, dedicated top performer, we want you! Company X is a growing, thriving company full of smart, motivated people. Our employees are a tightly-knit, super-focused and incredibly dedicated team. We work hard, and we’re passionate about safeguarding the credibility, rendering, and effectiveness of our clients’ digital communications.

You be the judge!