I'm a big sports fan. Recently, it seems like in the middle of every single event, I am bombarded with ads promoting 3-D TV. Sony , Samsung , Vizio , Panasonic ... they are all advertising their 3-D TV technology and how they are the most innovative company to bring this new technology to you, and they're bringing it to the market before anyone else. For marketers, there is absolutely a lesson that we can draw from this spate of 3-D TV advertising.

The cold reality is that less 0.1% of all televisions sold globally in 2010 will be 3-D. Yet, over the past three months, I'd say that 65% of the ads have been for 3-D TV.Why is that? Thought leadership. The television manufacturers have correctly deduced that 3-D TV is sexy and if they can lay claim to3-D TV leadership, then there will be a trickle-down effect on therest of their products. You or I might not buy a $6,000 3-D Sony TV,but we may think to ourselves, "Hmmm... those Sony guys are innovative. I bet their more reasonably priced $750 TV must be pretty good as well, and it's in my price range. I'll buy that."

Whether we are high-tech marketers or CPG marketers, we all need to do the same type of bold leadershipclaims with our own products. We need to force the competition to respond to us. Even if the product or feature is not shipping yet,start to claim credit for its value today!

Right now, there is not a single 3-D TV for sale anywhere. Yet all of the companies mentioned above literally say in their advertisements: "We're the first people to bring you this innovation." Personally, I have no idea how five companies can all be first to deliver a product that hasn't shipped yet. But the point is that all these companies are trying to claim the innovation mantle and displace their competition in the mind of the consumer.

I've encouraged my marketing team to take a page out of the 3-D playbook and be bold in their marketing message. Claim the innovation mantle. Displace the competition in the mind of your consumer. Selling the vision and pitch the product. To quote Robert Frost, "Freedom lies in being bold." I'd add, "So does revenue."