Be Different Not Better

If I was marketing milk for AHBD or Dairy UK then this is what I would do.

Despite being a fantastically nutritious product, milk has become a commodity. Often sold as a lost leader in British supermarkets, it is now cheaper than bottled water despite all of its nutritional benefits. 

So how do you add value to a commodity product? You build a brand around it. 

Here are 3 key elements in creating a strong brand: 

Different not Better

Humans are tribal. We want to be part of a community, to fit in, to feel a sense of belonging. Because being different and standing out risks ridicule, rejection and failure. 

Often this mentality runs into the business world where brands focus on being better than the competition. But here's the catch: better doesn’t sell. Different does.

Take a look at this picture here: 

You can probably remember the name of the black sheep? But you’ll struggle to name the 2 white sheep behind him? 

Why? It’s because we remember the distinctly different. Our brains aren’t programmed to remember similarities or slight differences. 

Rule number 1 in building a strong brand: be different. REALLY different.

Get out of the 'better trap'

Too many companies fall into the ‘better trap’

Faster, cheaper, easier, more responsive, superior service, voted #1, top rated, guaranteed… These are all just other ways of saying “better".

Behind each feature and benefit lies the better trap but remember, to build a strong brand the focus is on being different.

To get out of this trap, you need to reframe your thinking. 

Your brand is not features and benefits, it’s a specific point of view. An opinion, a way forward, a vision of the future.

Your brand is a belief - that is where you need to start looking to be REALLY different. 

Strong brands are unique:

Strong brands say and do something different to everyone else. They take a unique tone or follow a controversial belief. They often tend to be polarising. And this is where people get scared.

What if we offend someone? The fact of the matter is, you will if you want to create a strong brand. 

I am under no illusion that many people will take offence to my portrayal of British milk in that video above but on the flipside I imagine many will like it.

The old adage rings true “if you please everyone, you’ll please no one”.

Put another way; if you don’t have enemies then you’re not trying hard enough! 

How to be different. REALLY different.

1. Forget about your product or service - I know this is tough for many to swallow but in this hyper competitive world, if your product is any good it can be replicated in a matter of months if not weeks. Look at what you believe, your values and your opinions. That’s where you’ll become REALLY different. 
2. Look for the white space - Forget about what the competition are doing and look at what they’re not. 
3. Put opposites together - mix things up, put old with new or progressive with traditional. 
4. Take a risk - start being uncomfortable because nothing bold or great was ever achieved without having a go.

If this resonates with any of you then drop me a message and let's talk. 

Until next week….