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How To Differentiate Your Brand In A Sea Of Me-Too Competitors

Forbes Agency Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Howard Breindel

Everyone in branding relishes that aha moment when research reveals a point of difference from which a compelling and differentiated brand can be built. It’s the discovery of something unique that the company or product can confidently claim as its own. But what if such a difference doesn’t exist? What if a company or product is essentially the same as its competitors?

Can you build a differentiated brand when there isn’t, fundamentally, a difference?

The answer is an unequivocal yes. In these instances, which are more common than you might think, the key to creating a powerful brand is claiming a piece of perceptual territory. It’s about a promise you make to your customers that no one else is making, even if you all do or sell the same thing. For companies with unique products and technologies or processes, the difference in what they do or how they do it creates the brand. For others, it’s the brand itself that creates the differentiation.

Consider the management consulting field. Although there are nuances that separate the big, global firms, they essentially do the same thing. Yet Accenture has created a strong and differentiated brand around “High Performance. Delivered.” It’s a memorable statement that both makes a promise (“high performance”) and defines the category in which Accenture competes (implementation rather than pure strategy). Could Deloitte or PwC make the same claim? Almost certainly -- they do the same thing as Accenture. The point is, they haven’t. Accenture has carved out a defensible brand territory by what it promises, not what it does.

In fact, to differentiate a company or product in a me-too category, it’s almost always necessary to go big, creating a value proposition based on a higher purpose rather than specific features or functionality. In most cases, this higher purpose resonates at an emotional level. Even in B2B branding -- indeed, especially in B2B branding -- creating an emotional connection through a brand is critical to stand out. The emotional dimension will refocus buyers from what you do (which may not be all that different from what others do) to why you do it -- for them.

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We recently rebranded a marketing technology company following an exhaustive research process that ultimately yielded no meaningful points of differentiation. True, the company was given credit by its CMO clients for a superior product backed by superior service. But it’s tough to create a sustainable brand around “mine is better than yours.” Fortunately, the research revealed that CMOs, who have the highest turnover rate in the C-suite, are deeply concerned about demonstrating their contribution to their companies’ success, and are hungry for data to prove their worth. We built the brand around an emotional promise to the CMO -- essentially, “we have your back” -- rather than any specific product feature.

As branding professionals, we can never stop looking for meaningful distinctions, those precious nuggets of gold mined from tons of undifferentiated dross. But powerful brands can be built when there are no significant underlying differentiators. The key is to identify and communicate a promise to your clients, a promise based on market needs and decision drivers that will resonate on an emotional as well as rational level. With consistent application over time, this will enable you to stand out even in a crowded field of seemingly indistinguishable competitors.