Be Different. Just Like Everyone Else.

Advertising has held onto “Unique Selling Propositions” and “Differentiate or Die” for over half a century. What makes YOU better than THEM.

No matter how hard you try, you end up with the same pat answers.

“We’ve been in business longer”

“We’re bigger”

“We’re friendlier”

“We guarantee your satisfaction”

Shut up.

No, seriously. Shut up and re-read those claims. They just barely squeeze out a point of difference.  Barely.

Rosser Reeves, the “Mad Men” era marketing pioneer, insisted that ads must convey value, not cleverness. The Unique Selling Proposition.

He came up with this working with M&M’s. “The Candy that Melts in Your Mouth, Not in Your Hands.” Hard to goof that up. It’s a pretty unique product already.

Most businesses aren’t M&M’s. Or Dyson Vacuums. Or Cirque Du Soleil. Or Apple. If you’re an accountant, you do 99.9% of the same thing other accountants do. Math. The identical math everybody else has. You’re not math-ier.

If you’re a lawn care company, you’re dealing in the biology of plants. Just like your competitors.

I’m not trying to bum you out. I’m trying to amplify how important this stuff is.

It’s damn hard to be different.

Your test is this: What can you do that nobody else is willing to do? Kessler’s Diamonds famously promises “if you lose a diamond, including the center stone, we’ll replace it.”

Zippo and Zappos broke conventional thinking when the former promised their lighters will “work or we fix it free.” Even 50 years later.

Zappos boggled business brains with free shipping and free returns for 365 days.

That’s right. You can walk around in your shoes for 364 days, decide they’re not for you, and send them back on day 365.

You’re saying, “yeah, well people suck. They’ll just screw me every time.”

Maybe. But probably not. Would you do that?

In 1999, Hyundai warrantied their cars for 10 years/100,000 miles. Unheard of at the time. Just as “un heard of” as Hyundai. When people did hear it, they bought the funny named car. With confidence. Because Hyundai had confidence. 100,000 miles of confidence.

Take away those promises and Zippo is just another lighter, Hyundai just another cheap car, and Kessler’s is no different than the dozens of other jewelry stores in their city.

“But I’m NOT different,” you say.

Then be distinct. Geico will never be seen without their gecko, MasterCard’s red and orange overlapping circles are recognizable across a football field, and an otherwise insignificant swoop will always tell you the brand of shoes someone is wearing.

In a crowded competitive space, being distinctive helps people know you are you. Don’t get bored with your own brand assets. Colors, fonts, slogans, logos, musical cues, and spokespeople help solidify your brand in your customer’s memory. Change them up, and you break that memory. Schizophrenic businesses rarely prosper.

Little businesses hire idiots who say things like

“I think our logo is outdated”

“Somebody said our jingle is dumb”

“Our name doesn’t convey the right message”

Smart businesses hire somebody with the conviction to say “Don’t touch it. Embrace it. Enhance it. Repeat it. Surround yourself in it.”

If you can’t BE different, look different…

COMPARED to the competition.

Be different. Be distinct. And be deadly consistent.

Or die.

(No disrespect to Jack Trout. All that probably wouldn’t fit on a book cover)