Why differentiation is overestimated and distinctiveness is underestimated

Countless hours, or rather days and weeks, are spent every year by marketers and brand managers evaluating which benefit, which characteristic, or which feature of their product or brand should be put centre stage.

Starting with a precise analysis of the competition and market research, an attempt is made to work out and communicate a clear differentiation that ideally addresses a customer need that the competition has not yet identified. Frequently, however, this is at best a temporary advantage, because the competition also has access to the same market research and rarely does a company really have a significant innovation lead.

Brand Distinctiveness

Comparatively little time is spent on another factor which, however, if one is to believe the science, has a much greater impact on the sales figures of most products and the success of brand campaigns.

So-called “brand distinctiveness” describes how a brand’s look & feel and tone of voice stand out from all competitors. This factor is only rarely truly present in brands. Too often, a relatively interchangeable design is chosen in order to follow various well-meaning advice (“blue looks professional”, “sans serif is trendy right now”).

Almost no one dares to swim completely against the tide, to use colours that the competition would never touch, to choose a completely different style, or to deviate from the “friendly” brand tone of voice that has become the standard. Yet there are many good reasons to do exactly that.

Scientific findings

The Australian marketing scientist Byron Sharp has looked into exactly this topic and shown that even for brands that are theoretically strongly technologically differentiated, such as Apple, this differentiation is hardly perceived by the normal consumer. In return, he has taken a scientific look at why consumers then still clearly prefer certain brands or can recall them mentally more quickly.

What he has shown is essential for all brand managers and marketers. We remember those brands most that deviate strongly from the competition in their look & feel and their tone of voice, generate unique associations among consumers, and are therefore more memorable.

In summary, it is significantly more important to look, act, and speak differently than to put a supposedly differentiating feature of the product or brand centre stage.

Anyone who thinks of many of the most successful markets will also be able to immediately confirm this scientific finding with gut instinct. For example, in Austria, think of Neuburger (“Never call it meatloaf”).

Case study: Casper versus Purple

Our favourite internal example comes from the USA and the D2C (direct-to-consumer) mattress market. A few years ago, there was a major hype that was also felt in Europe, but which primarily dominated the marketing world in the USA in the short term.

This involved new mattress brands sold directly online that wanted to challenge the traditional competition with high quality but low prices. The loudest and best-funded startup among them was Casper, which attracted attention in particular with its numerous podcast advertisements.

As a look & feel, it had chosen a modern and serious style, and in terms of content, all messages were focused on the features and the price advantage. On the other hand, there was a second, larger and less well-funded competitor by the name of Purple.

The brand managers there, however, chose a completely different path: The advertising was loud, everything was coloured in a strong violet, and the style was more than unique. So unique, in fact, that we cannot even describe it and you are better off watching this video as an example yourself:

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The result was – as you might guess – that Purple today makes more revenue with significantly less marketing spend and, apart from that, is significantly more profitable.

Conclusion & cheeky self-promotion

It is time to rethink your brand strategy or, if that is not possible, to at least stand out in the way and presentation of your advertising. Because the fact is, if your advertising does not stand out, consumers cannot remember it.

We are happy to help you with this, whether in the form of a brand workshop with our Managing Director and brand expert Thomas Ilk or by making your digital presence on social media and other advertising channels more distinctive. We help you get more out of your brand.

Conclusion