Why Be Normal?

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How many times has some brand’s newest feature caught your attention but failed to stick in your memory? And before long that feature is the norm for everyone. How does a marketer break this cycle and create sustainable differentiation? Not by being normal.

There’s an article on Businessweek.com that’s worth a few minutes of your time if you want a good explanation of the two-sided, emotional versus rational mental exercise of brand development.

Too often business decision makers believe that their advantage over their competitors can be boiled down to a measurement, a performance value or their price. But the hard fact is that the more mature a market is, the less real difference there is between any of the participants. Something else has to be considered to break out of this cycle.

The article describes this characteristic as “likeability”. Done successfully likeability combines some type of unique emotional appeal that is linked to the rational facts and features of its ongoing performance. It uses the Mini Cooper as an example.

The take away is that creating a unique emotional appeal produces a less cluttered mental space where your brand can be “liked”. And that process creates a less hostile environment where your brand’s rational characteristics carry a weighted advantage.

To separate yourself from the competition and do it sustainably, you can’t be normal.

Read the entire article.

To talk to someone about creating a more sustainable difference for your brand, contact us today by e-mail or phone, 903-534-5220.