“We”™re free from government influence.” Hillsdale College”™s claim creates a unique selling proposition to its conservative constituency. Every other university in the United States takes government aid for grants and student loans; Hillsdale does not.
Are you looking for something that separates you from your competitors? All successful Hudson Valley organizations must have product and service differences and be able to demonstrate them. You don”™t have to prove your case in a court of law. Your task is tougher than that. You have to prove your case in the court of public opinion.
Keep in mind that your “differentness” does not necessarily have to be product related. Nordstrom”™s differentiating idea of “better service” was introduced to the department store world when all the other competitors were cutting back on employees and service as a way to reduce costs.
As politicians try to stay “on message,” marketing must stay “on differentiation.” The best way to enter minds is to simplify your message. FedEx has come to mean fast. Volvo stands for safety.
Too often, a company tries to emulate the leader. Visa has dominated the credit card industry by possessing the attribute of being everywhere. The Federal Reserve Bank of Boston says Visa has more than 1 billion cards worldwide. MasterCard doesn”™t own an attribute of its own and has always been a number two competitor having made the mistake of trying to act like Visa.
Effective marketing messages are simple and benefit-oriented. They also have a “halo” effect. A “thicker” spaghetti sauce implies quality, nourishing ingredients and value. Successful companies are the ones that “own a word” in the mind of the consumer. Think of Kleenex, the rest are just tissues.
A common strategy used by leaders is to boast about how much they sell. In spite of recall issues, the Toyota Camry is the best-selling mid-size car in America, and their marketing department isn”™t shy about reminding people. People buy what others buy ”¦ they jump on the bandwagon.
Long histories of technological breakthroughs, can be a differentiator. Apple has done this with computers, telephones and music. Unlike Apple, Silicon Graphics, recently acquired by Rackable Systems has traditionally offered products that aren”™t big sellers but are big performers. They were considered by many as the world”™s leading component provider for high-performance computing.
Being around a long time also gives customers the feeling that they are dealing with an industry leader, even if they aren”™t. As early as 1919, a Steinway Piano was described in an advertisement as “the instrument of the immortal.” Sotheby”™s, touts its founding in 1744. Budweiser is proclaiming its beer as “America”™s classic lager since 1876.”
Family businesses can differentiate themselves through their heritage with great advantage. People often feel warmer toward a family run business as opposed to a big, cold, impersonal, public corporation. The perception is that family businesses tend to treat their employees and customers more like family. A billion-dollar company, Rich”™s Frozen Foods, differentiates itself with the slogan, “We care for our customers like only a family can.”
You absolutely can and must find your own uniqueness and then do everything in your power to tell the world about it so you differentiate yourself from the competition. Make sure that every aspect of communications reflects your difference: advertising, brochures, website, sales presentations and social media. At the core of the message is how this difference makes you the best choice to solve your customer”™s problems.
Questions for discussion:
What is unique about our business, product or service and how does that uniqueness make us the best choice and highest value for our customer?
How are we communicating our uniqueness currently? Do we know our customer and prospect well enough to present it in a way that”™s relevant to them?
Joe Murtagh is The DreamSpeaker, an international keynote speaker, meeting facilitator and business trainer. For questions or comments, Joe@TheDreamSpeaker.com, www.TheDreamSpeaker.com or call (800) 239-0058.
Good post. I am not a business owner, but I think this can also be applied to marketing myself during an interview, or even how a politician markets themself during an campaign… We can all learn something (and gain something!) from each other, if we take the time to explore the “social market.”