Focus Groups to Determine Brand Messaging

 

Often brand messaging can be more difficult than one might imagine, especially for larger organizations that offer a myriad of products or services that appeal to different customer groups. And functional benefits may not be the most powerful things to promote to stimulate purchase and especially repeat purchase and brand loyalty. Often, it is shared values and emotional, experiential or self-expressive benefits that have the most power to motivate purchase decisions.

So, if the objective is to determine the optimal brand positioning and messaging, especially succinct and powerful messaging, the focus groups should include a discussion of the following:

• Customer beliefs, attitudes, values, anxieties, hopes, fears, motivations and behaviors
• How purchase decisions are made
• What other product or services, if any, they considered in the purchase decision
• What the purchase experience was like
• What the product or service usage experience was like
• Asking them how they felt while using the brand's products or services
• Talking about the brand as if it were a person, identifying the adjectives that best define the brand
• Identifying what they believe the brand's values are
• Perceived relevance of the brand and its products or services
• The need that led to considering the brand
• Asking them to use only one word to describe the brand
• Asking them how they would sell the brand to someone who was unfamiliar with the brand
• Asking them what the most important things about the brand are to them

Another insightful question to ask would be, "What would the world miss most if the brand ceased to exist?"

Usually, you would want to talk with loyal customers, new customers and customers who have walked away from the brand after having purchased its products and services previously.

This will lead you to a potent motivating unique value proposition and messaging for the brand. 

Did you notice that I did not include questions about the product's or service's functions and features? While this might become part of the discussion, these are rarely the things that sell the brand. 

I wish you great success in gaining insight into customer's motivations for purchasing your brand's products and services.

Positioning Product Brands

When entrepreneurs or organizations start out with a product seeking a market versus the other way around, they need to think carefully about which market or markets their product (and brand) would be most wise to serve. 

 

This involves target market identification, product category selection and unique value proposition determination.

 

I will use a real-life example with which one of my client companies is now wrestling. This company has created a very tasty parmesan cheese substitute that has no dairy component. It is in a ground up form that can be added to food from a shaker. The product includes many healthy ingredients and no artificial or harmful ingredients. It is a very good product. But the question is, "What are the most advantageous markets for the product?"

 

To determine this, we must consider the customer segments, potential product uses, market sizes, market growth rates, market profit margins, and the competition by market. Once these are used to identify the most advantageous market segments, then the appropriate product category or categories must be selected and the unique value proposition must be crafted to fit the chosen category or categories. 

 

Going back to the parmesan cheese substitute, it could be added to pasta, used to flavor popcorn, shaken on top of grilled steaks or seafood, added to soups, stews or salads, added to quiche, added to fondue or eaten with a spoon as a snack. Which are the most likely uses for each potential market segment? Which uses provide the largest markets? For which uses are the largest quantities consumed? Which uses have less competition? Which uses would make the most intuitive sense to people? Which uses would be the most compelling?

 

What do the targeted markets and the intended uses imply about the product category? Is the product a healthy parmesan cheese substitute, a non-dairy parmesan substitute, a cheese-flavored seasoning, a condiment, a healthy food additive, a flavor enhancer or something else?

 

Each of these product category descriptions might appeal to different target markets. For instance, a non-dairy parmesan substitute would primarily appeal to vegans and people who are lactose intolerant. How big are these two markets?

 

One must also consider who cooks, what types of meals they prepare, how often they prepare different types of meals, how much the snack, what types of snacks they consume and what flavors their palates prefer. 

 

In the case of this product, one must also consider whether it is to be positioned as a variation on a traditional ingredient in classical cuisine or as an ingredient associated with nouvelle cuisine.

 

Once the target markets, product categories and product uses are determined, one must also consider the competition in arriving at a highly compelling unique value proposition (UVP). What will make this product and brand stand out within its intended product category?

 

Also, one might think through whether the product or brand might best be associated with comfort, nostalgia, family, friends, experimentation, excitement or something else.

 

I hope this helps you to see that product uses, product category definitions, target markets and market segments and unique value propositions need to work together to create more focused, integrated and effective brand and marketing strategies. These are all components of a brand's positioning.

Customer Discovery

Customer discovery must run deep. You need to talk with a lot of people and you need to probe deeply with each of them. That means understanding their hopes, fears, aspirations, anxieties, beliefs, attitudes, values and more. While a highly trained marketing research moderator may use a variety of qualitative research techniques (including projection, ideation, guided imagery, sorting exercises, etc.) to discover these motivations and behavioral drivers, you can do much of this yourself by asking open-ended response questions and spending more time listening than talking. 

The types of questions that can elicit deeper responses include the following:

• What keeps you up at night?
• What is your most pressing need right now?
• If this product or brand were a movie/book/car/party/musical genre/food/etc., what type of movie/book/car/party/musical genre/food/etc. would it be and why?
• How does it make you feel?
• What is missing?
• Do you think the product says anything about you, about who you are?
• Would you recommend this to a friend or colleague? Why or why not?
• What about this appeals to you?
• What is the most important need this would fulfill?

I will give you an example of superficial customer insight versus deep customer insight.

Superficial Insight

Q: Why did you purchase a Tesla?

A1: Because gasoline prices are soaring, electric vehicles (EVs) make increasing sense financially.

A2: Because I care about the environment.

Deeper Insight from Deeper Probing

Q: Why did you purchase a Tesla?

A1: I have always admired Elon Musk and wanted to buy one of his cars.

A2: Teslas are the coolest, newest cars on the road.

A3: Tesla acceleration makes it fun to drive.

A4: Tesla stereo systems are "to die for." I enjoy tooling around listening to some of my favorite music.

A5: I like their clean lines inside and out. They are aesthetically pleasing. 

A6: I love showing my car off to others.  

A7: I want to support society's transition from fossil fuel powered vehicles to EVs.

A8: I want to help slow down climate change. 

A9: When I drive a Tesla, people view me as successful, progressive, an early adopter and environmentally conscious.

A10: Teslas are really fun to drive. They perform very well on the road.

A11: I can always beat other cars across an intersection after a full stop at a stoplight or stop sign.

A12: Teslas have fun "toys" - whoopee cushion noises under seats, light show, caraoke, Netflix movies, etc.

A13: I am just really happy when I am driving my Tesla. It is a joy to drive.

Looking at this list that was compiled from deeper probing, we now have to determine which of these are the primary drivers of the purchase decision. And then we have to distill that to a unique value proposition and brand messaging.

A possible unique value proposition for Teslas given this list of purchase motivations might be:

• Teslas are the coolest cars on the road. They are really fun to drive and they are good for the environment.

Asking your family, friends and colleagues if they like your new product or service idea is not customer discovery. Try for a minimum of 60 interviews. If this seems like an overwhelming task, set aside two hours each week to conduct a few customer interviews. Breaking the task up into smaller chunks will make it seem easier and ongoing customer discovery is better that one-time customer discovery anyway.

The only way to arrive at a truly compelling unique value proposition for your startup is to base it on thoughtful and rigorous customer discovery. 

Start-ups and Unique Value Propositions

I haven't written a blog post in a while because I have been consumed with a new role (in addition to my brand strategy consulting). I am a part-time new venture coach for RIT's Venture Creations Incubator. In this role, I am coaching and consulting with nine start-up companies, mostly in technology spaces.

There has a been a lot written about start-up challenges ranging from insufficient capital and not having the right team in place to inadequate business plans and a lack of focus. But I have discovered an equally big problem, the absence of a unique value proposition. In fact some companies have created products in search of markets. That is, they have products they want to sell, but they have not identified the right markets for those products and in many cases don't even know what problems those products might help solve. 

While unique value propositions start with target market identification and understanding key customer benefits, they also need to address the "unique" part of the proposition. Are they addressing those customer needs in unique and relevant ways? 

Related to this, I find that many companies understand product functions and features, but not experiential, emotional and self-expressive customer benefits. And they seldom think about or communicate the values that they share with their customers. That is, they focus on the functional aspects of their product offering, not the emotional aspects of their brand. In fact, they seldom think about the customer in terms of their anxieties and fears including the perceived risks associated with switching from a known product or vendor to an unknown one. 

And, if the product is entirely new with no known predecessor, the start-up may have an even greater problem of explaining what the product is and how it works. This argues for a carefully thought-through elevator speech.

All of this requires customer targeting and customer insight, the latter being gained through marketing research including qualitative research and eventually beta testing and usability / user interface testing. 

Which ultimately gets back to branding.

Comprehensive Brand Positioning Course

This course will provide you with everything you need to position your brand to win. It is based on a proprietary process and set of tools that have been used to successfully position hundreds of brands throughout the world. 

This unparalleled brand positioning process was refined over 30 years and has been used by more than 200 highly successful brands in almost every product and service category.

To unleash your brand's full power, you must create a unique value proposition that is emotionally compelling. This requires a rigorous brand positioning process based on deep customer insight. And it requires an understanding of how brands can connect with customers through shared values and exceptional experiences.

This brand positioning process is part art and part science, using both the left and right sides of your brain. 

The course includes examples from many world-class brands and all the tools, templates and information you will need to position your brand to win.

The course is comprised of a video, seven handouts and links to 28 relevant blog posts. I will instruct you to use the handouts at appropriate points throughout the video. 

While the video is an hour and a quarter in length, the total course length with exercises and blog post readings will require between two and four hours to complete. You can stop and restart the course at any time based on your schedule. 

You can take the course here: Positioning Your Brand to Win

Virtual Brand Positioning Workshop

You may know that BrandForward has conducted more than 150 successful brand positioning workshops for some of the top brands in the world. These workshops were designed to achieve leadership team consensus around emotionally compelling unique value propositions for those brands. Today, in the COVID-19 environment, it is more important than ever to craft a brand that is unique and that has strong emotional appeal. That is why we have modified our process to conduct virtual brand positioning workshops.

We can begin with the same brand audits, customer research and brand equity measurement. We will also inform the workshop by stakeholder input gathered by a simple pre-workshop survey. The only difference is that the workshop itself will be conducted virtually via online conferencing technology.

In the workshop, we will define the primary, secondary and tertiary target markets with great precision. After that, we will define the brand's essence and craft its promise. We will also identify the brand's archetype and its personality. This will lead to a brand positioning statement that includes the brand's unique value proposition. And the workshop participants will have a chance to review research findings, argue assumptions, debate approaches and tweak the exact wording.

All of this will lead to a brand position that is unique and highly compelling to its target customers.

The best part is that this can be accomplished not in months but in days or a few weeks at most.


"Thanks again for the excellent session you facilitated on Tuesday. I continue to get positive feedback from all who were present. I met with our president today, and he reiterated what a great job he thought you did and how the day exceeded his expectations. Your clear commitment to the Conservancy's mission was very much appreciated by the group, and your experience in brand building and skill in facilitating made a long day in a windowless meeting room actually fun!"

Angie Sosdian
Director, Marketing Strategy Project
The Nature Conservancy

"Brad’s book, Brand Aid, inspired me to change the way our division approached brand strategy. Brad’s unique talent for storytelling draws readers, as well as work-shop participants, deeply into the ideation process with fantastic results. I was very fortunate to have Brad facilitate a series of global workshops to further refine our brand strategy. He helped us define and align on a differentiated approach that quickly vaulted our global brand to the top of the market."

Michael Saso
Group Manager, U.S. Coronary Product Marketing
Abbott Vascular

"Brad is a master facilitator. He facilitated three different brand strategy workshops for us. He was able to achieve agreement between co-CEOs from different cultures with divergent points of view. I would highly recommend him to help you achieve consensus on your business and brand strategy."

André Bernheim
Co-CEO
Luminox

"Brad expertly led our organization in its rebranding efforts. This started with brand equity research and proceeded through an adroitly facilitated brand positioning workshop and then cogent presentations to key stakeholder groups. His group facilitation skills are exemplary. Our museum is deeply grateful to Brad for his outstanding work in helping us clarify our brand identity and how we will succeed in the marketplace, both locally and more broadly.”

Bruce Barnes, Ph.D.
Ron and Donna Fielding Director
George Eastman Museum



For more information, contact Brad VanAuken at vanauken@brandforward.com.

Branding in Highly Competitive Categories

Today, almost every category is a crowded category. Whether I am working with company, product, service, university, municipality or personal brands, it seems as though the majority of competitors are choosing to say the same things about themselves within their categories, rendering all of them undifferentiated. This is because most every category is mature and most every brand is informed by robust customer research.

For instance, I just returned from facilitating a "personal value proposition" workshop for MBA students. I was retained to help the students differentiate themselves in job interviews. In reviewing each student's personal value proposition, I found that more than half of the students chose to talk about some of the same personal qualities that would be important to employers. "I am a good team player." "I am a strategic thinker." "I have strong analytical skills." "I can get things done." "I can think 'out of the box.'"

This reminds me of work I recently did to help a business school create a differentiated brand. When I looked at what that school was saying about itself and what its primary competitors were saying about themselves, they were the same things. "We provide a career-focused education." "We prepare students for the global economy." "We emphasize leadership development." "Our student's are job ready on day one." "Our program has strong analytical and technology components." "We teach teamwork skills." "Entrepreneurship is an important part of our program."

And, if I think about the corporate brands that I have worked with, they also seem to orbit around a certain set of attributes - innovation, trustworthiness, responsiveness, customer-service orientation, high quality products, and more recently, brand purpose. 

This sameness even extends itself into specific product and service categories. Beverage brands seem to focus on the same things as do grocery store chains, pet food products, apparel brands and almost every other category of brands. 

So, what is a brand to do? Southwest Airlines picked "a sense of humor" as a differentiator, an unlikely benefit for an airline to try to own. I helped a bank pick a similar attribute - fun, again an unlikely differentiator. Interestingly, a global reinsurance company that I worked with was also known for its sense of humor. I worked with a children's beverage brand whose primary differentiator was that children considered it to be a toy as much as a drink.

But this is not the only type of unexpected differentiator. Let's go back to MBA students again. What if your point of difference was "I speak five different languages fluently" or "I have started three highly successful companies" or "I am a big picture thinker who is also highly detail oriented." Or what if your point of difference was "I am completely calm under the greatest pressure." Not every MBA student is able to or will say these things about him- or herself. 

My point is that there are still highly compelling points of difference for a brand to own despite great pressure to say the same things as your competitors because those things emerged as top customer needs from extensive research. 

I wish you great success in differentiating your brand.

Unique Value Proposition

When people talk about brand positioning, they often talk about the brand's promise and its relevant differentiated benefits. A brand should promise relevant differentiated benefits. These benefits can be functional, emotional, experiential or self-expressive. Further, the brand could promise shared values instead of a benefit, though shared values often result in a self-expressive benefit. Then the brand promise requires proof points and "reasons to believe." Finally, and most importantly, the brand needs to deliver on these benefits.

However, there is a term I like equally as much as brand promise. That is the brand's "unique value proposition." Why do I like this term? It is succinct and captures the three most important parts of a brand's promise. Proposition is equivalent to promise, so it is the first two words that modify the third word that make all of the difference. The promise or proposition must be of value to its target consumers. "Value" says everything. If it is not valued, it is inconsequential. Value implies relevance. Next, the valued promise or proposition must be unique. Contrary to common usage, there are not degrees of uniqueness (such as mostly unique or totally unique). Something is either unique or it is not. That is a high standard but anything less may not be enough to create a strong brand. 

So whenever you think about your brand, be sure you know exactly what its unique value proposition is. If you don't, it's time to get to work. 

Bringing the Brand Positioning to Life

Question:

We have just finished a brand positioning exercise. What are the most effective methods of bringing the brand promise to life?

Answer:

Now that your brand positioning is determined, it is time to bring your brand promise to life.  The first thing to do is to communicate that new promise. One way is though your brand’s identity system from its name and logo to its tagline, colors, type fonts and other brand identity elements.  The tagline, in particular, should communicate the brand’s promise. Even if you do not change another element of the brand’s identity, the tagline should at least allude to your brand’s unique value proposition or promise.  Next, the brand promise should be translated to carefully crafted messages intended for various audiences  - an elevator speech for internal audiences, a selling script for salespeople, a press release boilerplate and an “about us” section for your website. Additionally, you can craft brand stories that reinforce what your brand stands for and what it is promising.

In conjunction with developing the brand promise communication, it is important to focus on the brand promise proof points and “reasons to believe.”  First, it is useful to identify all of your current brand proof points and reasons to believe and make sure they are visible to your customers and potential customers.  It is also useful to articulate these in support of your brand’s promise in written brand communication.

Next, you should identify all of your brand’s customer touch points to understand what platforms you have to reinforce your brand’s promise. Following this, you can ideate new brand proof points at each customer touch point and even ideate new touch points at which you can reinforce your brand’s promise. The proof points typically are real customer experiences that your brand creates, especially those that are beyond simple brand communication. These might be delivered through product functions or features, new job functions, specific customer services, the selling environment, system or process improvements or focused employee empowerment.

Once your employees are grounded in the brand’s new promise and positioning, you can offer training and incentives for employees to find individual ways to reinforce the brand’s promise in their day-to-day work. You can even invite them to brainstorm new ways to deliver on the brand promise.  Some organizations have even implemented brand behavior recognition and reward systems for their employees.

The opportunities for bringing the brand’s promise to life are almost endless. Once there is organizational consensus around what the brand stands for, then it is easier to rally employees in support of brand’s values and promise.

I hope this is enough to get you started in bringing your brand’s promise to life.

Brand Attributes, Benefits & Values

Brands are all about differentiation. Whether one talks about a brand promising a relevant differentiated benefit or a brand's unique value proposition, it is all about differentiation.

But, how is the brand differentiating itself? Is it touting unique attributes or features?

• This is the only fully electric car with a four hundred mile range on a single charge. 
• This is the only high school in the metropolitan area that is ranked among the top 100 schools in the US.
• This is the only television channel dedicated to showing only classic movies.

Or perhaps your brand talks about functional benefits.

• This is the only golf shoe guaranteed to keep your feet dry in wet conditions.
• This is the only hiking boot that is guaranteed to last for your lifetime.
• This is the only spot remover guaranteed to remove tough mustard stains.

Or perhaps it talks about emotional or experiential benefits:

• Enjoy the freedom of the open road with our motorcycle.
• Feel the euphoria that comes with our rave.
• Savor the gooey sweetness of our candy bar.

Or perhaps it is a self-expressive benefit.

• Everyone will know you have arrived when you drive our car.
• Attending our university screams "He's a genius." 
• Everyone will know that you care about the environment if you use our products.

Or perhaps your brand shares strong values with its customers:

• We believe in conservative values.
• We really care about the environment.
• We love dogs.

Notice how the quality of the messages change as one moves from attributes and features to functional benefits to emotional and experiential benefits to self-expressive benefits to shared values. Which do you think are the most compelling? Which do you think evoke the strongest positive emotions? Which create the strongest emotional connections? Which create the most passion? Which result in the most loyalty? Which are most likely to create brand advocates?

As a marketer, when you listen to a brand's message, determine what its unique value proposition is and further, figure out whether it is focusing on attributes, benefits or values. Finally, compare that to how powerful or compelling the message seems to be.

Components of a Brand Positioning Statement

I have helped position more than 150 brands over the past 15 years. During that time, my thinking on what should be included in a brand positioning statement has evolved. Here are the components I focus on today:

• Target customer description - To whom does your brand most appeal? Who is your brand's most advantageous customer? Who is your brand primarily serving? I ask people to think about  today and in the future. I have them think about primary, secondary and tertiary targets. I have the marketers describe the target customers in as much detail as possible. The more targeted the brand is, the more clear the brand's promise becomes. Targeting a brand in great detail does not rule out secondary or tertiary markets or people who aspire to be the primary target.
• The brand's essence - The heart and soul of the brand, its timeless quality, stated in the form "adjective adjective noun." This does not need to differentiate. It just needs to capture the brand's core essence.
• The brand's promise, including its competitive frame of reference, its primary differentiating benefit or shared value within that frame of reference, the market forces that make that differentiating benefit relevant or salient and proof points for and reasons to believe the brand's promise. The brand's promise is very similar to the brand's unique value proposition. I focus on benefits or shared values that go beyond functionality, ones that are emotional, experiential and especially self-expressive.
• The brand's archetype - Based on Jungian archetypes, this provides insight into the brand's core motivations, what drives it to behave as it does. 
• The brand's personality - seven to twelve adjectives that describe the brand as if it were a person.
• Other important brand associations - brand associations that are core to its character and identity.

For more information on brand positioning, read chapter 6 (Brand Design) of Brand Aid.

What Makes Your Brand Distinctive?

Can people readily identify your brand when they use its products or experience its services? Can they tell it is your brand just by looking at its products? Where is your brand's logo? Does your brand have a distinctive look or style? Does it emit a distinctive sound? Does it have a distinctive scent? Do its products have distinctive sizes or shapes? Do they have unique colors? Is your brand always packaged in a distinctive way? Does it have a differentiated feature? Does it do something that no other brand does? Is there something distinctive about its texture? Is there something unique about the way it works? Is it configured differently than other brands? Does it perform a unique function? Do your brand's products or services perform with a distinguishing cadence? Does it have a characteristic tone or personality? Does it have an unmistakable attitude or point of view? What elements consistently set your brand's products and services apart? Are its elements bundled in a unique way? If someone removed your brand's logo from the product and put another brand's logo on it instead, would they still know that it came from your brand?

I hope that this line of questions makes it obvious that slapping a name or logo on a product or service isn't enough to create a distinctive brand identity. What elements set your brand apart? What contributes to its distinctive identity?

6 Powerful Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

One of the most important things a brand should do is create relevant differentiation for its products and services. Most brands strive to do this. But some do it far better than others.

First, these are important considerations in creating brand differentiation:

• Brands should focus on delivering one or two customer benefits or shared values that are unique and compelling within their product/service categories.
• Emotional, experiential and self-expressive benefits are much more powerful than functional benefits.
• Related to this, appealing to the “heart” is much more important than appealing to the “head.” Emotions drive behavior. Reason justifies it.
• Finally, it is not enough for a brand to promise benefits. It must consistently deliver those benefits.

These are the 6 most powerful ways to differentiate your brand.

1. Stand for something. Have a strong set of values. Align these values with your customers’ values. Create a community around those values. Examples of this: FOX News, Tesla Motors, Patagonia, Harley-Davidson
2. Brand as a badge. Focus on self-expressive benefits. People love to use brands to reinforce their self-concept or to make a specific statement to the world. Examples of this: Mercedes-Benz (I have social status), MINI-Cooper (I am unique-notice me), Apple (I am hip/cool), Toyota Prius (I care about the environment)
3. Create a superior customer experience. Examples of this: The Ritz-Carlton: Ladies and Gentlemen Serving Ladies and Gentlemen, Apple with its aesthetically appealing, intuitively easy products, the Build-A-Bear experience compared to buying another teddy bear brand off a retail shelf
4. Innovate, disrupt the industry, deliver value in new unanticipated ways. Examples of this: Netflix, Amazon.com, Toyota Prius, Tesla Motors, Trader Joes, Facebook
5. Customer segment focus. Brands that try to be all things to all people eventually fail in being anything important to anyone. Conversely, brands that focus on a specific customer need segment with the intention of becoming customer experts and meeting the specific needs of their customers can achieve uncommon success. Examples of this: lululemon (we only cater to women who are size 12 or smaller), Maine Boats, Homes & Harbors (“The Magazine of the Coast of Maine”), Thrivent Financial for Lutherans (we only provide financial services to Lutherans), Paul Smiths College (“The College of the Adirondacks”…for people who love to live and play in the Adirondack wilderness)
6. Deliver the best overall value. Value has a numerator and a denominator. That is, there is a set of functional, emotional, experiential, self-expressive and other benefits that are delivered in return for a certain investment of time and money. The best value does not always mean the least expensive. In fact, it seldom does. It results from the best ratio of benefits to investment. Examples of this: Amazon.com (convenience, functionality and price), IKEA (affordable style), Toyota (reasonably priced, low maintenance, long life, safe, top Consumer Reports ratings, etc.), JetBlue (discount airline with individual TVs, inflight Wi-Fi, etc.)

You may notice that some of the strongest brands today are examples of more than one of these approaches. Amazon.com, Apple, Tesla Motors and Toyota fall within this esteemed group. I hope that one day your brand will join these leading brands.

50 Ways to Differentiate Your Brand

1. Go slow in a world of speed. Each Rolex takes a year to manufacture. The perception that a longer process is needed to build the world's best timepiece also reinforces the price.
2. Use country of origin to your advantage. For example, brands from Switzerland are highly associated with precision and fine craftsmanship. Seek to build brand associations with countries that support your reputation for service, manufacturing, innovation etc.
3. Behave differently. Online shoe retailer Zappos has built its advantage on an iron clad return policy and customer service that goes above and beyond.
4. Look different. Apple always looks like Apple. Diesel always looks like Diesel. They’re in a sector but they don’t look like part of the sector.
5. Be the underdog in a sector where everyone else wants to be top dog. Nantucket Nectars started "with only a blender and a dream," and Clif Bar proclaims that its founder once lived in a garage. Underdogs win the compassionate consumer. Look for the underdog story you can tell. 
6. Be truly and unapologetically shocking. Benetton’s “Unhate” campaign ruffled feathers on almost every front. But – and this is critical – the outrage you generate must link to a solution and that solution should be your front. Otherwise, you simply risk shouting into the wind.
7. “Discover” an untapped audience in your sector and, by drawing them in, intensify the sense of community around your brand and the interaction that people have with the brand [example]
8. (Re)Invent a category – and own it. UFC became the fastest growing sports organization in the world by redefining the reach and the audience for mixed martial arts. Today, UFC produces more than 30 live events annually and is the largest pay-per-view event provider in the world
9. Create a new category. The Toyota Prius, the Nintendo Wii, and Red Bull are all brands that created new categories, outside the established norms of their product category. By stepping outside the bounds of their categories, these brands created a space that they can call their own.
10. Tell a story that defines you and is unique to you. The story may be about your founder as in the case with Virgin and Richard Branson. Your heritage like Hickory Farms or the value you bring to the world like Coca-Cola’s Open Happiness story. It may also be based in imagination – like the thought that Keebler elves make Keebler cookies. Or perhaps it’s a story based on your highly guarded secret – only two people in the world know Coca-Cola’s formula. Your story may also be about the source of your product or service, like Evian water.
11. Forge new ground in the spirit of your founder. Chanel continues to personify the philosophies, ideals and legend of Coco Chanel look after her death
12. Leverage your history to define tomorrow. National Geographic have redefined what it means to experience the world we never see by expanding their channels and offerings whilst still holding their history close.
13. Own an eternal idea. Red Bull expresses in every action its belief in, and addiction to, excitement. Ingredients, spirit, sponsorships and the human desire to do things that make the heart race are inextricably linked.
14. Change the possibilities. this is about more than just product innovation. It’s about the introduction of technologies that completely change how people can live. Boeing redefined travel forever with the 747. Google may well redefine how we can see with Google Glass. Dyson reinvented old technologies like the vacuum and the fan.
15. Make active plans to be where others aren’t (yet). This article (http://www.jingdaily.com/label-overload-how-many-more-western-brands-can-the-chinese-market-sustain/24349/) looks at the fact that while Chinese consumers are now overwhelmed by Western brands and doing business in Greater China has become very expensive, other countries in Asia with booming economies like Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines remain largely overlooked.
16. Solve a global problem. “Big bang” solutions in areas like pharmaceuticals or biotechnology require huge investment and scary timeframes, but when they work, they deliver huge distinction, kudos and profits.
17. Build groundswell. Do something startling to generate attention. Use attention to build a crowd. Use a crowd to gain credibility. Use credibility as the jumping off point for your next distinctive act.
18. Redefine how people buy. As I commented in this article in Entrepreneur, (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/223125#ixzz2mk5NrRxD) “With millions of products, 24/7 access, superior search and browse technology, user reviews and many other sources of in-depth product information, Amazon.com offers a superior purchase experience.”
19. Bring unprecedented optimism to a sector. Nike redefined what people believed they should be capable of.
20. Connect the previously unconnected. LinkedIn brought business people together so that they could network and share ideas in a way that was effortless, credible and global. In doing that, they resolved a problem that no-one realised they had until they saw the potential for what they would now be able to do.
21. Rewrite the experience. Southwest Airlines put the fun, the quirkiness and the savings back into the serious and process-packed world of travel. Starbucks differntaied by creating a ‘third place’ – a respit between home and work.
22. Make what you sell feel even more personal. This great infographic (http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/228668) hints at how much further retailers could take personalisation
23. Link your brand to an Occasion. Habits are powerful, but occasions may be even more so. They engage us so effectively because they combine time and focus. And because of that, they provide permission – it’s OK to behave this way or that. It’s OK to do something you wouldn’t do on any ordinary day. De Beers, Hallmark, Mercedes, Hershey, Cadbury, MACY’s and others have tapped into occasions or created occasions.
24. Brand Licensing can bring valuable new meaning to a brand, further differentiating it from its competitors. Pillsbury licenses the Cinnabon brand to do just that for its cinnamon rolls.
25. Break away from conventional wisdom. Breakaway brands bring new meanings to the party and make the most of the stretch, holding on to enough of the old to avoid category defection. Breakaway brands stretch the boundaries and live as outliers. These brands are the opposite of the well-behaved brands in the category and consequently provide radical differentiation from the status quo. Cirque du Soleil is one such brand. It falls into the “circus” category, but this brand has skillfully crafted a highly valued and differentiated positioning as everything a circus is not. There are no tents, tigers and elephants. No ringmasters. Instead it borrows attributes from other entertainment categories like, dance, music, opera and theater. It becomes something all together different–far outside the bounds of a conventional circus.
26. Change the name. Sometimes your original name doesn’t sound like it would be something you would want to put in your mouth. Like a Chinese gooseberry. When the name was changed to kiwi fruit, the world suddenly had a new favorite fruit that it wanted to put in its mouth.
27. Personify. The Green Giant character became the difference in a family of vegetables in many forms. Frank Perdue became the tough man behind the tender chicken. The Gecko became the much-loved spokesperson for GEICO.
28. Create a new generic. The cantaloupe people wanted to differentiate a special, big cantaloupe. But rather than call them just plain “big,” they introduced a new category called Crenshaw melons. Tyson wanted to sell miniature chickens, which doesn’t sound very appetizing. So it introduced Cornish game hens.
29. Reposition the category. Pork was just pig for many years. All that did was conjure up mental pictures of animals wallowing in the mud. Then the industry jumped on the chicken bandwagon and became “the other white meat.” That was a very good move when red meat became a perceptual problem. 
30. Identify. Ordinary bananas became better bananas when a small Chiquita label was added to the fruit. Dole did the same for pineapple with the Dole label, as did the lettuce people by putting each head into a clear Foxy lettuce package. Of course, you then have to communicate why people should look for these labels.
31. Be the expert or specialist. The specialist can focus on one product, one benefit, and one message. This focus enables the marketer to put a sharp point on the message that quickly drives it into the mind. Domino’s can focus on home delivery. Pizza Hut has to talk about its different pizzas, home delivery, and sit-down service.
32. Pricing. Starbucks prices its coffee higher to raise perceptions of the quality of its coffee.  Singapore Airlines, the most profitable airline in the world does the same thing and always sells at a premium. In each case, the price is a signal of supremacy - differentiation via perceived quality.
33. Use Ingrediant Brands. The North Face uses Gore-Tex technology to differentiate. In the PC space Intel adds to the product's performance. Each brings noticeable differences in their own right.
34. Highly target a market. Who you focus on can create a unique point of difference. Consider FOX News, an American news outlet designed to serve the Republican Party and its supporters. This laser focus has made it synonymous with conservative views and policies, creating by far the strongest commercial brand associated with those views. Wegmans Supermarkets belives that happy customers are generated by happy employees. They have built their powerful brand on the mantra that their employee’s are number one.
35. Distribution. How your product or service reaches a customer can set you apart. Redbox specializes in the rental of DVD’s and video games. Through an easy to use kiosk it differentiates from its competitor Netflix and helped seal the fate of Blockbuster. Amazon has a futuristic plan to deliver some orders via drone.
36. Access. The reason people flew Concorde was the opportunities that could come from who you would sit next to. You weren't paying for a faster flight, you were paying for the company. Country clubs in Asia are the same. It's not about the game of golf; it's about the networking.
37. Shared Values. When a brand is built on shared values it can differentiate on those values and enjoy perhaps the strongest bond in the marketing world. Think of any brand that really matters and you’ll discover the type of people buying the stuff are the same type of people who design, make and sell the stuff. This is the awesome sauce of brand values and brand identity alignment. Apparel brands like Patagonia, L.L. Bean, and The North Face understand the importance of shared values. The bond that binds is a deep inter-personal connection between the users and the makers.
38. Social Responsibility. In the same manner as the enthusiast apparel brands mentioned in #38, Kashi cereal customers see themselves, their values, and their identities in complete harmony with the Kashi brand. They’re one and the same. Likewise, the Kashi people care about the same stuff as their consumer– greater health and well-being for themselves and the planet. For Kashi, making food that enhances life is sacred business. For Kashi customers, living well is sacred business. More people are waking up to caring more about others and our planet, and buying Kashi products too. Your brand can differentiate as being the do-good brand in your space.
39. Package Design offers one of the biggest opportunities for brand differentiation. Color, shape, size, functionality, texture and materials can influence purchase decisions. There’s no mistaking a Tiffany & Co. box and its distinctive blue. Innovative packaging proves  another signature differntiator for Apple as well as Tropicana which learned the value of this difference when it attempted to redesign its packaging.
40. Engage the senses. Every marketer should explore the senses when ideating brand differentiation strategies. Each of the five senses offer a channel to connect with your target customer. The more each these are engaged at any one time during customer contact the more your brand and what it stands for will be remembered. Scent branding in the hotel world is one example. Sofitel, Le Meridién, The Ritz-Carlton, Westin, Sheraton and Marriott are some of the hotel brands employing a signature scent strategy to further move away from their competitors.
41. Celebrity Endorsements. The age-old strategy of pairing products and services with a well known celebrity continues to be a viable option for brand differentiation. However, the rules have changed. There must be an authentic alignment between the brand and the celebrity. Case in point: Tiger Woods and golf: Yes. Tiger Woods and Buick: No. The association between brand and celebrity must be clear and obvious.
42. Product Usage. How your product is used can serve as a key differentiator. Arm & Hammer Baking Soda became much more when customers discovered it also made for a powerful air freshener. This helped Arm & Hammer not only extend into new categories but also create a multi-use brand that is more meaningful to its target customers.
43. Market highly valued values. With deep customer insight you will know what your target customers value most. That insight can help create highly valued brands. Honest Tea was born from the insight that simple and pure refreshment was missing from the market. The Method brand came to life through a quest to create household cleaning products that were not harmful.
44. Tap into the power of emotions. Linking your brand with customer emotions can prove an effective differentiator. It was humor that helped GEICO pull away in the me-too world of insurance. While their competition focused on fear, GEICO used witty and funny campaigns to differentiate itself and gain an advantage. Brands like Hallmark found brand differntiation based on human emotions could lead to a 98% market share.
45. Control the accessibility. Brands can differentiate on when they make their products and services available and who they make that accessibility for. Elite luxury brands will limit how many of its signature products are manufactured. The most influential customers will have access to those products first. This all builds into the frenzy that drives desire and purchase of the brand. It also helps command a premium price. Brands like Coca-Cola use accessibility on the other end of the spectrum. They desire to be the most accessible brand and have distribution channels into the deepest regions of the world.
46. Focus on design and aesthetics. Consider Hermès scarves, Vilebrequin men’s swimwear, Robert Graham shirts and Alexander McQueen fashion wear. Or how about the Michael Graves Design’s collection at Target? This helps college and university brands too. Beautiful campuses tend to attract students. For municipality brands, “attractive neighborhoods” rates as one of the top things people consider when deciding where to live. Camden, ME, Niagara-on-the-Lake (ON, Canada), Quebec City (QC, Canada) and Bruges, Belgium are very popular as tourist destinations, in large part due to their superior aesthetics. Never underestimate the power of superior aesthetics to differentiate.
47. Convey status. If you knew I went to Philips Academy Andover, Harvard and Stanford, lived in Atherton, CA, summered in Nantucket, drove a Mercedes-Benz model S-class, and sailed a Nautor’s Swan53, would these brands effectively communicating my social status?
48. Create a unique product purchase experience. How different is purchasing a teddy bear with a child in a Build-A-Bear Workshop versus buying one off the shelf in a typical toy or department store?
49. Create an unusual theme or twist to your brand. Consider the following unusual restaurant brands – Opaque (dining in the dark), Ice Restaurant (in Dubai), Underwater restaurant in Maldives, Magic Restroom (toilet-themed) Café in CA or Dinner in the Sky (suspended 50 meters above the ground). For more creative restaurant themes, see http://www.toxel.com/inspiration/2009/06/20/10-unusual-and-creative-restaurants/.
50. Treat people differently than your competitors do. We love Ritz-Carlton’s “Ladies and gentlemen serving ladies and gentlemen” mantra. This alludes to a level of gentility, civility and respect not often experienced in product purchase or usage experiences.

This blog post was written with co-authors Thomson Dawson, Derrick Daye and Mark Di Somma.