A client showed me a competitor’s ad. “Why aren’t we doing this?” he asked.

“You want to promise the exact same brand experience as your competition?”

“If it works,” he said.

His question was driven by fear that somehow his competitor was gaining the upper hand. By matching the offer, he reasoned he would be eliminating any advantage the competitor may have gained. This is playing not to lose, instead of playing to win.

Copying the attributes of competitors leads to sameness within the segment. Is anyone able to distinguish between banking, insurance, gasoline, car rental, or health care brands these days?

Brands that don’t differentiate themselves fail to give customers reasons to choose them (other than cheapness or convenience). In the eyes of consumers, they become commodities.

Everyone knows this, yet few brands do anything about it. It is easier to copy than to innovate.

True brand differentiation is based upon intangibles — the emotional connection customers feel toward the brand. Intangible attributes build loyalty and compel customers to choose the brand regardless of other circumstances.

Here are some ideas to help identify a brand’s intangible differentiators:

• Talk to customers. Learn how they perceive the brand and why they prefer it. Then emphasize their perception in the marketing and delivery of the brand experience.
• Do some soul-searching to identify the brand’s essence and how it is manifested within the brand experience. (See the 9 criteria for brand essence.) Once identified, enhance it.
• Keep the delivery of the brand experience on point. Having no focus weakens the brand in consumers’ eyes.
• Study competitors’ offerings and look for unfulfilled gaps in the experience. Fill them.
• Study successful  models of uniqueness: e.g., Southwest Airlines, Celestial Seasonings, Ben & Jerry’s, Whole Foods, and Harley-Davidson.
• Think niche. It is easier for a boutique than a monolith to be unique. Trying to be all things to all consumers usually results in blending in, not standing out.
• Before duplicating a competitor’s offering, make sure the change is in alignment with your point of differentiation and doesn’t distract from or soften it.
• Once a point of differentiation is identified, claim it publicly and “own” it.
• Reward the practice of thinking differently within your organization.

Please share your ideas about how brands can fight the epidemic of sameness.