Comments on: Branding according to Marty Neuemeier II : Differentiation

By: Common Sense PR - What My Neighbours Are Saying - the b5media Business Channel

Common Sense PR - What My Neighbours Are Saying - the b5media Business Channel — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 12:59:52 +0000

[...] Ron Elizondo writes on Brand Curve about differentiation, a concept that scares some managers because of the uncertainly involved. The human brain sees what is different, filtering out the ordinary. If your company and its products don’t stand out, you’ll never thrive. Copyblogger Brian Clark offers some great advice for making your website Google-friendly. Build your site around cornerstone content that is relevant and useful on the topics you want to be searched for. This kind of content is often called Evergreen, because it stands the test of time. Make regular reference to your cornerstone posts, or pages. [...]

By: Eric Eggertson

Eric Eggertson — Sat, 13 Jan 2007 02:59:03 +0000

Reykjavik is an interesting example of a city that has established itself as a unique tourism destination. Taking advantage of its stopover status for people travelling between Europe and North America, it is now a trendy place to spend the weekend/week for hip people on both sides of the Atlantic.

By: ron

ron — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 15:54:07 +0000

Hey there guys, thanks for the comments. They’re both very insightful and right.

Gary- I know what you mean about companies not believing in “branding” anymore. I think it’s a big mistake to lose brand focus since in reality it is a great part (if not the biggest) of what makes a business profitable.

Jim- Yes, real and creative differentiation do exist, and both can work if executed accordingly. That is kind-of what I meant when I said you can differentiate in any of marketing 4 P’s. You can position your brand apart from the competition (promotion) by differentiating what consumers have in mind about your brand.

Thanks and keep checking the blog out for the next posts in the series.
Ron

By: Jim Lane

Jim Lane — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 09:26:28 +0000

There are two primary types of differentiation: real and creative. When you have a real difference that should be the edge you work with. However, if you are among generically indifferent products, you need to create a difference in the mind of the consumer. Is there any real difference between “kissing close” and “fresh breath?” Not much at all, unless you want to be kissed by someone with foul breath. Were there any real difference between the two toothpaste’s that used these slogans? Not really. Yet, that is what separated one from the other – fresh breath or kissing close.

By: Gary Bourgeault (managersrealm.com)

Gary Bourgeault (managersrealm.com) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 04:40:48 +0000

When you mentioned at the beginning of your post that differentiation isn’t news, you’re right of course. But at the same time, very few companies really get this as far as effectively branding.

Of course some companies are even listening to the chatter that there is no more value in branding, and consumers don’t have connections to companies any more.

The list you wrote proves otherwise, and hundreds more could be added to it; think Richard Branson and Virgin as an example.

If any company has a desire for longevity, they will have to commit themselves ferociously to branding themselves and not listen to the hype of those saying it’s no longer important.