By Ken Gasque

Differentiation

“Be distinct… or become extinct.” Tom Peters

The brand image is part of the differentiation because we buy with our eyes.  Sometimes design is the easiest way to differentiate.  Sometimes it is the only way to differentiate!

By far the most important of the 7 tactics you need to do to make your marketing successful is to differentiate your product/service.  You need to discover what makes your product different (in the minds of the consumer) or you need to create a difference, a meaningful difference.   A brand image can be the differentiation.  A brand image can be design.  Whatever your differentiation (uniqueness) you need to communicate this differentiation to your target audience.  And you need to tell them repeatedly through a mix of traditional media and social media.  And, your message has to be interesting.   It’s contradicting and confusing to have a unique product but mediocre advertising to communicate that difference.  If you have a difference make it known.  If you don’t have a difference, create one. Think design… it may be the easiest way to create a differentiation.  And because not everyone is paying attention to your service you need to keep delivering the message.

Marketing Plan

The second thing you need is a marketing plan.  If you have a marketing plan, it means you have gone through the process of thinking how you are going to differentiate your service, identify your prospects, sell your products, talk to your customers, listen to your customers, empower your employees, take advantage of your strengths, minimize your weaknesses and recognize your opportunities.  By writing a marketing plan you will find ways to produce synergy with your marketing efforts to create more impact and effectiveness. A brand developer’s marketing plan can be as short as one page—and quite often the shorter the better.

Create Customer Personas

The third thing is to know your customers, all of your customers. With a good marketing plan you should have this covered but brand developers add clarity and create personas of each type of customer.  To make communications easier and to focus sales and marketing staff, name all of the personas. Write stories about them and create pictures and story boards to sharpen your understanding of who your customer is and how they think. You may feel you know where most of your customers reside but with the reach of the Internet, you have the ability to touch niche markets all over the world—profitably.  Chris Anderson wrote The Long Tail, an article in 2004 Wired Magazine about how marketers can now sell a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities because of the customer’s ability to find the product.

Outrageous Marketing

The fourth item in successful marketing is to use outrageous marketing. This takes courage and good creative thinking.  This is a technique used to create word of mouth or buzz.  It is an extremely powerful tool and like anything that is powerful, it can also be very destructive if used incorrectly.   In 2007 Turner Broadcasting System tried to use some outrageous marketing to create buzz for Aqua Teen Hunger Force.  The marketing firm that Turner Broadcasting hired created backpack-sized devices that had wires, flashing lights and a monitor to show a moving picture image.  Then they placed 38 of these bomb-like devices in places all around Boston to be found.  And found they were.  They created hysteria on the scale of George Orwell’s War of the Worlds.  The Boston Police force was put on full alert and the Boston Harbor was shut down. Incredibly Turner Broadcasting had contracted to have these devices placed in nine other major US cities.   There was definitely word of mouth and buzz but, unfortunately, it was all bad.  

Not all outrageous marketing is a disaster.  Good create ideas can ‘go viral’ and generate 1000 times the exposure of safe and traditional marketing.  But, truly outrageous marketing is not without some risks…it wouldn’t be outrageous if it weren’t

Media Mix

Number five is to have a good media mix.  Don’t rely on one channel or form of media to carry your message.   Mixed media creates more awareness and increases the effectiveness of each channel.  Make sure your website reflects the message you want your word of mouth to carry.  Use your ads to promote your newsletters and use your newsletters to suggest more information to be found on your website.  Make sure each channel is focused on your differentiation by remaining consistent with your creative.

Design and Creativity

Great creative is number six.  Great creative and design in your advertising, branding, and promotions may be your only differentiator. A creative idea can be the most powerful tool you have to make your marketing more effective.  Look for examples of good design and study how businesses incorporate it throughout their advertising and marketing.

Don’t Quit

The seventh and second most important tactic: Don’t quit. Revise it.  Experiment with it.  Modify it.  Improve it. But don’t quit. Quitting your advertising, promotions and marketing would be much like cutting off your telephone service. You do this and you are out of business.  If you should feel the urge to quit re-read Dr. Seuss’s Green Eggs and Ham. A brand developer knows persistence rules.

Advertise… it pays.

About Ken Gasque

Ken Gasque is a brand image-maker, marketing planner and designer.  Ken works with small companies and Fortune 500 companies who recognize the need to differentaite their products and services to stand out in a cluttered market.  Ken is highly visual, outside-the-box-thinker on advertising, branding and marketing–his work reflects his belief the “We buy with our eyes.”  Ken writes and lectures on brands, design, images and brand development