When you sell the same (or very similar) product or service as your competitor, how can your company or product stand out or be different?
What can you do to get noticed?
– Lower your price?
– Add extra service? But wait… There’s more!
If you don’t have something inherently different in your business that’s ok because you can just add it or make it up. Sounds ridiculous doesn’t it? Seriously though, it isn’t ridiculous – it’s crafty!
As an example – let’s look at something as mundane as raisins. I know as soon as you read the word “Raisin” you immediately had a red box jump to mind and, if you are of the age where you have to wear reading glasses, you can hear a singing chorus of cartoon raisins harmonising 🎶 “I Heard it Through the Grapevine” 🎶.
The majority of us believe that the best raisins are California Raisins. That was not by accident – THAT was BRANDING!
Differentiating Your Brand
Several years ago raisins were just raisins until this group of California Raisin growers got together and created a brand that became so successful that it began to spawn independent media attention and by-products.
This was LONG before the internet and social media.
Toys were manufactured (the singing raisins) that sold more than enough to pay for the entire promotional costs of the raisin branding campaign itself.
Raisin Bran Cereal uses the spin-off popularity and boasts of containing “Two Scoops of California Raisins”.
Another example of a successful way to be different in a same-same industry is the Gans Ink® company. They came up with an innovative way of standing apart from other ink supply companies.
When they would package their ink to ship off to a customer they would include Tootsie Rolls in with the Styrofoam peanuts that were used for protective packaging. When the parcel would arrive at its destination, work would come to a halt while the customers would sift through the products and packaging to find the Tootsie Rolls.
Fun and happiness from with these surprise sweet treats became associated with the Gans Ink® Brand in the minds of their customers.
You can do something very similar as a dropshipper or eCommerce retailer. People love free and fun stuff!
Being different, even when you are the same, can really help you and your business stand above the rest in your market.
Find out the importance of being the first to make your brand.