Column
Stand out – create your own category of one
Dave Hultin
A message that resonates with customers is a valuable investment
Companies promise a lot of things. How often have you heard
messages like, “We have great service,” “You’ll get quality
printing with us," or “We're number one at [blank].” Of course,
no one wants to advertise that they rank number three at
something, but at least that would be refreshingly unique.
What promises are you making to your customers? More
importantly, what are you doing to make sure your promises
don't sound exactly like every other message they hear? You
want your customers and prospects to remember you and
not the competition. So, how do you find your unique voice?
You create your own category: a category of one.
It’s a tough feat to yell in the midst of a crowd and be picked
out. The reality is that your company's voice will never be
heard if you’re yelling the same things as everyone else. But,
when you find your own voice and your own message, it will
not only be heard, it will be grabbed onto because of the
difference it offers. To create your category of one and make
a promise no else can make, it all starts with your brand. As
branding expert Brad VanAuken, in his book Brand Aid, states:
“A brand is the source of a promise to the consumer.”
VanAuken goes on to provide this simple template to help
you in the process of creating your category of one: Only
[brand] delivers [relevant differentiated benefit] to [target
customer].
Consider Volvo. Its category-of-one promise might read like
this: “Only Volvo delivers assurance of the safest ride to par-
ents who are concerned about their children's well-being.”
When you think about safe cars, who are you going to think
about? Volvo.
Here’s another one: “Only Harley-Davidson delivers the fan-
tasy of complete freedom on the road and the comradeship
of kindred spirits to avid cyclists.”
Volvo focuses on building safe cars for kids while Harley-
Davidson promises freedom for bikers that love the open
road. See the difference? You won’t mistake a Volvo for a
Harley on the highway, and you won’t mistake a Volvo for a
Harley in their marketing, either.
Start with “only” to find your niche
It’s important to start your category-of-one exercise with the
word “only.” By doing so, it will keep you focused on the
promise that only you can make and ensure that you stand
alone in your category.
Next, focus on the relevant differentiated benefits you offer.
“Only [your firm’s name] prints full-colour brochures.” Not quite
there yet. How about, “Only [your firm] delivers an on-time-
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or-it’s-free guarantee for short-run, full-colour printing…”
The truth is, you probably have more in common with your
competitors than you have differences. You may have to
combine a few benefits—like the combination of a guarantee
and a product in the example above—to create your own
category of one for your branding message.
Wouldn’t it be nice to share your unique message with every
single person on earth and encourage them to buy printing
from you? Not to be the bearer of bad news, but, that's not
likely to happen. Instead, make sure your message is focused
on a specific target audience that you cater to, like this: busi-
nesses in the tri-county area that have a need for speed, or
something similar.
When you put the word ‘only’ together with your firm’s name,
your relevant differentiated benefit, and your target audience,
you might end up with something like this: “Only Colourful
Printers delivers an on-time-or-it’s-free guarantee for short-
run, full-colour printing for businesses in the tri-county area
that have a need for speed.”
The black-marker test
Once you’ve created your category of one, it’s time to test it
out by putting it through the black-marker test. Take some
advertising featuring your newly-created category-of-one
message and run a black marker across your name, phone
number, and anything else that identifies you. Next, grab
some of your competitors’ advertising materials and do the
same thing; run the black marker across their identifying
information.
Now, take all the advertising pieces to someone who’s not
from your printing firm and ask them if they can pick your
message out of the crowd without seeing your company’s
name. Did they positively identify you even though you
blacked out your name and information? If not, then you'll
need to head back to the drawing board for some fine-tuning.
However, if they did identify you, congratulations. You've
successfully created your own category of one.
Remember, ensuring that your message is heard and is worth
hearing is one of the greatest investments you can make for
the future of your company.
Dave Hultin is the president of Marketing Ideas For Printers,
where content and technology combine to help you sell more
printing. Email Dave at [email protected].
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