MARKETING EVOLUTION
Choosing To Stand Out
By Marion Wakahe
F
or me, the word differentiation
brings to mind images of either
fruits, mannequins or bulbs
arranged in rows and columns, all similar
with the one that stands out. So, if for
example the mannequins are all grey there
is this one red mannequin in the group
emphasizing that it’s different, unique
and outstanding. It could also be the lit
light bulb or it could be the orange among
apples… You get the drift. from being eaten.
Let’s not forget the famous ‘Purple Cow,’
a book written by Seth Godin filled with
business cases of the unique things that
some companies have done in order to
differentiate themselves. The book’s cover
is differentiated by the way. Basically, in order to survive in the market,
you’d have to differentiate every function
that goes into the creation of products
and services as well as the products and
services themselves. That’s certainly not
easy to do. It requires lots of resources in
the form of creativity, money, research,
amongst others.
As the word suggests, differentiation is
about creating and communicating unique
attributes of a product or service, not
easily imitated and that’s valued by the
user of the product or service. In the wild,
it makes sense to lay low and not stand
out because in doing so the animal (prey)
protects itself from attack and ultimately
In the marketing wild however, the case
is different. In essence the goal is to get
noticed and to get ‘eaten.’ If products on
shelves could speak they’d shout, “See me,
pick me and then consume me!” Of course
products don’t speak but marketers have
found ways to get them to communicate
and it’s generally in the packaging and the
communications about the product.
The premise of differentiation has gained
popularity so much in the recent past, that
now even people are thinking of how they
can differentiate themselves especially in
the workplace/corporate world. Myriads
of books have been written on the subject
Marketing departments in different organizations
are coming up with clever channels to ensure that
they keep abreast with their competitor’s latest ac-
tivities, but the question remains who should they
be studying? Who defines the path of growth of a
corporate or an individual brand? Is it the compe-
tition or the brand itself?
74 MAL25/18 ISSUE
of self-branding. Interesting though,
I thought the fact that each of us has a
unique thumb print and DNA code was
enough…
Differentiation is critical, you’d be hard
pressed to find anyone who would argue
against it. In spite of that, in actual sense
it really is hard to differentiate because we
build our products much in line with who
we are, and we are social creatures with
a deep innate need to fit in. We want to
conform and be part of the group.
From days in school, a good number of
us can relate with stories of how we were
different and how that became a source
for teasing and in some cases bullying.
Something as simple as being one who
enjoyed reading books aka ‘bookworm’ as
compared to being outdoors could get a
child in trouble with peers.
Seth Godin in his book speaks of
the purple cow as being ‘remarkable’.
Remarkable is defined as worthy of note
or attention especially for being unusual
or extraordinary. A purple cow stands out;
you’ll pick it very easily in a herd.
The opposite of remarkable according
to him is not ‘bad’ or ‘poorly done,’ it is
‘very good.’ A very good product ideally
should be picked out from the shelf.