Differentiate . . . do it or die

9 Inch Axiom – Differentiation

‘Be unique . . . find how you can be different in what you do and how you operate’

If you work in marketing and you live in the land of the follically challenged (two hands way up for this author) . . . then Seth Godin may be the closest thing to your own personal Jesus.  I can remember how my whole perspective on marketing changed when I read Purple Cow.  

Here is the basis of the book in Seth’s words:

While driving through France a few years ago, my family and I were enchanted by the hundreds of storybook cows grazing in lovely pastures right next to the road. For dozens of kilometers, we all gazed out the window, marveling at the beauty. Then, within a few minutes, we started ignoring the cows. The new cows were just like the old cows, and what was once amazing was now common. Worse than common: It was boring.

Cows, after you’ve seen them for a while, are boring. They may be well-bred cows, Six Sigma cows, cows lit by a beautiful light, but they are still boring. A Purple Cow, though: Now, that would really stand out. The essence of the Purple Cow — the reason it would shine among a crowd of perfectly competent, even undeniably excellent cows — is that it would be remarkable. Something remarkable is worth talking about, worth paying attention to. Boring stuff quickly becomes invisible.

The world is full of boring stuff — brown cows — which is why so few people pay attention. Remarkable marketing is the art of building things worth noticing right into your product or service. Not just slapping on the marketing function as a last-minute add-on, but also understanding from the outset that if your offering itself isn’t remarkable, then it’s invisible — no matter how much you spend on well-crafted advertising.

I’ve been giving some thought to Godin’s purple cow.  I tend to like my own theory of the purple goldfish as it relates to products and organizations. 

The growth of a goldfish (a business) is affected by four things:

1. the size of their habitat (market size)
2. the # of goldfish in the same habitat (competition)
3. the quality of the water (business environment / economy)
4. their genetic makeup (differentiation)

You’ll have a tough time affecting the first 3 factors as an existing business.  The fourth, however, can make or break your chances of survival in a tough business environment and allow you to flourish in a good one.

The Importance of Differentiation and how to create your Purple Goldfish

The late and legendary Theodore Levitt of HBS put differentiation front and center almost 25 year ago, “The search for meaningful distinction is central to the marketing effort.  If marketing is about anything, it is about achieving customer-getting distinction by differentiating what you do and how you operate. All else is derivative of that and only that.” 

Differentiation simply defined is the process of distinguishing the differences of a product or service from others in order to make it more attractive to the target audience.  

Here are 5 guidelines when creating your Purple Goldfish: 

1. Make sure what you bring to the party is unique? . . . such as a feature, a proprietary technology or process.
2. It’s not about you . . . your difference has to be beneficial and relevant for your target audience.
3. Swim in different areas of the pool . . . be different and go where your competitors are not.
4. I’m telling everybody (see story in Today’s Lagniappe). . . bake your difference(s) into your elevator pitch and make sure everyone knows why you’re special.
5. It’s about relationships . . . do things differently to make sure your customers feel good about doing business with you.

Today’s Lagniappe  (a little something extra) - a funny story

An 85 year old man walks into the confessional.  Before the priest gives him his initial blessing the man launches into his confession, “Father, late last night my car broke down.  These two very attractive young women stopped to help me.  One thing leads to another and the next thing you know I’m back at their place making mad passionate love to both of them.  It was unbelievable Father, they couldn’t get enough of me and we went at it ’till dawn.”.  The priest was flustered and struggled for words.  Finally he says, “Uh, uh . . . when was the last time you’ve been to confession?”  The old man replies, “Confession . . . I’ve never been to confession, in fact I’m Jewish”.  The priest says, “You’re Jewish . . . then why are you telling me?” The old man fires back, “I’M TELLING EVERYBODY”