How do you use brand differentiation to attract customers? Our guide outlines how to set up a structured brand differentiation to boost your business.
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Even strong brands are sometimes created simply by chance or by favorable circumstances. But do you want to leave it to chance whether your brand – be it that of the company or a product – ultimately has a good image in the eyes of customers? Probably not! Therefore, we would now like to give you a few tips on how to set up a structured brand differentiation right from the start, and to use brand differentiation to attract customers.
Brand management goals
First, let’s examine the goals of branding.
- The brand should be differentiated from the competition through unique features.
- Brand awareness is to be increased.
- The desired image of the brand should arise with the customers and reflect the characteristics of the brand.
As a result of the measures, customers should of course become fans, more should be sold and brand awareness should turn into “brand knowledge”. Companies or at least target groups within the sales markets should know what the brand “stands for”, even if they are not customers.
Brand differentiation is a prerequisite for a strong brand
The differentiation of the brand is a prerequisite for it to reach consumers’ minds. But that is easier said than done. Because today it is no longer enough to simply “only” score with product quality. Because in most industries, many companies are now producing very cheap and good products. People are also familiar with this, especially in the private label sector. It is therefore necessary to differentiate a brand.
Create a concrete picture
A modern brand has to set itself apart through emotion. It has to create a concrete picture from a real set of values that can be stuck in the minds of the customers. And so it has to position itself clearly; that is, not to be interchangeable, but to be unique. It has to offer (and keep!) A promise of performance that goes beyond the obvious properties of the product. Strategic brand differentiation means becoming aware of the possible features that can be used to distinguish your brand from the competition. This is the basis for a communication and marketing strategy that will enable you to use brand differentiation to attract customers.
Possible differentiating features:
- Are there product or company characteristics that customers can identify with? Where does the brand come from? Which values does the company embody, for example in its behavior? For example, is there a strong customer-friendliness, are you involved in social projects or are the products particularly environmentally friendly or sustainable?
- What special customer benefits does my product have? A secret recipe? Is it particularly “youthful” or otherwise tailored to a specific target group? Runs and runs and runs? Is it maybe particularly authentic, innovative or has a great design?
- Does the brand offer emotional orientation? Which emotions should it arouse? Security and trust? Adventure? Fun? Ideal pathos? Pleasure and luxury? A customer can only become a “fan” or brand ambassador through feelings that a customer has towards the brand. In the best-case scenario, these fans will preach on their own why your brand is so great!
Example: Brand differentiation at Nintendo
Only very few brands manage to do that: becoming a synonym for all products of their kind. Customers buy “Tempo” handkerchiefs today, and from the 80s to the beginning of the last decade, children played on the “Nintendo”. Even if the manufacturer was Sega or Sony. Although other game manufacturers have also positioned themselves very well in terms of brands, one of the formerly best-known brands in the world still shows how you can effectively differentiate yourself from your competition. (Whether the company has recognized the signs of the times and whether the current strategy is also successful is another matter.)
Take this example with you as inspiration and think about the characteristics and emotions your own brands embody.
When it comes to video games, many think of one of two things: Either they have what we call “shooting games” in their mind’s eye, or they think of: Super Mario! And that is definitely not a coincidence, because Nintendo has been communicating its brands with absolute strictness for decades.
- The Japanese are a toy manufacturer from a more recent corporate tradition. This is still reflected in the products to this day. When you think of Nintendo games or consoles, you first think of values such as family friendliness and having fun together , as well as products that (should) create a cute to extremely positive mood. “Nintendo is for kids, PlayStation and Xbox are for adults,” many say.
- Nintendo stands for innovation and creativity at the same time, which is also due to the fact that the company has often reinvented itself in its history. Nintendo was originally a playing card manufacturer, but occasionally also taxi companies, TV stations, food companies and brothel operators. Today, their products stand for experiments: Successful portable devices (Gameboy) were manufactured as early as the 80s, and in the last decade people tried their hand at touchscreens (even before Apple) and motion controls (with the Wii console, which is also popular with the elderly). The creativity behind the products is also fed by the past as a toy manufacturer and is extremely prominent in press conferences, videos and other marketing campaigns.
- When it comes to marketing, the circle closes: Nintendo does promise high-quality products – they last a very long time and can sometimes fall down, keyword: family-friendliness – but they are not electronic high-tech promises like the products of the competition. To achieve this, they tried for a long time to keep prices correspondingly low and thus to differentiate themselves from a market that had long been characterized by a race for stronger processors and thus ever higher prices. This also subtly communicates that the product is worth its price.
Brand differentiation in private label
The topic of brand differentiation is becoming more and more hotly debated, especially for private labels. Because when every retailer starts adding these to their range, their mere existence is no longer a unique selling point.
