[Imagine looking over a beautiful green pasture filled with sheep standing shoulder to shoulder. Their beautiful wool looks like a sea of white. Your mission is to choose one.
Now imagine that same pasture, but this time right in the middle is one sheep with bright pink wool, and it is jumping up and down yelling “Look at me!” Ultimately, you may not choose the pink sheep, but you will definitely notice it.
This is certainly a camp example, but marketing a company is no different. If you want to be recognized and noticed, you have to be different. As marketers, our goal has to be to get noticed by doing what your competition isn’t.
Successful marketers figure out a way to strategically position a brand in a way that puts being different in a positive light. For a great example of being different, look no further than Southwest Airlines. Instead of joining the bandwagon with their competitors, tacking on extra fees for luggage, Southwest Airlines is yelling out, “Your bags fly free!” This messaging not only attracts attention for being different, it plays directly into the essence of the Southwest brand.
So how can you incorporate Southwest’s thinking into your own brand culture? Ask yourself how you can separate yourself from your competition and create a new culture in your industry. How can you become the sheep in the pink wool yelling “Look at me”?
In today’s highly competitive marketplace, traditional marketing and advertising are not good enough. You have to get noticed, and you must position your brand as the leader within your category. And remember, it’s good to be different.
Until next month…
