When it comes to competitive brand strategy you can be right in a lot of ways, but you can be really, really wrong in just two: 1) believing that there is no one out there like you and so you own your category and have no direct competition or 2) that you operate in a commoditized category and you'll never be able to truly differentiate, so why bother. I hear both all the time – and shockingly – sometimes from within the same organization.
Regarding the former, no matter how unique, one-of-a-kind, quirky or pioneering you are, there is always something else that your customers can do with their money, their time and their affection. There are pure plays that eat away at your offer, giants for whom what you do is a rounding error and lots of competitors who will say they do what you do, but don't. Heads up. Someone is eating your lunch; I guarantee it.
Regarding the latter, I need only quote the father of differentiation, Ted Levitt: "There is no such thing as a commodity. All goods and services can be differentiated and usually are." (I always thought this would have been far more interesting if he had said they can be differentiated but usually are not). I don't care if you run a hospital, a law firm, a country, a postal authority or a foodbank, you either already are different and may have lost sight of it, or you need to be. In fact I believe the biggest, most break-out opportunities in brand strategy are in the most highly commoditized categories. It's shooting fish in a barrel. And I'm not talking about spin here. I'm talking about real, sustainable, valuable difference. Too often I encounter organizations with the potential to redefine their categories, lulled into believing that they are just along for the ride.
If you believe either of these things about your organization it is time to examine the consequences, and consider the alternatives. If you do, you may be able to define an totally new opportunity space and a renewed sense of purpose.
