In my day to day activities, I find myself needing to explain the
concepts of branding and positioning, two catchphrases I’m
beginning to think mean absolutely nothing to our clients.
Somewhere along the line, someone decided these terms sounded cool. What
I find puzzling is that everyone is “doing” branding and embarking on
positioning campaigns; yet very few clients can articulate the key points
that make their products or services unique.
I’m not sure why it’s so difficult to describe key points of
differentiation. After all, your clients are very well aware of who their
competitors are and how they differ, for better and worse, right? Then, why
are they willing to settle for commercials where the primary selling point
is, “our family serving yours for 85 years,” or some other equally
generic drivel?
I recently happened upon Brilliance Marketing Management by Celia
Rocks, a book I think does a brilliant job of teaching companies how to sell
their strengths. Although she doesn’t call it positioning or branding, I
will. Rocks encourages companies to find what they are “brilliant” at
and use that as their competitive advantage.
According to Rocks, Brilliance is “found in the everyday” and “always
entails something we are ‘really good at.’ ”
The next time you call on a client who insists they must sell on the
basis of price, ask them what they are really good at. Ask them what they
deliver that no one else can. Challenge them to find that one area of their
business where they are superior—and, don’t stop until you see their
eyes light up. When they sit up straight, lean forward and become animated,
you will know you have hit upon something that energizes the organization.
You will have discovered the key to their Brilliance.
Rocks says, “I think what happened is that the 90s were so good, if you
were breathing you could be in business. But now, all those people who were
successful in the 90s are saying, ‘The economy. It must be the economy.’
I will say you’re not giving the customer what they want.”
Astute advertisers will focus on their brilliance, the one thing they do
that no one else can duplicate—their uniqueness. “What they are selling
should be a refection on the Brilliance of the retail establishment,” says
Rocks. “And, the [media] salesperson will have to do more thinking than he
ever did before to understand what the business is all about and what is so
brilliant that the ad would pay off.”
