It’s not enough to compete on price or value. Retail brands need to set themselves apart if they want to be remembered.
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A long-held marketing principle is that brand differentiation is fundamental to success.
And there’s no doubt differentiated brands experience higher preference, recall, usage and ‘brand love’.
For many brands, however, true differentiation is almost impossible to establish, let alone communicate to customers.
Research across 17 markets by the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute for Marketing Science has found lack of differentiation is prevalent in many categories, ranging from banking and fast food to cars and computers.
Ehrenberg-Bass concludes that, “Unless there is an outstanding functional (especially price and/or location) difference, consumers do not see the brand they buy as differentiated from other brands.”
Consider the retail eyewear category, in which brands are competing against dominant players such as Specsavers and OPSM.
Whilst Specsavers arguably has a more differentiated proposition and long-standing, highly memorable advertising theme, newer entrants to the market play within category norms. These more youthful, fashion-forward brands use similar imagery of diverse, attractive and stylish people to communicate fashion aesthetics, whilst also relying on similar price, product and bundle offers to demonstrate ‘value’.
With a lack of a clear brand idea, however, all people really see is an avalanche of ‘sale’ and ‘percentage off’ messages. How is a consumer to connect and decide, when the only lens (pun intended) on the brand is deal-driven?
Eyewear is far from the only category where this challenge is playing out. Differentiation within the pharmacy space is even more limited, with the added pressure of juggling supplier-generated lines and price communications. Unless you’re Chemist Warehouse, value is not a pathway to differentiation.
The kitchen and homewares space is another example where various mall and high street retailers duke it out on price. These brands have trained customers to shop on sale with their reliance on a percentage off. Stores are filled with ‘sale’ messaging, which is replicated online with the brands rarely offering anything different.
For brands facing low brand awareness and little true differentiation, focusing on being distinctive is key. Creativity should be used to grab attention and ensure the brand stands out in a crowded market where everyone seems to offer the same things.
Ehrenberg-Bass has said what influences consumers are distinctive communication assets, like advertising styles, symbols, characters, colours and visual identity components. All of which help brands cut through, so consumers can identify them without confusion. The benefit of this is that people notice, recognise and recall the brand, which ultimately leads to a greater chance of them purchasing from you.
To see it done well, look no further than US neighbourhood grocery store chain Trader Joe’s. The brand adds fun to its largely private-label range with such names as Trader Jose’s (Mexican food), Baker Josef’s (flour and bagels), Trader Giotto’s (Italian food), Trader Joe-San’s (Japanese food), Trader Ming’s (Asian food), JosephsBrau (beer), and Trader Jacques (French food and soaps).
The budget offer of Migros, Switzerland’s largest retailer and supermarket, is another masterclass in how to stand out. Migros covers more than 500 products – from chocolates and orange juice to shoes. A distinctive feature is that all products are proudly wrapped in the brand’s unassuming, standardised colour scheme – a grass green background with the Migros logo in small white text plastered over it.
In the fashion space, New York-based Bonobos men’s clothing retailer employs a vocabulary and copywriting style that projects rock-solid, gentlemanly confidence; from renaming their stores to Guideshops and dubbing their sales associates Guides and customer service reps Ninjas.
Elsewhere, Canada’s Blush Lingerie cheekily calls out on its receipts the massive ‘savings’ customers make by purchasing its products. For instance, one $99 Babydoll will save thousands in couples therapy, gym memberships and Viagra.
On a worthier note, California’s Patagonia stands out in the crowded outdoor apparel and equipment market with a values-based communications platform built on environmental activism and stewardship.
Without distinctive thinking, brands tend to default to communicating category norms and disappearing into the sea of sameness that characterises many retail sectors.
Brands that succeed in today’s competitive market understand that distinctiveness can break through. By focusing on unique and recognisable elements, brands can capture consumer attention and foster recall, ensuring they stand out, even when differentiation is elusive.
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