Are You A Zebra?

Robert Craven discusses the need for a unique factor

If you are the same as the rest then why should customers bother to buy from you? In a world where competition seems to be everywhere, you need to separate yourself from the rest. 

Zebras that don’t ‘run with the pack’ get noticed first – all the members of the herd of zebras look the same... and safe… when they are running in the herd.  If you want to get noticed, try running ‘outside the pack’.  In the business world you are more likely to get noticed and this increases your chances of making a sale.

Homer Simpson on this very subject: “You know those balls that they put on car antennas so you can find them in the parking lot? Those should be on every car!”

In most industries there is too much sameness; too much safe differentiation between the various competitors.  Everyone looks the same, selling the same stuff at the same price, to the same people at the same prices. Often there is an over-supply of participants, and often the barriers to entry are also relatively low. 

We live in a world of mediocrity and similarity. Most products and services are sanitised and stripped of any personality or humanity, and that’s where the small business can win over the big boys. If people do buy from people then why do most products/services seem to strip out their humanity?

To survive in today’s marketplace, you need to do more than simply copy the competition. That is a recipe for mediocre performance.  You won’t be remembered as you slip amongst the blur of mediocre providers all providing a ‘much of a muchness’.  You have been warned.

You must set yourself apart; be seen as different (in the client’s eyes). Trading on the old tag lines no longer works.  If all your competitors are competing on the strength of the usual banners (faster, smarter, better value) then why should people bother to buy from you if you are all just the same?  

Now is the time to look at your business and try to make yourself look different on at least one significant criterion. If there is a choice between being different and being better, then I’d rather be different.  Ideally, I’d rather be different and the best!

Old world/big business marketing tried to give different personalities to what were essentially similar products.  Think of the weak wet stuff known as lager in the Eighties.  Nowadays, clients are inclined to think that if a product looks, sounds, smells, feels and performs in roughly the same manner, then it probably is roughly the same. 

So, somehow you must create that difference that separates you from all the other similar products, otherwise why should people bother to buy from you? Brand preference has always been a function of perception; people prefer the brand that they think or believe will give them what they want, and in today’s world you have to try much harder to create (and maintain) the perceived difference. At the nub of this thought process is the fundamental fact that marketing is a battle for the mind of the client.

You will stand out if you adopt a contrarian view on price, quality, the promise, service and mediocrity. If the standard price is £500 then charge twice as much or half as much – people will wonder why. If the current industry standard for quality is OK then blow everyone out of the water – I will talk about my accountant (!), my favourite hotel, favourite deli, my running shop, the ‘alternative’ funeral director we recently used because they quite simply blow me away with their remarkable and legendary service. If everyone else’s promise is a one-year guarantee then make yours a lifetime one.  I am sure you get what I am saying.

In the world of the internet you are no longer limited by shelf space. In the old days you always put the ‘best-sellers’ on your limited shelves.  However the internet means that you can have unlimited shelf space in your digital shop so now you can increase the choice and selection of products available to your clients. Think about the choice that Amazon or eBay can offer compared with a traditional retailer. Meanwhile the cost of offering almost limitless selection to your clients can be almost nil.

The concept of the ‘long tail’ in the internet, as referred to above, also means that the Top Ten Best-Sellers aren’t the only products that customers can now access.  In music, video, sports equipment, legal advice and so on the customer now has access to create their own music or video channel or find niche places that specialise in their own idiosyncratic tastes. You can now find an audience that love your organic, vegan health nutrition bars or your blend of B&B with yoga tuition. On the internet they can find you!

So what is it that I am saying? 

Don’t be frightened to be different, in fact celebrate your difference.  There is just too much bland mediocrity and similarity in the world and there’s plenty of space for the weird, wonderful, odd and eccentric.  But you won’t necessarily find success just because you are whacky! The same rules of marketing always apply – you must make something that people want to buy from you.  You must be able to reach them and persuade them that your product or service will give them the pay-off or the hit that they are seeking.

Be bold and brave.  People will welcome your attempts to be different. Not everyone wants the standard, dull, boring run-of-the-mill, sanitised normal products.  In fact, you would be surprised how many people want the individual or unusual.

This is not some hippy rant celebrating the alternative world; in fact, it is quite the reverse.  It makes sound business sense to stand out from the rest – to be seen to be different.  There are more than enough disillusioned clients out there, fed up with call centres, fed up with rubbish products and services that don’t deliver on their promise. 

Run with the pack or run outside the pack, it’s your choice.  I know which one I prefer.

about the author

 Robert Craven is the keynote speaker and author of the best-selling business book 'Bright Marketing - why should people bother to buy from you?'. As MD of The Directors’ Centre www.directorscentre.com, the consultancy for growing businesses, he works with ambitious owner-managers to break through constraints on business growth. He can be contacted at rc@directorscentre.com +44 (0)1225 851044.

Robert Craven©2008

publication details

First published in Start Your Business Magazine - June 2008