Brand differentiation requires you to be different.

Not different for difference’s sake. That leads to stupid decisions that cost you awareness, market share, and customers.

Take a client I worked with four years ago.

They tried to own a new category in the market: operational creative agency.

It looked different. Sounded different. And make them feel different in the market. None of their competitors were trying to own the operational creative agency category.

But that difference had no foundation — and it cost them big.

They came to Shft because their pipeline dried up, ideal customers weren’t finding them, and they hadn’t closed a deal in 8 months.

They were different, but not in a way that mattered.

The goal of differentiation isn’t just to be different. It’s to be different in a way that your competitors can’t or won’t copy.

And that difference is nuanced.

Be Uncopyable

Being different means doing something your competitors can’t or won’t copy.

It’s not just trying to stand out with a different logo, color palette, message, or personality. All of that is copyable (yes, even personality).

Differentiation is something that’s uncopyable.

Can’t Copy

Your competitors aren’t physically able to copy your differentiator.

They don’t have the resources, team, money, expertise, space, equipment, or ability to copy you.

This is often found in your:

• Processes
• Operations
• Methodology

It’s how you operate that they just can’t replicate.

Take Shft, as an example.

We are a brand positioning agency that delivers sales and operational strategies to unlock new revenue.

Most branding agencies don’t touch sales and operations because it’s not part of their methodology. They focus more on design, feeling, and personality, and literally can’t deliver what we do without completely changing how they operate.

Won’t Copy

In this version, your competitors don’t want to copy your differentiator.

Mostly because it goes against their values and identity.

Take Liquid Death.

They didn’t revolutionize the water industry. They put carbonated water in a beer can.

It’s something every competitor could copy.

Even the generic store brands put carbonated water in cans. It wouldn’t take much for them to tweak the design of the can to look like a beer can.

But their competitors won’t copy it, because it’s not who they are going after, it doesn’t fit their brand, and they have no desire to be as rebellious as Liquid Death.

The Can’t Won’t Combo

Ultimately, you want to find a differentiator that fits both — something your competitors can’t do and won’t do.

The combination of the two makes it hard for your competitors. They would have to change everything about their business — how they operate and their identity — to truly compete with you.

That’s not always possible in a crowded market.

Commodity services (financial planning, accounting, design, videography, coaching, fractional officers) rarely find differentiators that their competitors can’t and won’t do.

The goal is to determine which one is right for you.

Here’s a handy chart I use when uncovering differentiators for our clients:

• Can’t Do: structured process, specific methodology, unique deliverable, or a level of expertise that can’t be replicated.
• Won’t Do: unique value, identity, or ideal customer that competitors don’t serve.

Most of our commodity clients lean towards a can’t do differentiator, as it presents a more tangible differentiator that customers search for.

Finding Your Uncopyable Differentiator

The best place to start when finding a differentiator is your operations.

Look at your processes, deliverables, and methodology — how you do what you do.

For most B2B service companies, their strongest differentiators are found in what they do.

Take these differentiators we uncovered for our clients:

• Turning IoT OEM data into a prioritized to-do list
• Creating customizable trailers
• Building a 5-year IP playbook
• Connecting clients to organizations that can boost the visibility of their nonprofit
• Creating a comms checklist for executives

All of them were found in their processes.

Step 1: Map out your process. Put everything you do when fulfilling a client’s project, no matter how small, into a document so you can see everything in one place.

Step 2: Review that list. Go through that list and circle anything that your competitors don’t do.

Step 3: Find what they can’t do. Evaluate what you circled to see if your competitors can’t or won’t do it.

Need help with that? Check out our Uncover Your Differentiation Workshop. ​

It includes a Miro Whiteboard with exercises to find a differentiator your competitors can’t or won’t do.

Be Different For the Right Reasons

Being different for different’s sake is stupid.

But being different in a way that your competitors can’t or won’t copy will give customers a valid reason to choose you.

Don’t settle for lazy differentiators: caring, quality, team, or personality.

Find something that matters to your ideal customers and that your competitors can’t or won’t copy.

Your customers will want what you sell, but won’t be able to get it anywhere else.

Which basically gives you a legal monopoly — allowing you to charge more and be a real category of one.

Our Brand OS helps you create that unique position in the market.

So you become the ONLY choice for your ideal customers.

Until next week,

#SassyJason out.

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