Many brand marketers focus exclusively on how their product or service performs versus their competition. The real differentiation lies in identifying your brand’s strategic advantages and emotionally connecting them to why your customer cares.
The “whys” come from customers’ hearts and elicit why your brand makes their lives better.
Why do they care about what your brand delivers?
Why should they trust your brand more than other choices they have?
Why do they feel an irresistible urge to bond with your brand and not another?
Brands that do the hard work of understanding their customers’ “whys” and then deeply connecting with them win the differentiation battle every time.
Take, for example, Oscar Healthcare.
There are many companies providing health insurance through the exchanges of New York. Most of these companies are traditional, stodgy and exceedingly complicated. Then there’s Oscar.
Oscar differentiates their product through smart add-ons:
24/7 access to physicians
Great customer service
Discounts for staying active
Beyond this product differentiation though, Oscar has tapped into the emotional “whys” of their customers. Customers want healthcare to be simple and understandable. They want easily accessible support. They want to feel like they have their own doctor available 24/7. Oscar makes them feel that they are a valuable part of their life, more than just a health insurance company.
Real brand differentiation captures not only the minds of customers but also captures their hearts.