Liquid Creativity

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It pays to be different

Build a story around a key point of difference and you can create a niche in your market that is hard for a competitor to imitate. If you constantly reinforce this core difference you will own that space.

To achieve this you have to think beyond your standard core benefits and focus on some unexpected qualities. It may seem a tough thing to do, but Virgin Blue is a great example of how they did things differently in the highly competitive airline industry and succeeded spectacularly.

Owning the skies

Virgin Blue offers the same benefits as other airline companies. They don’t fly faster or have more comfortable seats, their planes aren’t safer or better and their timetables are not more extensive. But they are doing things differently around the experience of traveling with Virgin Blue.
 



By focusing on the emotion of flying with Virgin Blue they have built a brand around fun, wit, cheekiness, passion and warmth. The staff are genuinely happy and love what they do. They are living the Virgin Blue brand.

And like Virgin Blue, Swatch has etched out a niche with their point of difference. They focused on design to step away from the core benefit of a watch and today they stand alone with their fun, unique and bold designs which are not only featured on the face of the watch but also on the band.

Watch out for making it too easy to copy

On the flip side, Starbucks point of different misses the mark. Starbucks thought they had a point of difference but it was something that anyone could easily imitate. They wanted to create a feeling of cosiness and comfort in their cafes, a place for people to hang out. They achieved this by using an assortment of different chairs and lounges. This look has taken off around the world and many small cafes are doing the same. Their unique concept has become commonplace in the market place.

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