No product differentiation? Teach you 4 ways to express yourself!

Previously, whenever we talked about business and branding, we would emphasize the concept of "differentiation advantage" from various angles:

• The essence of business competition is to find ways to avoid competition, and to avoid competition, you must be different;
• Brands are used to reflect differentiation. Without differentiation, there is no brand…

Every time I see these words and the corresponding cases, I get very excited. It makes me feel that as long as we find our own differentiated advantages and continue to focus on these advantages, we will definitely succeed!

Let’s not talk about whether this description is accurate.

However, in real life, we often see situations like this:

• I own a restaurant, but I really cannot provide the same service as Haidilao , nor the same speed as McDonald's , nor can I make dishes as exquisite as those of Michelin restaurants. To put it bluntly, I am just an ordinary restaurant.
• I’m in the tea business, but I can’t make exquisite packaging like the small can tea, nor can I afford eight masters to endorse it, and I don’t have the money to open a store in a commercial center. To put it bluntly, I am just an ordinary tea merchant.

Yes, most businesses in the market are unable to discover/create/focus on their own advantages , and always have only one homogeneous product that covers all aspects...

This is not necessarily because managers do not understand business, but because of various limitations, they cannot do it at the moment - either there are no advantageous resources; or the situation is unclear and no choice can be made; or there is no consensus within the team, etc.

So, for a product like this that is ordinary in every aspect, can it just be like what those masters say, "If there is no difference, then wait to die"?

Not necessarily.

Let me tell you a little story first.

A while ago, I was sitting in a coffee shop with a friend who was looking to buy a pair of headphones and went to those review sites to look for "third-party opinions."

As he was watching, he suddenly burst out laughing and blurted out something to me. It was a brilliant comment from a netizen on the website - "Whether the sound quality of headphones is good or not actually depends mainly on the writing style."

When I heard this, I immediately understood what he meant and smiled. (You know what I mean)

However, I couldn’t laugh for more than 5 seconds before I suddenly realized a problem: In the past, we put too much energy on those high-sounding differentiation strategies, but ignored the current situation that 80% of brands have to face :

There is really no substantial difference in my current products. I also want to make a difference, but the problem is that I don’t know where to go, so I can only survive first and then wait for the opportunity.

(PS: If you are laughing at this idea, there is more than 80% chance that you overestimate yourself)

So in this article, we will talk about some down-to-earth things for these 80% of brands - how to rely on "literary talent" to make a product with no difference go from "good" to "better".

(PS: "Literary talent" does not necessarily refer to the copywriting , but to all forms of expression)

There are 4 methods in total, they are:

1. Engage your senses
2. Create a scene
3. Manufacturing comparison
4. Digging for stories

1. Engage your senses

When faced with a product or an advertisement, the first characteristic of consumers is " confusion ".

For example, if he sees a rice advertisement, he may not react, because he has other things on his mind, such as going shopping in the afternoon, buying clothes, and drinking coffee...

Even though he was planning to buy rice, he was actually at a loss. The question he was thinking about might be:

• How much rice do I need?
• At what price range should I buy rice?
• Which brand of rice should I buy?

In short, he could only think of some very superficial information. (Especially low-variance, low-decision products like rice)

And this information is usually not good for your brand unless you are very cheap or a big brand.

In this case, we should take the initiative to break the consumer's confusion and let him "deeply" feel what wonderful experience your product can bring him.

Let’s take rice as an example. If we want to express the “sweetness” of rice, how should we describe it?

I think most people would use something like this:

"The taste is mellow and slightly sweet at the beginning."

How do you feel after reading this kind of copy?

Anyway, I don’t care because it’s too abstract - what does fragrance mean? What does slightly sweet mean? I don’t know, I’m still confused…

Such a description is as vague as "a little chili" in a Chinese recipe - how much is "a little"?

In my previous article "To tell a good story, you don't have to be creative, but specific", I mentioned that the more "specific" the information is, the more it can mobilize people's "thinking and senses", and the more "sense of immersion" they will have.

If I were to describe the sweetness of rice, I would say:

"Just three chews and the sweetness like rice wine will overflow."

Here, "three" is a specific number. Compared to “a few bites”, “three bites” gives people a sense of certainty. It makes it easier for people to simulate in their brains and imagine that they have chewed three times. (This is the difference between "a pinch of chili" and "two grams of chili")

And "rice wine" is a concrete thing. Its sweetness is easier to perceive than rice, so it can stimulate the reader's senses even more - making the originally tasteless rice instantly taste delicious...

Don’t underestimate this “power of simulated imagination”. Psychologists have done an experiment before:

They asked a group of subjects to imagine they were drinking plain water while drinking orange juice, and the result was that everyone secreted less saliva;

Another group of subjects, when drinking plain water, imagined themselves drinking orange juice, and everyone secreted more saliva;

The final results showed that the amount of saliva secreted by the two groups of subjects was almost the same.

Of course, the story of “looking at plums to quench thirst” can also illustrate this point - as long as people think of “plums”, they will secrete saliva.

On the other hand, the more specific the information is, the more credible it will be - people will subconsciously think: since you describe it so accurately, it must be based on facts, not just random talk...

Of course, you may ask: "Don't other rice taste the same? Why do consumers have to choose the current 'good taste' one?"

Regarding this point, I have actually just said it - consumers are confused and it is difficult for them to imagine this feeling.

When I was writing this article, I was carefully recalling the feeling of chewing rice, and finally came up with the concept of "rice wine". This process was very brain-burning.

Therefore, if your product can actively stimulate consumers' senses, while other competing products cannot, then consumers will feel it when they see you, but will not feel it when they see competing products. (Even if your products are similar)

Of course, in addition to textual descriptions, ways to stimulate the senses can also be actual vision, hearing, and smell.

For example, there is a technology for packaging paper now. By sticking this special technology on the labels of shampoo and toothpaste, consumers can immediately smell the fragrance of the product through the friction generated when touching it.

2. Create a scene

The so-called “creating a scene” is actually very similar to the previous “mobilizing the senses” - they both help consumers imagine the wonderful experience of using the product through “specific” descriptions.

It’s just that the former pays more attention to the senses (sight, hearing, touch, smell, and taste), while the latter pays more attention to the scene (time, place, people, and events).

Let’s take a look at a case.

This is a copywriting of a restaurant-related public account selling sweet wine (excerpt):

Drink Coke and eat popcorn while watching a movie ? Let’s try something different. It's better to keep two bottles of sweet wine in your bag. When the movie starts, unscrew the bottle cap, put a straw in it, and you can finish a bottle in the two-hour movie without worrying about getting drunk. If you go to the movies with your bestie/partner, you can bring a 750ml bottle, put two straws in it, and take a sip each. You'll instantly feel like "we have the whole cinema to ourselves."

Well, recently we are experiencing the peak period of new movie releases: passionate ones like "Fast and Furious", sweet ones like "Love in the Buff", retro ones like " A Chinese Odyssey ", and cool ones like "Guardians of the Galaxy", all of which are suitable to be paired with "theater-size" sweet wines.

You see, when you read this passage, are you also imagining yourself drinking this sweet wine in the cinema?

It is said that this originally niche sweet wine was sold out in just 3 days due to the stimulation of the copywriting.

Of course, if you want to create a specific scene, you don’t necessarily have to write so many words.

For example, Jinjiu’s “Jinjiu with Crabs” is actually a kind of scene creation - the scene of eating crabs.

In addition, once you get specific to a certain scenario, consumers will be more easily convinced by you - otherwise they can't clearly explain what to eat crabs with... (unless they are gourmets, or have carefully considered this issue)

On the contrary, if you don’t specify the scenario and say “Love life, drink Jinjiu”, consumers will easily refute your statement – ​​“I love life, but it has nothing to do with Jinjiu, I usually drink orange juice…”

3. Create contrast

If you like watching Stephen Chow's movies, you will definitely find a pattern - in his movies, many supporting characters are weird/stupid/have various congenital defects, only Stephen Chow himself (and the leading actress) are normal.

And what effect will this have?

The audience will think: Wow! Stephen Chow is so awesome! So smart! So motivated!

Yes, this is typical: through comparison, something that is not that powerful is made to look very powerful.

So how can we create this contrast effect?

Of course, I deliberately looked for things that couldn’t be worse to compare myself with…

The same principle can be applied to marketing .

For example, I saw a sales copy for cookies before.

In fact, this cookie is not a big brand, and the quality is not that good either, so how can it make others think it is "very good"?

Of course, learn from Stephen Chow – find some extreme cases that cannot be any worse for comparison!

For example, they may specifically look for brands that have had issues with food safety and compare them with their own brands to make themselves look better. (It is said that this article sold 300,000 sales)

For example, those who sell Cordyceps online will specifically look for inferior products for comparison in order to highlight their quality (which may not be that good):

4. Discover product stories

Many times, the reason why people are not interested in something is because they don't understand it.

For example, in the eyes of most people, a house is just a house, nothing special.

But for me, since I have studied architectural design before and have a better understanding of it, every building is worthy of attention in my eyes - from its shape, layout, traffic flow, material, and even to the structural details of the curtain wall, each one has its own knowledge and each one is a highlight.

So, when others don’t like your product or think it’s “no big deal”, you can tell them the story behind the product. (usually the manufacturing process)

Putting aside other things, even if it is a slice of cheese, if you have read "The Encyclopedia of Creation", you will know that there are many processes and details behind it.

Each process can actually be refined as a reflection of product quality, or to make others feel: "Wow! It turns out that so much thought is needed to make this piece of cheese! It's really sentimental!"

Don't believe it? Let's try it briefly below. (I have selected a few clips from the documentary, and will then transform these processes into selling points that are beneficial to the product)

Step 1: Milking

• Conversion selling point: To ensure the quality of milk , every drop of milk is slowly extracted using an automatic milking machine at 9 a.m., shortly after the cows wake up.
• Main routine: Use precise time to reflect strict quality control.

Step 2: Add bacteria

• Conversion selling point: To ensure freshness , active probiotics are added to every barrel of milk to synthesize antioxidants and kill pathogenic spoilage bacteria.
• Main tactics: Taking advantage of people’s favorable impression of “active probiotics”. (PS, the name "active probiotics" is really good)

Step 3: Heating

• Conversion selling point: 35° constant temperature, 120 seconds of uniform heating, and zero nutrient loss.
• Main strategy: Using precise data to demonstrate strict quality control.

Step 4: Filtration

• Conversion selling point: every 300 kg of milk produces only 3 kg of cheese.
• Main trick: Use contrast to show that the product is hard-earned.

Step 5: Stirring

• Conversion selling point: Churned thousands of times, smoother than melted ice cream.
• Main routine: Use analogies and make visual descriptions.

Step 6: Pickling

• Conversion selling point: 180 days of marination and 1080 turns to ensure a buttery and even texture.
• Main tactics: Use specific data to show that the product is hard-earned.

You see, through a slightly modified description, a small piece of cheese seems to have suddenly become a great project, which makes people feel awe. (Considering the length of the article, only 6 processes are shown here)

In fact, even if I didn't say anything and just asked people to watch the documentary, the next time they walked into the supermarket and passed by the cheese stand, they would definitely take a few more looks at the cheeses.

As the French sculptor Rodin said:

Life is never lacking in beauty, but it lacks eyes to discover beauty.

Behind any seemingly ordinary product, there must be many unknown but inspiring stories.

Sometimes, a “certain part” of a story can even become the “main selling point” of a product.

The most typical example is Schlitz beer:

The brand's sales were originally very poor, so the then advertising master Hopkins was invited to find a solution.

The factory leaders first asked Hopkins to see their equipment, fermentation process, etc., and introduced many features and technologies, but Hopkins didn't even raise his eyelids and didn't feel anything.

The manufacturer was very disappointed at the time. It seemed that there was no hope and even the master could not help.

But just as everyone was about to leave the factory, Hopkins jumped up in surprise. It turned out that he saw: empty bottles passing through a workshop and being sterilized with high-temperature steam.

At first, the factory leaders thought they had discovered some treasure, but after understanding the master's excitement, they were immediately disappointed. They told Hopkins that this was a basic process that any beer brand must have.

Hopkins told them that it didn't matter whether any manufacturer did this, what mattered was that consumers didn't know who was doing it.

As a result, Schlitz became the number one brand in the market with its selling point that "each beer bottle is sterilized with high-temperature steam", which is not unique but unknown to consumers.

Therefore, don’t lose confidence just because you think your product is the same as others.

What you take for granted may be "amazing" to others.

Including the cheese mentioned above, "every 300 kilograms of milk produces only 3 kilograms of cheese" , which I think is also a very strong selling point. (Even though most cheeses are like this...)

To sum up

In this article, we introduce 4 methods in total.

They can make products that originally had no differentiation advantages instantly become distinctive by improving the form of expression or changing the content of expression.

Let’s review the four types:

1. Engage the senses: Help consumers imagine the wonderful experience of using the product through specific sensory descriptions;
2. Create scenarios: Through specific scenario descriptions, remind consumers that you need my products in these scenarios.
3. Create contrast: Deliberately find some inferior products for comparison, so as to create advantages out of nothing;
4. Uncover product stories: Find unknown novelties and greatness in the ordinary.

Okay, that’s it, I hope this article can give you some inspiration.