1. The Four Steps to Differentiation
1.1. Step 1: Make Sense in Context
1.2. Step 2: Find the Differentiating Idea
1.3. Step 3: Have Credentials
1.4. Step 4: Communicate Your Difference
2. The Tyranny of Choice
2.1. What drives choice is the Low of division, which states that a category startsoff as a single entity then breadks up into other segments.
2.2. Companies must address differentiation in three key ways:
2.2.1. If you ignore your uniqueness and try to be everything for everybody, you quickly undermine what makes you different.
2.2.2. If you ignore changes in the market, your difference can become less important.
2.2.3. If you stay in the shadow of your larger competitors and never establish your "Differentness," you will always be weak.
3. Losing and Reinventing the U.S.P
3.1. Unique Selling Proposition
3.1.1. Each Ads must make a proposition to the customer. Not just words, not just product "Buy this product, and you will get this specific benefit"
3.1.2. The proposition must be one that the competition either cannot or does not offer.
3.1.3. The proposition must be so strong that it can move the mass millions.
3.2. Psychologists have come up with four functions that help people make buying decisions
3.2.1. Differentiating with “Intuitives.” This group uses intuition to concentrate on possibilities, avoiding details in favor of a “big picture” view.
3.2.2. Differentiating with “Thinkers.” This group is analytical, precise and logical.
3.2.3. Differentiating with “Feelers.” This group dispenses with intellectual analysis in favor of following their own preferences, an ideal group for third-party endorsements from experts who look and sound real.
3.2.4. Differentiating with “Sensors.” This group sees things as they are and has a great respect for facts, an enormous capacity for detail and a knack for putting things into context.
4. What Differentiation Is Not ?
4.1. Quality and Customer Orientation
4.2. Creativity
4.3. Price
4.4. Breadth of Line
5. Eight Successful Differentiation Strategies
5.1. Be First.
5.2. Maintain Attribute Ownership
5.3. Be a Leader
5.4. Have a History
5.5. Specialize in Your Market
5.6. Be the Preferred Provider
5.7. Make Your Products in a Special Way
5.8. Be Hot
6. Growth and Sacrifiece in Differentiation
6.1. Negative Effects
6.1.1. The company becomes distracted
6.1.2. The company overextends its product lines