We also explore why distinctiveness is vital for brands in our report in partnership with Twitter and investigate how the marketers and agencies behind some particularly memorable brands were able to ‘escape the gravity-like pull of homogeneity to break with category norms’.
Liquid Death, a water brand with a heavy metal aesthetic, is a textbook example of shunning conventions to get attention. For starters, the skull on its can is a far cry from the snow-capped mountains on an Evian bottle. In our latest issue, staff writer Sunil Bajaj explains how the disruptor achieved 350% growth year-on-year by encouraging people to ‘murder’ their thirst.
But it’s hard to stand out if your competitors have all launched similar products and are fighting to prove their superiority. In our Brand Spotlight, we dive deep into how fast food brand Popeyes navigated this challenge and used a combination of sass and PR-savviness to win the ‘chicken sandwich wars’, growing its business exponentially in the process.
Pete Carter, a 40-year veteran at P&G, has plenty to say on the importance of distinctiveness. He chatted with our editor at large, Katrina Stirton Dodd, about how being distinctive is even more valuable than product quality when it comes to usurping the competition. ‘You don’t have to be better, you just have to be different,’ he argues.
Let’s hear it for distinctiveness, baby, one more time.
