Name: Difference
Author: Bernadette Jiwa

What’s in it for me? Learn how to create an emotional bond between you and your customers.

Be honest – do you feel an instinctive loyalty to a product you purchase often? Probably not. Most of the time, we buy products based on price or simple convenience. If something else came along that was cheaper or easier to find, you’d make the switch without a second glance.

But there are a few brands about which people seem to feel deeply. Services like Airbnb, companies like Apple and social media sites like Facebook have a devoted fan base made up of passionate people who are indeed loyal to the company and all it offers and does.

Yet what is it about these companies that inspires such love? And how do you create the same sort of buzz for your own brand?

As you will find out in these blinks, these brands take the traditional “Ps” of marketing and add one more important element: people. They place us, the customer, our problems and our lives, at the center of everything they do. And in return, we love them for it.

In the following blinks, you will discover

why innovation doesn’t start with a product, but with a truth;
how Airbnb changed the way we travel completely; and
why charitable giving can help a company sell more shoes.

If you want to be successful, you can't just be different – you've got to create difference.

In the past, the path to creating, developing and marketing a product was straightforward.

First, you had an idea: a new teapot. You'd develop your teapot, deciding on the curve of its handle, the color of its glaze. Then you'd try to start selling your teapot, targeting your advertising to areas or demographics where you might find some potential customers.

But this kind of thinking doesn't work anymore. You can't just rely on your fantastic teapot eclipsing all your competitors. There are so many products available today that it's nearly impossible to truly make your teapot stand out!

If you want to be successful, you've got to think in a new way. You can't just try to be different; you've got to create difference.

Creating difference isn't about beating the competition but about doing something they've never done before. It's about reinventing your industry.

You have to think about what people really need if you want to create difference. You have to solve a problem for them and truly make their lives better. A new shiny teapot alone won't do that.

This means your creative process has to be different, too. Your product doesn't come first; what you need first is a truth. A truth about someone's problem. Then you think about solving that problem. Creating and launching the actual product comes at the very last, after this period of empathetic thinking. This is how you make your company stand out in an overcrowded market.

Warby Parker, an eyewear retailer, found success by finding a truth about eyeglass wearers and solving it.

The company founders realized that people who might not have hundreds of dollars to buy name-brand, stylish glasses still had the real desire to wear them. Yet there were no affordable options on the market for these customers.

Warby Parker recognized this and became successful by solving this problem – creating stylish and affordable eyewear – for this market segment.

Stop yelling at your customers with impersonal ads. Tell a story that they can relate to and care about.

How many advertisements do you think you've come across today? Probably hundreds.

While we’re surrounded by ads, it's never been clearer that traditional advertising just doesn’t work anymore, as there’s too much competition. Why should we pay attention to any given ad?

Create something to which people can personally connect and perceive in the right way.

It's vital to understand your customers' thoughts and wishes, but this alone won't make your business successful. You also have to ensure that people care about what you're doing.

Thus the next steps in the difference model is to make a personal connection with customers to ensure that they perceive the difference in the quality of services or products that you offer.

Once you understand your market, your customers and yourself, you can then create your product.

So after you've spent time researching and thinking about your customers, your business and your industry, you can finally move to the last step in the difference model: developing your product.

Remember that your product has to fill a particular void in people’s lives, giving them something that they really need.

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Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club

by Robin Sharma

Difference summary