Josh Stephenson wrote an article for MarketingWeek titled Ritson: Differentiation is not about uniqueness (31 July 2023).
« Relative differentiation in conjunction with distinctiveness is the best of both worlds, argues Mark Ritson, who believes the two shouldn’t be in competition with each other. »
« He then went on to discuss the problems differentiation has suffered in the past, being linked with an obsession to be “unique” and how overstated its importance became in some quarters, such as in Jack Trout’s book Differentiate or Die. Ritson noted that: “Finding something unique is almost impossible and when you do find it then it’s replicable in one way or another relatively quickly.” »
« Instead, Ritson proposed a more measured form of “relative differentiation” where the goal is not to be unique, but instead have “more” of something than other brands do within the category… He accepted this was a more “diluted” version of differentiation but more achievable. “Differentiation is not about uniqueness, it’s about difference,” he added. »
« Differentiation … came down to strategically getting your positioning right and tactically executing effectively. Marketers should focus on “one positioning concept”, he said, it doesn’t matter what it is but make sure that it is limited because the more concepts you add, “the more you dilute your chance to stand for anything and gain relative differentiation”… It’s important not to end up with 25 attributes to showcase it. Be careful, be choiceful, he said, take advantage of category entry points and make use of the 3Cs framework [customers, competitors, company]. And when you are satisfied with your position, track it over time with data. »
« When it comes to execution, Ritson believes brands need to say less. Don’t try to have too many attributes decaying or over-populating your message. Instead say less more often and invest in media, he advised. “If you put excess share of voice in two or three attributes and you say it more often than the competition, you will achieve relative differentiation,” said Ritson. »
« But, most critically, he believes you must say your message with distinctiveness because the two complement each other. Both are always present, he believes, and while they won’t always necessarily be equal and you may choose to focus on one over the other depending on your category, they should work hand-in-hand. »
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