Differentiate or Die!
Hey there,
A marketing lesson from the fabulous world of “professional” wrestling.
One of my favorite things to do as a kid was watch wrestling.
(Or as my grandmother called it “Wrastlin’)
Every Saturday morning and Monday night me and my little brother would tune in, to see our favorite wrestlers beat each others brains to a pulp in the ring. It was beautiful.
Two of my favorite wrestlers was a tag-team duo called the “Road Warriors” A.K.A. the “Legion of Doom”. More on them in a minute.
Anyhow… I’ve found wrestling to have a lot of life lessons that can be applied to business as well.
For example…
Wanna know what one of the biggest stumbling block to most business growth is?
Lack of originality or uniqueness.
Think about it. The biggest problem in advertising — and business in general — is clutter. Too many people in the same niche, selling the same kinds of products, the same way to the same people. The only difference is price.
The problem with competing on price is that almost everyone can be a player in that game because it takes no special skill to do it.
Competing in a crowded, competitive market is a lot like becoming a superstar wrestler.
All of the wrestlers were big and strong, and could pretty much do all the standard moves, but the Road Warriors were total bad asses!
They were beyond big, they were HUGE! They made Olympic power lifters look like stay at home moms…
They wore frightening face-paint and massive shoulder pads with huge, sharp spikes coming out of them which were very intimidating to say the least.
In the ring they were like men amongst boys. Routinely throwing grown men across the ring with ease, and nearly decapitating other wrestlers with their infamous finishing move the “Doomsday Device” from the top ropes.
Simply put, they were straight up bullies.
Once you saw them, quite frankly you never forgot who they were. They stood out from the other wrestlers like an honest politician.
And so it is with marketing.
YOU must do something to stand out.
You can only make the same benefit claims, credibility claims, and any other claims but so many times before they become worthless.
If 50 burger joints all say they have the best burgers in town… Every repair shop has ASE certified technicians… and every roofing contractor has 20-30 years of experience… How much does that claim really mean?
The key to winning new, loyal customers, is to be different. Be original.
(If you don’t have anything unique or original about your business
or your product… you can and should create something.)
So how do we do that?
We differentiate ourselves by highlighting our unique benefit. Or in marketing terms… creating a Unique Selling Proposition or USP.
This gives us a unique reason for our customers to do business with us, therefore taking price out of the equation. (Or at least long enough for us to make our sales pitch)
Or in the case of the Road Warriors…
It’s like having the look, feel and physical embodiment of complete and total domination.
Anybody can get in the ring and kick and punch… but not every has the devastating “Doomsday Device” from which NO ONE gets up from.
So… if you want your business to be known as the “Legion of Doom” to your competitors…
Reply to this email and request a Free Marketing Systems Analysis. It’s an in-depth exploration of your current marketing, advertising and sales strategies, and points out opportunities where you can increase your results 2-10X by making strategic adjustments.
If you’re serious about growing your business, it’s a no brainer.
Wayne Brown
Business Growth Strategist/Copywriter/Coach
Businessbuildingtechnician.com
443-453-1218
Tags: advertising, branding
