How to stand out and make your competitors green with envy
Marking the cultural holiday of Saint Patrick’s Day is a widespread phenomenon shared by many around the globe. It’s a day where the party atmosphere is plentiful and the wearing o’ the green celebrates Irish heritage. It’s all a lot of fun.
But Saint Patrick’s Day also provides a perfect opportunity to ponder how effectively your branding is helping your business stand out from the competition. That’s where the red shamrock comes in!
It’s one thing to don green shirts and hats on March 17 and join the crowd celebrating Saint Patrick’s Day; and it’s probably good for business. However, if you are a business owner, marketing director or brand manager, it’s quite another thing to join the crowd when it comes to promoting and positioning your products or services.
A red shamrock on Saint Paddy’s Day (not recommended in actuality!) is a metaphor for the “point(s) of differentiation” or contrast your brand must possess in order to get noticed in a crowded marketplace.
Expressing your differences and how they benefit your customers is key to business strategy and success. Brands that are unique have a better chance of getting noticed and being remembered, as long as they deliver on their promise.
Ways in which a company’s brand identity can differ from competitors and enhance recall:
- Having a unique, memorable name
- Being creative in how customers interact with your product or service
- Focusing on an extremely specialized group of consumers
- Driving home your most unique features and qualities
- Speaking to your customers with a benefit-rich“voice”
- Utilizing a creative color palette (See how we used lime green for Franco Lania)
Your points of differentiation are critical to defining your company’s competitive advantage. They must amplify the benefits and support the promises that you deliver so that your customers associate them with your brand, and not with any of your competitors.
Many corporations temporarily modify their branding around Saint Patrick’s Day to celebrate the events surrounding it. They change the color of their logo, or modify the color palette on their website to incorporate green. Some even add shamrocks or an illustration of a leprechaun to their design. Which is all fine. But in the bigger picture, blending in with the crowd is not what most businesses should be attempting to do. Defining and promoting points of differentiation is what works best; and only through hard work, not luck.
So will a red shamrock stand out more on Saint Patrick’s Day? You bet. But if you want your business to stand out all year long, better to give Trillion a call at 908.219.4703 or complete our contact form.
