Strengthen Your Brand – Learn From These Competitive Advantage Examples
Listing the things you do well and considering them your competitive advantages is not enough these days. So many words like “value,” “innovation” or “trusted” have become passive to the marketplace. Prospects and customers want to know what you stand for, how you can improve their life and remove one of their frustrations. Your brand needs to connect on an emotional level.
To get to that emotion, a company must first uncover its core value, or inner layer. It’s the reason why you are in business. After that, you can develop the outer layer messaging to explain what you do and how you do it, while tying the message back to your core value.
Here are a few competitive advantage examples pulled from recognizable brands as well as a couple of our clients that may help you see how this can work with consumer brands as well as in the business to business space.
University Of Phoenix: “More Than Brains”
University of Phoenix has positioned their brand as the school that fits into your busy life. Their “More Than Brains” campaign shows students working hard to balance all of their work and family obligations, while still finding time to study. University of Phoenix wants to be the school for individuals who study while on their break at work, go back to school to create better opportunities for their families, bring tenacity to their education and take pride in working harder than everyone else.
Subaru: Love, it’s what makes a Subaru a Subaru
While other car companies promote luxury and performance, Subaru has tapped into emotion and family. People that drive them love them. Whether you are driving the family out to the lake house, or just driving around the city, Subarus are the car to serve you in your active life. Subaru drivers love their kids and their dogs, and love their Subarus, because it keeps their families safe. Families trust Subarus so much they want to pass their cars on to their children.
Carstens
Carstens provides medical charting supplies and develops healthcare solutions, and the company is built on a passion for the patient experience.
Carstens’ CEO worked with nurses early in her career, so she understands how important the interaction between healthcare professionals and patients is towards a patient’s overall experience. The more time healthcare professionals are able to spend with patients at the point of care, the better the experience will be. Carstens manufactures equipment and designs environments that allow healthcare professionals to provide exceptional care in order to improve patient experiences.
Gonesh Incense
Whether spending time alone, or with family and friends, Gonesh Incense can enhance all of your life moments. The sense of smell is strongly linked to emotions and memories. Using Gonesh can help bring back memories from your past and the positive emotions you associate with them. Gonesh Incense is the home fragrance for when you want to relax, entertain friends, unwind after a long day, or meditate.
Dan Gartlan helps companies of all kinds drive their business initiatives and achieve their goals with strategic marketing programs that deliver results. As President of Stevens & Tate Marketing, he has over 20 years experience across various industries, and continues to share his expertise to build brands nationwide.