Odd Fish Finish First

2. Take something ordinary and make it a unique product offering. “Nothing matches, but everything goes” sums up a company with solid distinction. Littlemissmatched.com sells socks. So do a lot of other companies, but Littlemissmatched.com built its brand on socks that don’t match! Its products are in more than 600 retail stores.

3. Pick a passion. Sharon Rowe, the founder and president of ecobags.com, is a baby boomer with a real desire to make a difference. ECOBags is distinct because it provides string market bags for consumers who prefer the convenience and eco-friendly alternative of “bring your own” to accepting plastic bags at the market. ECOBags has staked out the eco-friendly message and point of difference: “Live Lightly on the Earth.”

4. Go against the grain. Turn a tradition on its head and create a strong point of difference. Cordarounds.com makes horizontal corduroy pants. The San Francisco company has taken the classic vertical corduroy fabric and given it a 90 degree spin, thus creating a new fashion: cordarounds. They only sell online, but have created a nice, loyal customer base.

5. Connect to a psycho niche. There are many publishing companies. Mentalfloss.com makes you feel smart again. They are the ultimate quirky, intellectual company. They publish a magazine, produce game boards and write lots of very cool trivia-driven books. This brand connects with the curious psyche. It owns this space and everything the company does leverages its point of difference.

6. Make small things important. In 1994, Robert Stephens started Geeksquad.com with $200, a bicycle, and a big idea. Today the 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 525,600 minutes a year computer-support firm has a national presence and a new owner, BestBuy. The brand took off by leveraging small points of distinction early on. The orange color, odd for a technology company, highly trained employees called "agents" in their VW Geekmobiles, and totally dorked out uniforms with badges all added to the brand's uniqueness.

7. Leverage something from your history. In 1969 Plantronics headsets carried the first words from the moon. Today Plantronics offers sound equipment for everybody. Its historic "One small step for man" transmission sets them apart from any competitor. No one else can make that claim. The company includes this story in its marketing and creates promotions that leverage this very cool event.

8. Combine things are not usually combined. Brokenbeauties.com takes the “ugly” out of orthopedics. They combine fashion with function in a healthcare industry that traditionally has been very boring and sterile. It all started when the founder’s sister suffered a broken ankle. Beyond the pain of the injury and stress of medical bills, her mood was pure gloom. And adding to the despair, her crutches were so “ugly.” Her sister came to the rescue, and today Broken Beauties has a full line of très fashionable injury-related products.

9. Make ingredients important. Ducttapecreations.com uses duct tape to create fashions and accessories. Why duct tape? It’s not made from animals and it’s strong as steel, so -- why not? Everyone from master builder Bob Vila to former Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge has extolled the virtues of duct tape in one way or another.

10. Tap a new sense. Martin Lindstrom, international branding expert, has studied sense enhancement and brands for years. He claims tapping into all of the senses can create stronger emotional responses, which are vital in connecting brands to buyers. Consider what one bowling ball company did to differentiate their products. They added fragrance to the balls. Don't laugh! Stormbowling.com, the Brigham City, Utah company that markets fragranced balls, says that 15 top pro bowlers use its high-priced scented balls. The privately held company doesn't release sales figures. However, it claims about 28% of the mid- to high-priced ball market -- and fragrances have played a part in that.

Consumers are practically smothered with over 5,000 brand messages everyday. The environment in most categories is cluttered, with many good options offered. If you want to make the buyer’s choice easy and finish first, you’ve got to be truly distinct and communicate those attributes on all touch points every day.

Brand On!

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