Review: Differentiate or Die

I have long contended that successful websites will clearly distinguish themselves from others with a concisely-stated Unique Selling Proposition (USP). So I was particularly happy to read Jack Trout's Differentiate or Die. If you've read Ries and Trout's 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing and Positioning: The Battle for Your Mind, you've seen some of this before. Trout's strength can be called branding, positioning, differentiation -- they're all closely related. In this book he integrates learnings from both offline and online businesses.

Trout, and his co-author Steve Rivkin, contend that the only way a company can survive is to differentiate. This is true even more on the Internet where a business's competitors are not limited by driving distance, but encompass all the similar websites in the siteowner's country -- and to a smaller degree, all the similar websites in the world. First the authors discuss the USP, with the focus on a USP for a specific advertisement. Too many "creative" ads, they say, don't clearly state a product's unique selling points.

The next several chapters look at various approaches to differentiating a product or company. Trout and Rivkin explain why quality, customer orientation and creativity aren't usually effective. Price may be the initial approach that differentiates a product, but most companies that began with low prices eventually move to more moderate pricing after establishing themselves. Differentiating with a higher price, ironically, is more successful. Nor is breadth of product line an effective way for most companies to differentiate.

Now the authors explain the four steps to differentiate: (1) make sense in the context of the market as it exists, (2) find the differentiating idea, (3) be able to support and demonstrate the differentiating idea, and (4) communicate your difference.

Trout and Rivkin now list differentiating ideas that DO work effectively, and give a number of helpful examples of each: (1) being first or number one, (2) owning a particular attribute or product quality in the consumer's mind, (3) demonstrating product leadership, (4) drawing upon an impressive company history or heritage, (5) focusing on a particular market specialty, (6) showing that your product is the preference of influential persons or groups, (7) focusing on a product's unique ingredients, (8) being the "new generation" of products, or (9) being popular or "hot."

Finally, the authors demonstrate how company growth can destroy its differences unless company leaders are careful. They note that differentiation requires sacrifice; future directions in marketing must not blur the difference. Also, how a product is differentiated or branded in one country may need to be substantially different to succeed in another culture.

For online companies struggling to obtain a unique and clear identity in a the sea of similar online dot-coms, this book Differentiate or Die is timely. Reading and taking heed may well save your company from death, and hopefully push it forward into sharp definition in the public's mind. Strongly recommended.