Meaningful Difference and a Promise to the Customer
- Vassilis Douros
- Oct 19, 2023
- 3 min read
Updated: Dec 29, 2023
I’m a newsletter addict.
I don’t know if this obsession with subscribing to newsletters goes back to my early days as a junior marketer, where we would naturally subscribe to all the competitors' email lists, but I have to admit; I am a sucker for a good newsletter.
Today, one of those newsletters, 'Insights by Kantar,' a LinkedIn newsletter as part of their "evidence-based" series hit my inbox. A particular headline piqued my interest: "How to align your innovation and advertising around meaningful difference." Without hesitation, I took a moment to think if I was ready to venture down this rabbit hole or not. I caved, so I clicked 'read more'.
Authored by Dr Nicki Morley and Sarah Morrell, the article elaborates on five key lessons that marketers should apply when wanting to drive advertising growth. For those who do not know, the meaningful difference framework serves as a tool for gauging and enhancing brand equity. Kantar employs a survey-based approach to measure consumer predisposition on how meaningful, different, and salient brands are. Kantar explains: "Brands that are meaningful, different, and salient have demand power, pricing power, and future power." Marc and I have discussed this very framework and modern marketing dilemmas with Mary Kyriakidi a couple of times on the podcast, a must-listen if you ask me!
With that said, let's delve into the five lessons outlined in this article:
Build from your difference forward.
Identify what will make your difference meaningful.
Align your campaign activation around your meaningful difference.
Make your new product the hero of its creative.
Support, support, support.
I don't believe there is anything wrong with these five lessons. Not only are they valid, but I think they go a long way in aligning internal stakeholders, especially on the innovations front. However, with Roger Martin's words still echoing in my mind following our recent podcast regarding his research on PTTC (Promise to the Customer - listen here), I couldn't help but think about how these two ideas could be combined. I'm crazy I know.
I understand the argument that your promise to the customer could also define what makes you different. However, my struggle surfaces when I think of 'being different.' Most of the time, my mind drifts towards how a new product or service sets itself apart from competitors, which, in my view, doesn't necessarily contribute to making a promise to the customer.
In my opinion, as marketers, we must find a delicate balance between showcasing the unique qualities that set our respective organizations apart from the competition and addressing the specific "jobs to be done" for our customers. In doing so, we ensure that a promise to the customer can align with their needs and desires, making our products or services meaningful and different.
My mind works in funny ways, and it's possible that I'm taking an unconventional approach here. Combining two frameworks might not be the most conventional strategy, but the argument for PTTC is incredibly compelling. On our podcast, Roger Martin highlighted for PTTC to be successful you simply need to ask three simple questions:
Have I been promised something?
Is it valuable?
How will it be delivered consistently?
When this lens is applied, you can see immediately the ramifications these three questions have across multiple internal stakeholders, not just marketing, and it's because of this that it's challenging for me to resist the idea that this should be the starting point for all marketers.
The question of whether or not you choose to follow the five steps mentioned earlier is open for discussion. In my view, they appear to be quite solid.
What are your thoughts?
In case you are interested, here are some other soundbites from the article as well:
Aligning innovation and advertising around meaningful differences is essential for successful product launches.
Meaningfully different brands with appealing advertising grow over eight times faster than brands that lack both.
Effective advertising for new products should emphasize the perceived difference to drive persuasion and memorability.
Innovations should offer something that people find helpful, appealing, and desirable to make a meaningful difference.
Launch advertising should focus on showcasing how the innovation fits into people's lives and why it's better than alternatives.
Testing creative content is vital to ensure the message gets across effectively.
Reach and advertising support are crucial for new products, as they drive brand salience and maintain or grow sales.
Cutting advertising support significantly in Year 2 can lead to a decline in new product sales.
Creating a meaningful difference and connecting it to launch content is key to successful advertising for innovations.
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