The art of differentiation: How to be unique in the eyes of your market (Part 2)

We have established that differentiation is an effective method in establishing an image and reputation for your business. A company who succeeds in making a different image for himself would enjoy the benefits of increased sales and customer recall.

Having discussed how to use positioning to differentiate a business from its competitors, and considering the three factors of variety, needs-based and access-based positioning, we shall now discuss the UCD or the Unique Core Differentiator.

Once your business has decided on which of three positions (variety, needs-based position, and access-based position) it wants to take, the next step is to convey your company’s Unique Core Differentiator (UCD). The UCD is the basic message that all your communication must convey so that the market will know immediately what makes your business different from all of your other competitors.

Knowing your UCD and communicating it successfully can give you and your business a number of benefits and advantages. Among these is giving your customers a very definite psychological reason why they should bring their business to you, improving the results of your marketing efforts, and providing a rally point or focus for your team.

You must first establish what your UCD will be. You can choose from three options. Whichever among the three you decide to use will depend on you and will vary depending on certain factors in your company: location, position, status, and product or service.

Actual UCD

There are companies whose business operations, product or service has a genuine and tangible difference from their competitors.

Creating the UCD under these circumstances means highlighting that unique quality in a manner that is meaningful to your customers. Typically, any identified unique quality that is seen to provide a business with a competitive advantage cannot be sustained in the long term because competitors will try to copy it. So in order to retain your position you must be ready to continually re-invent your business.

Created UCD

A created UCD is used when a point of differentiation is created or consciously manufactured. An example could be a guarantee that no other business is able to offer or a unique form of after sales services. The trick to creating a power UCD is to look at what customers are frustrated with in terms of how your industry or market sector is doing its business and then try to find a way in which you can overcome this frustration.

Perceived UCD

A Unique Core Differentiators does not necessarily have to be unique – it only must be perceived as unique. Your business could simply be the first to express your differentiating quality or relay it in a particular manner. By taking this approach your company could be perceived as a market leader simply because it is the first to send that particular message. Advertising and marketing plays a huge role in this kind of approach because it is all about perception.

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