Two things that all great brands have in common

Years ago, only the big companies, the ones with large marketing budgets could dream of building successful brands.

Today, the world has changed, and many examples show that one can win in branding even without investing a lot of money.

So, where should you start if you want to build a successful product or food brand?

As it always happens, you should start from the basis: from the two things that every brand wishing to be successful should have.

The first thing is differentiation: your brand has to be perceived as different enough from the others by your target consumers. But differentiation by itself is not enough: the difference has to be relevant to buyers – in other words, your difference should allow the buyer to better reach their objectives than your competitors' brands.

The second thing is distinctiveness: your brand should not only be different, but it has to be designed (packaging, visuals, colours, etc) in a distinctive way, so it stands out on the supermarket shelves.

Differentiation and distinctiveness are nowadays equally important (well, some recent theories even come to the more extreme conclusion that distinctiveness is now more capable of explaining why a brand is successful, considering how difficult it is to differentiate brands in the modern world)

Truth is that differentiation and distinctiveness are completing each other, in the same way as substance and form, mind and body.

So, if you want to create a successful food or produce brand, first think about differentiation. Find a differentiating idea that separates your brand from the others, in a relevant way for buyers. In other words – first consider the substance, the mind.

And then - build on this idea – work on the form, on the visual, on the emotions. Create something that distinguishes your brand from the others so shoppers notice and remember your products when looking at the shelves.

Differentiation and distinctiveness: here is the winning combination that all the best food brands have in common.

If you are interested in fresh produce marketing, download the free e-book "Introduction to marketing for fresh produce"

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Pisani Produce Marketing is a consulting agency for food and produce companies that want to sell more, at higher prices in Italy. It has been founded by Maurizio Pisani, former Chiquita and Fresh Del Monte executive.

For more info:
Maurizio Pisani
maurizio@pisaniproducemarketing.com
www.pisaniproducemarketing.com