Earlier this week, I was watching Seth Godin’s talk on “standing out”. In the video below, he talks about what he calls “the century of idea diffusion”. According to Seth, times have definitively changed for marketers and businesses that are hoping to get people’s attention.

The thing is: consumers don’t care about you, because they have way more choices and way fewer time. In an effort to cope, what most of them do is ignore you and continue to buy either what they’ve always bought, or what people they trust are telling them to buy.

What marketers used to is make average products for average people, or as he calls it – going for the center. Instead, if you want to get your idea adopted, market to early adopters instead and go for the niche. Perhaps not everybody wants it, but that’s okay – if you sell to people who are listening, maybe they’ll tell their friends – and they’ll start buying too. Less is more, or niche is the renewed mass.

Seth gives tons of examples that made me think the same applies in the world of branding. Nobody cares about ad campaigns that appeal to everybody, and consumers want to be blown away by your message.

So, if you want to make your brand stand out, here are a few things worth thinking about:

• What makes you unique ? If you cannot answer this question honestly, thruthfully and in under 30 seconds, chances are you’ll have no shot at standing out – ever;
• Do you tell people – in a unique way ? Forget about ad campaigns, think viral marketing or staging large-scale public events for maximum effect. Even better: can you get your customers to tell others how unique you are ?
• Is your product unique ? Does your product stand out in its appearance, smell, taste, functionality, sound or design ?
• Are your people unique ? Is the guy selling your stuff unique – does he stand out in a way that appeals to customers ?
• Is your company unique ? Do you make, design or do things differently, better, faster, nicer, smoother or tastier than anybody else out there ?

In times of mass information overload, and contrary to what marketers seem to believe, consumers do not listen to those who shout the loudest. Instead, they listen to the one who has the most captivating message.

So how about you ? What brands do you perceive as being unique ? Which products do you just love, and cannot wait to tell others about ? What are you looking for that hasn’t been invented yet ? Which company made a lasting impression recently ?

As usual, I’d love to hear from you – please post a comment below or send me an e-mail.