The best strategy: Embrace your brand’s distinctive “-ness” 

In a chaotic world, your strategy needs something simple, stable, practical, and quickly applicable. Your brand needs a single “-ness”, the one characteristic it presents in its messaging and visuals. But this single -ness does not equal uniqueness. Being the first or most innovative is useless if customers fail to recognize your brand. As Byron Sharp highlights, “In terms of positioning, the emphasis should be less on differentiation and more on establishing a distinct mental space for your brand relative to competitors.” 

Discovering your brand’s singular -ness has one key benefit: simplicity. This simplicity makes communication and creativity more straightforward. There is nothing worse than sending your creative or partner a stack of presentation pages trying to define your brand. Anyone who values conciseness and clarity will quickly become overwhelmed when bombarded with too much information that all seems equally important. 

Simplicity is also easier to control. Trying to stay on top of a brand book with 250 slides is hard and focus often shifts to trivial matters. But with just one word, just one -ness, everyone can check whether it is being followed. If you deviate from the path, a colleague will say, “But this is not our -NESS.” That is the power of a singular focus. It allows easier correction and clearer consistency. 
“It felt like the company broke overnight,” she recalled. “But now I realize, it wasn’t overnight. The cracks were always there.”

“Wildness” for Monster

Energy drinks producer Monster has chosen wildness as its central theme, showcased in its brand visuals and sponsorship choices. 

“Youthfulness” for Evian

Evian has successfully captured youthfulness, well known for its campaigns featuring dancing children and adults.

Ordinary “Durableness” helps sell Gorilla Glass

Corning, the maker of durable glass for various devices with decades of experience, was looking for a new name to distinguish them in the market and evoke the right association. Their glass products are strong and durable, so they chose the visually rich name Gorilla Glass. Thanks to the campaign with the headline “Tough yet beautiful”, this name helped turn a new technology brand into a phenomenon. Gorilla Glass is now found in the portfolios of over 30 mobile device manufacturers. For many smartphone owners, the presence of Gorilla Glass is a purchasing condition and a keyword in e-shops, one used more frequently than keywords related to specific phone models. 

“Flaminess” helped make Burger king more attractive

Burger King constantly communicates that their products are prepared on real fire, unlike others. They remind us of this in their campaign slogans (“Burger King: Flame-grilled since 1954”), website copy (“Flame-grilled difference”), and product photos with captions like “Flamin’ Juicy. Beefin’ Beefy”. Their campaigns have even shown their outlets aflame, and they teased McDonald’s executives by publishing photos of that company’s former headquarters, highlighting that they have grills in their backyard. Burger King found its individuality and advantage. The repetition of fire and flames encodes freshness and flavor without becoming boring. 

Parker sells “Gift-ness” 

When there are hundreds of pen manufacturers, you need to stand out. Most would think product-wise, improving the pen. When buying a pen, customers compare it to other pens. But there is another way. You transform a commodity into a status. Parker does not just sell pens. Parker found its opportunity and transformed an ordinary pen into a symbol, a premium gift. For years they have repeated: “The world’s most gifted pen.” How do they position it? Instead of focusing on faster, prettier, or more ecological writing, they present it as a premium pen that is a gift. 

Johnson & Johnson bet on “Transparentness” in its cosmetics 

Seeking to stay relevant to modern consumers, Johnson & Johnson conducted an 18-month global survey involving 26,000 people. The findings in 2018 revealed parental concerns about product dyes and a demand for transparency. Shifting their focus from scientific credentials to addressing these concerns, they halved their product ingredients, disclosed fragrance compositions, and switched to natural materials, eliminating phthalates, parabens, and sulfates. Product designs were also adapted for one-handed use by parents. 

“Healthiness” in the alcoholic beverages category helped White Claw 

White Claw quickly became a leader in the hard seltzer market, capitalizing on societal shifts toward health-consciousness. People wanted to enjoy alcohol without weight gain or strong effects. White Claw met this demand with its 5 percent alcohol, gluten-free, natural, and low-calorie options. The hard seltzer market in 2016 had few competitors and was perceived more like lemonade than alcohol. White Claw’s popularity surged, ironically boosted by a viral parody video that produced the catchphrase “There are no laws when you drink Claws.” This popularity drove established beer brands like Corona and Budweiser to enter the market, expanding it rapidly with over 80 new brands. With their money, the category grew. But White Claw stayed top-of-mind, because the trend was “healthiness” and it will be hard for Corona and Budweiser to catch up after years of other associations. 

Investor, marketer, and author of the bestselling The Yellow Book of Brand Building, he has worked on over 250 brand projects, 80 rebrandings, and more than a thousand advertising campaigns. His team gained experience with clients such as Allegro, Axe, Google, Kofola, L’Oréal, Mattoni, Maybelline, Red Bull, Rexona, Semtex, and Škoda Auto.