Brands: distinctly different or not?

Brands that aim to communicate a point of difference in their advertising are not necessarily being distinctive according to an international marketing scientist. At the recent 'Distinctiveness vs. Differentiation' workshops in Johannesburg and Cape Town, Professor Rachel Kennedy, International Marketing Scientist from the Research and Development Initiative (R&DI) in Australia, explained why this debate continues.

A guest of the Newspaper Advertising Bureau (NAB), Kennedy dissected advertisers' and consumers' behaviours with relevance to community newspapers, newspaper, magazine and television advertising.

Kennedy's research presentation indicated that there is little or no loyalty to brands, across all markets, which begs the question: 'does perceived differentiation explain why some brands are more successful than others?' She contends that the answer is that successful brands are more distinctive than others.

"Big and small brands have similar shares of unique association," she says. "It means that most brands do the same things to promote themselves but many are not distinctive enough to stand out from the clutter. Being distinctive means possessing unmistakable cues associated with your brand that make it unmistakeably obvious who is advertising.

"Effective use of visual, auditory associations, colour and symbols as part of your brand and brand communication, add to its instant recognition. This must be apparent even to buyers who hardly ever notice or think of you."