Tom Roach, BBH London’s Head of Effectiveness, discusses the importance of difference in business, marketing and creativity, and shares some key data to help you avoid drowning in the ‘sea of sameness’.

1. TOMROACH. BBH
THEVALUEOFDIFFERENCE.

2. DIFFERENCEISFARMOREPROFITABLE
Operating in uncontested market
space is far more profitable than
competing for a share of an existing
market. A study of 108 business
launches from 2004 showed that the
14% competing in uncontested market
space (‘Blue Oceans’), achieved 38%
of the total revenue impact and 61%
of the total profit impact. Whilst the
majority of 86% business launches
were competing in existing markets
(‘Red Oceans’), only achieved 39%
of the total profit impact.
Source: Blue Ocean Strategy, Kim & Mauborgne, 2004

3. DIFFERENCEDRIVESBRANDVALUE
Over a three-year period from 2015-2017
brands that were perceived to be both
highly disruptive and different increased
in brand value by 28%, whereas brands
that were perceived as both low in
disruption and differentiation declined
by -5% in an analysis by Kantar Millward
Brown.
Source: Kantar Millward Brown, BrandZ, 2017.

4. DIFFERENCEISASTRONG
PREDICTOROFGROWTH
Brands which people score strongly for
both meaning and difference grow sales
around 8.2% better in the following year
than brands which score poorly, with
difference being responsible for at least
50% of the predictive power.
Source: Admap April 2017, ‘Establish KPIs that grow brand equity’, Josh Samuel, Kantar Millward Brown’

5. PEOPLEWILLPAYA
PREMIUMFORDIFFERENCE
Kantar Millward Brown analysis shows
consumers will pay more for brands they
find meaningful and different. Meaningful
and different brands can charge 22% more
than competitors that aren’t and difference
alone accounts for 40% of this on average.
Source: Millward Brown R&D study: Shopcom and FlyBuys loyatly card data merged with equity survey responses at respondent level. Based on comparing a composite score built from meaningful and different
to price paid for actual brand purchases of 2400 consumers. Analysis includes 79 brands. Low = bottom 25%, Medium = middle 50%, High = top 25% on Premium score built from meaning and difference

6. DISTINCTIVENESSISHIGHLYMEMORABLE
The 'Von Restorff Effect' predicts that things which differ from those around them
are more likely to be remembered. Similarly, ‘The Bizarreness Effect’ predicts that
incongruent or surprising things are more memorable than expected and common ones.
Source: McDaniel & Einstein, ‘Bizarre imagery as an effective memory aid’, 1986). Pick, D. F., Sweeney, J., & Clay, J. A. (1991). Creative advertising and the von Restorff effect. Psychological Reports, 69(3), 923-926

7. DISTINCTIVEADSLOGANS
AREMOREMEMORABLE
Research into the Von Restorff effect in
creative advertising found that highly
distinctive ad slogans are much more
likely to be recalled, but only if they’re
judged to be high quality and not if
they’re substandard.
Source: Pick, D. F., Sweeney, J., & Clay, J. A. (1991). Creative advertising and the von Restorff effect. Psychological Reports, 69(3), 923-926

8. DISTINCTIVEBRANDASSETS
DRIVEADRECOGNITION
Advertising featuring known distinctive
brand assets achieved an average +34%
higher advertising recognition in a study
by Ehrenberg-Bass Institute.
Source: WARC webinar ‘Brand Assets as a Source of Strength, Jenni Romaniuk, 2014

9. ADSTHATMAKEBRANDSSEEM
DIFFERENTAREMORELIKELYTODRIVESALES
The top 1/3 ads for 'make the brand
seem really different’ in Kantar’s Link
database achieve +90% vs the bottom
1/3 on Kantar’s measure of an ad’s
likelihood to drive short-term sales
(STSL).
Source: Kantar analysis of the Link Database. Short-term Sales Likelihood (STSL) is a measure that is strongly predictive of sales shares increases

10. DISTINCTIVECAMPAIGNS
AREMOREPROFITABLE
‘Distinctive brand campaigns’ featuring
recognisable brand ideas & assets
achieved a +62% stronger short-term
profit ROI vs campaigns which didn’t
in an analysis of 1300 campaigns
by Ebiquity.
Source: Ebiquity analysis quoted in ‘Rembrandt in the attic’ by BBH/Weetabix/Ebiquity.

11. DISTINCTIVEAUDIADSCORRELATEWITHSALES
Distinctive Audi advertising correlates with
increased media driven sales (relative to
total volume sales) between 2015-2017.
Source: Kantar Media Millward Brown Audi Advertising Distinctiveness Index (How strongly do you agree or disagree that the ad makes you think this brand is really different from
others?) Marketshare Econometrics: share of total volume sales that are media driven (indexed to 2015 levels for confidentiality)

12. WHENTHEWORLDZIGS,
ZAG..