{"id":360,"date":"2018-05-19T06:00:41","date_gmt":"2018-05-19T06:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/?p=360"},"modified":"2018-05-19T06:00:41","modified_gmt":"2018-05-19T06:00:41","slug":"the-big-trap-for-brands-a-sea-of-sameness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sureshdinakaran.com\/blog\/2018\/05\/19\/the-big-trap-for-brands-a-sea-of-sameness\/","title":{"rendered":"The Big Trap for Brands: A Sea of Sameness!"},"content":{"rendered":"
The Big Trap for Brands: A Sea of Sameness<\/b><\/div>\n
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Normal needs a new normalising!<\/i><\/b><\/div>\n
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Since there is so much interest, let me start from the\u00a0bottom line.<\/b>\u00a0It is no coincidence that damn near everything that you and me buy or want to buy, seems to have a label ‘\u00a0Made in China<\/b>\u00a0‘. Now, that includes airplane wings …as well as caps!<\/div>\n
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Instant knock offs-with excellence- have become the norm. From shoes to sweaters to computers to restaurants. The quality of damn near everything is terrific. Things that work well are not unusual.\u00a0Things that don’t work are<\/b>\u00a0unusual.<\/b><\/i><\/div>\n
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By design or accident, we are afloat, awash, adrift…in a\u00a0Sea of Sameness<\/b>. High-quality sameness, but sameness nonethless.<\/div>\n
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An idea that has legs ..lasts only a few weeks, a few months at best. Then the sequel. And the sequel that follows the sequel. And so on.<\/div>\n
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Sure heard this before.\u00a0Herd mentality<\/b>. We race around. Follow each other’s tails. From\u00a0Hollywood\u00a0<\/b>to\u00a0Silicon Valley<\/b>\u00a0to\u00a0Madison Avenue<\/b>\u00a0to\u00a0Jamal Abdul Nasar Street.<\/b><\/div>\n
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As Swedish business professors\u00a0\u00a0Kjell Nordstrom<\/b>\u00a0and\u00a0Jonas Ridderstrale\u00a0<\/b>brilliantly articulated in their book ‘\u00a0Funky Business<\/b>\u00a0‘, ” The\u00a0surplus society<\/b>\u00a0has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with almost similar educational backgrounds..coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices..and similar qualities “. Ouch, that is painful!<\/div>\n
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The\u00a010X\/10X theory<\/b>\u00a0on that is that you could be 10 times better. While being ten times less different.<\/div>\n
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The basic idea that I am echoing here is that ‘\u00a0Good Stuff\u00a0<\/b>‘ is commonplace.”<\/p>\n
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“. It’s no longer exceptional for stuff (anything, everything ) to work. Which means the bar for ”\u00a0standing out\u00a0<\/b>” has risen dramatically.<\/div>\n

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In a winner takes all world,\u00a0Normal = Nothing<\/b>. So time to stop being goddamn normal.<\/div>\n
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Dovetailing seamlessly into this line of thought is the Danish\u00a0marketing phenomenon<\/b>\u00a0Jesper Kunde’s<\/b>\u00a0articulation ” Companies have defined so much\u00a0best practice<\/b>\u00a0that they are now more or less\u00a0identical.<\/b>\u00a0” It’s commoditised. Instead, how about ”\u00a0It’s yet to be practiced<\/i><\/b>\u00a0“?<\/div>\n
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In other words, the only way to make a difference is to, well, “\u00a0Make a Difference\u00a0<\/b>“.<\/div>\n
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Standing out<\/b>\u00a0in a world where most everything works is stupefying difficult. And yet some companies are making a go of it. How I hate the word ‘\u00a0normal\u00a0<\/b>‘.<\/div>\n
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We are in a ”\u00a0Don’t just sit there economy<\/i><\/b>\u00a0” – so, embrace abnormal. Never mind if you are first mover, last mover, first follower or fast follower. Go for it!<\/div>\n
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ENDS<\/b><\/div>\n
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www.groupisd.com\/story<\/b><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n
www.brandknewmag.com<\/b><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Big Trap for Brands: A Sea of Sameness Normal needs a new normalising! Since there is so much interest, let me start from the\u00a0bottom line.\u00a0It is no coincidence that damn near everything that you and me buy or want to buy, seems to have a label ‘\u00a0Made in China\u00a0‘. Now, that includes airplane wings … Continue reading “The Big Trap for Brands: A Sea of Sameness!”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[216,55,14,185,161,221,217,220,219,13,63,218],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-best-practice","tag-book","tag-brands","tag-economy","tag-excellence","tag-funky-business","tag-jesper-kunde","tag-jonas-ridderstrale","tag-kjell-nordstrom","tag-marketers","tag-marketing","tag-swedish-professors"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t