I had an intense discussion with my grandfather yesterday. We came to the conclusion that individuality , from the seventeenth century on, and in the state or quality of being an individual, indicates separateness. But now, being a human with thoughts, emotions, own needs, goals and desires is nothing that differs you from the others you find different. Not in the eyes of the observer. Feelings of individuality is therefor very personal and relative and it says far more about your selfimage than the actual footprints you have had on the world around you. You might think you, and your name with it, is special, but no one reacts more to your name than yourself. If you are to differ from all the rest of the individuals, especially from those with the same name as you, you really can’t just be different in some aspects and count that as a special characteristic feature only for you. You probably got your inspiration for those characteristic features you claim by someone, somewhere. You either are a rerun, or if you are good enough, you will be imitated. Bottom line, you are an individual, like everybody else. Nothing lifts you above others but your own mental world.
The same thing goes for brands. They are all special and unique. But you mix them up, because the companies behind the brands know more about their own uniqueness than you do. And you are the consumer. Now, I’ve seen a lot of naming of companies and products over the years that are driven by either the entrepreneur culture- heavy, philosophical and artistic names, or the engineer culture – clumsy, meaningless, and/or technical names. However, in situations where a company is just as comparable as another it matters how you present your individuality. More than often, the key product is not what separates brands from each other, and it certainly isn’t the brand name or logo. It is the off-line, off-core and non relevant way of presentation.
Here is an example, in Canada, there is a news company which according to no lesser authority than Time Magazine “offers the best international coverage this side of the BBC”. The company broadcasts fresh news and current events programs to more than 172 countries daily on the Internet and reaches a weekly television audience of 34 Million only in US, many more million viewers in Australia, UK and around Europe. The news company is also available in over 1.4 million hotels rooms as V.O.D and daily accessable to wireless mobile phones. Their digital products are cable and satellite-ready, and available for licensing in English, Spanish and French language distribution. The premium price is high but they have become extremely popular, even though they only broadcast news, as so many other news companies. The company’s name is Nakedt News ´The channel with nothing to hide`and covers business, politics, entertainment and sport. What makes them special? Their anchors, wellknowledgble women, are all naked.
Some might say it is extreme, shameful and completely irrelevant to news companies. It’s true. But they are no reruns of anything, and no one will ever think of imitating them. They claimed a guaranteed space without competitors by choosing a differentiation with no connection to the core benefit of a news company what so ever.
Individuality is not about being different inside the norm. It’s about wanting something so bad, that you chose to stand outside. And for that, you need to offer something completely new. Because seriously, nothing of substance really differs you and your company from all those others in the same industry, offering the exact same core benefits that the consumer already expects to get.
Just think of Apple. Apple is a part of my life. No longer as a company or brand that offers me useful products which I repay by staying loyal. I also use Apple as a show-piece, it fits my design interested lifestyle. I have to many Apple products in my home to be able to count them in a hurry. While, the function of a computer has nothing to do with design really. But since Apple chose to stand outside the norm of what a computer or software should or could offer, no one can really imitate them.
Rana
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