There has never been a greater moment in history when brand differentiation has been more important. The channels we relied on for growth are busy and increasingly less effective. And as AI changes the way people search and make purchasing decisions, the race to compete has never been more brutal.
The brands at the top of the food chain are the ones we associate with a particular problem. For example, if I want running shoes, I go to Hoka. When it comes to skincare, I’m a Byoma girl and when I’m craving apple juice, Innocent quenches my thirst.
But how do these brands differentiate themselves in a crowded market? What makes them so memorable?
In this article, I share my favorite examples of companies breaking through brand differentiation and give you actionable tips on how to stand out from the crowd.
Table of contents
What is brand differentiation?
Brand differentiation allows you to gain mental space in a market where everyone is clamoring for attention. It’s not just about your logo, slogan or mission statement. This is the specific reason why someone chooses you over a competitor, even though both products could technically solve the problem.
Brand Differentiation Examples: 6 Powerful Ways to Differentiate Your Brand
1. Revolut: Build a product people can’t shut up about.
Distinguishing feature: Product-oriented growth that turns customers into customers Supporter
In an earlier one Moz Whiteboard FridayI said the most important way to build brand authority is to have a great product. There is no workaround for this. A great product keeps people on the app and keeps them coming back. That’s why I love Revolut.
When I moved to the UK in 2022 and needed a banking solution, all my friends introduced me to the app. Revolut offered multi-currency accounts with frictionless banking, and I had never seen anything like it.
It feels like an everyday app that combines banking, investing, and features you only get on a typical credit card.
A great product seems two steps ahead of you. It recognizes your needs, provides features before you ask for them, and gets you from A to Z with ease.
This is how Revolut differs from other neobanks:
- Smooth UX.
- Intuitive budgeting tools.
- Multi-currency accounts.
- A wealth of investment options that you would typically find at BlackRock or Vanguard.
- Cashback offers and purchase protection similar to a credit card.
- All-in-one wealth management app that is revolutionizing the traditional banking and investment sector.
The lesson in brand differentiation
No amount of advertising or marketing spending can save a bad product. Invest in your core experience. Build standard features and go the extra mile with forward-thinking innovations to keep users engaged.
2. Better Way: Win with Memorable Content.
Distinguishing feature: A unique blend of education, design and storytelling
I heard about it for the first time The content of Better Trail in the TOFU community when David Broderick used it as an example of intuitive content. So I took a look and was thoroughly impressed.
Google is starting to surface longer answers via AI Overviews and AI Mode, cannibalizing the traffic that normally goes to websites. Better Trail, a review site that relies on traffic and commissions to survive, is doing something different to attract and retain users.
Here’s how Better Trail differs from other review sites:
The UX is fantastic and I love how it makes the content look more like a magazine than a blog post. If you want to quickly skim through the recommendations, Skim is for you.
Need a little more detail? Choose medium. And if you have time to read the entire article, they have a 14,000 word blast for you.
Better Trail skips all the unnecessary “what is” and “how to do” SEO optimizations. Instead, the page leads directly to an overview of superlative hiking boots so that you can quickly make a choice.
When purchasing a hiking shoe, look for certain features such as comfort, foot protection and durability. Better Trail uses a rating system to rate each feature, making it easy for you to make a selection based on what is important to you.
Essentially, they’ve provided the information people look for when purchasing a product and removed hurdles that prevent a sale – all in one fell swoop.
The lesson in brand differentiation
You won’t attract and retain attention if your content looks like everyone else’s. You need a format that feels fresh and unique.
Anticipate the decisions people are trying to make and give them answers before they even know what to ask. Finally, structure your content so that it is suitable for scanners, researchers and power users alike.
3. Gong: Humanize your brand with in-house experts.
Distinguishing feature: Transform internal SMEs into multi-channel influencers
Revenue intelligence is a highly saturated niche with many competitors offering similar features. gong is one of the most expensive options in this niche. Therefore, the brand differentiates itself and captures market share by prioritizing relationships and people-led conversations, not just price or features.
I have yet to see another brand align as closely with LinkedIn as Gong does with its internal SMEs. The first time I heard about Gong was through Udi Ledergor’s LinkedIn Contents. He was so engaging that I had to check out his profile.
Since then, I’ve seen other internal SMEs like Brian LaManna (104,000), JC Pollard (48,000), and others post thoughtful, relevant content.
Your target audience (sales managers) spends a lot of time on LinkedIn, so it makes sense for Gong sales and marketing managers to build a presence there.
They are also evident at activation events such as the Celebrate Conference, which brings together Gong’s leadership team along with external experts.
In addition, there is ongoing webinars. These digital gatherings are typically co-hosted by a Gong SME and a well-known industry voice. The brand also hosts smaller in-person events that create space for interaction with its audience.
It’s really brilliant. People trust others and Gong empowers their internal experts to build thought leadership and stay top of mind.
The lesson in brand differentiation
Identify experts in your company who want to expand their personal profile and use them to strengthen the overall brand image.
Allow them to speak in their own voice and don’t try to censor their content. Create a program that helps them spread their influence outward through podcasts, webinars, and even public speaking.
If they show up in the places your audience already is, that’s a win for your brand.
4. Fenty: Stand for something bigger than yourself.
Distinguishing feature: Including products and campaigns that ensure a holistic presentation
Before FiftyBeauty brands have gotten away with exclusion for decades. Lower fundamental tones were an afterthought and were rare. Worse, the people making products for BIPOC women were not part of our communities, and it showed in the existing range.
Rihanna saw the gap and built Fenty to fill it.
She launched Fenty Beauty in 2017 with 40 foundation shades on day one because she knew what it felt like to not be able to find your makeup shade in the store.
Personally, I was thrilled! She was a disruptor, creating inclusive products that customers had been begging for but no one had created. And suddenly brands that had never prioritized inclusivity were rushing to expand their color palettes.
This is a smart move because Fenty didn’t want to compete with the big names. They focused on creating products for BIPOC women with hues that couldn’t be found elsewhere, which allowed them to carve out a niche for themselves.
Within 40 days of launching, Fenty succeeded $100,000,000 in salesproof that there is a market for diverse beauty products.
But it’s not just about inclusive shades. Fenty has regularly featured plus-size models, models with disabilities, and talent across the gender spectrum.
Everyone can see themselves in Fenty because the brand values representation.
It also helps that Rihanna is using her personal brand to maximize Fenty’s visibility. She creates tutorials that show people how to use the products, which creates a sense of ownership and community with each launch.
However, this only worked because the product is fantastic.
Fenty also gives back through the Clara Lionel Foundation to fund climate resilience, health initiatives and education for marginalized communities.
The lesson in brand differentiation
You can’t just add a value or mission statement to your website and call it an inclusive brand. You need to start at the product level and ensure your target audience is represented on internal teams.
Representation and trust go hand in hand. When they do it right, they build a movement that turns customers into brand ambassadors.
5. OpenAI: Become a habit, not just a product.
distinguishing feature: A tool that fits seamlessly into everyday workflows
There are a YouTube video from 2018 where Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAItalks about what makes a great product. He says: “If a product is so good that people spontaneously tell their friends about it, you’ve already done 80% of the work.”
Friends, I’ve been on the train, in the air, and on the beach, and in each of these places someone was talking about ChatGPT.
As I write this article, I’m noticing a pattern: A brand’s best differentiators are disruptors who innovate with a product so good that it turns the industry on its head.
OpenAI has done this with every product they have launched including:
- ChatGPT
- Sora
- DALL·E
- Whisper
- Codex
- The API
- AI agents
In particular, ChatGPT has become an everyday app. For example, I use it to find healthy recipes, troubleshoot problems with my washing machine, automate content workflows, and even help raise funds for my nonprofit. The FCDC.
OpenAI recently released ChatGPT Pulse. Pulse delivers personalized updates based on user behavior. In my opinion, this new feature increases app usage and anchors ChatGPT even more firmly in people’s daily routine.
Brands that differentiate themselves are those whose products become habits. Habit is your ranking in the user’s mind before You start a search. When a friend asks you for a recommendation, you want to be the first name they say.
The lesson in brand differentiation
The most powerful form of differentiation is having your users do the marketing for you. Focus on building a product so good that people will evangelize without incentive.
6. Liquid Death: Make fun your strategy
Distinguishing feature: Punk rock branding for canned water
Water is vital. We’re all told we should drink more of it, but not everyone enjoys it. A CivicScience survey found that nearly half of U.S. adults consume far less than the recommended amount of eight glasses per day.
The core problem is that many people view water not as something they want, but as a routine they should do.
When Liquid Death launched in 2019, it set out to set new standards almost 3,000 bottled water brandsthe brand found white space by making water Fun.
Every time I hear the word “Liquid Death” I imagine myself wielding a solid body electric guitar and playing with Brian May. This is the brand image that Liquid Death has built.
Instead of clean, calm packaging, they gave us big boys with flaming skulls and slogans like “Murder your thirst.”
Your content is ridiculous in the best possible way. They released a metal album about hydration and a children’s cartoon called ” “Murderverse” and even paid people to get Liquid Death tattoos.
And it works. Liquid Death now has over 14 million followers on Instagram and TikTok. They passed by in 2024 $333 million in retail salesa 26% increase from $263 million last year.
While most CPG brands are still trying to figure out how to connect with Gen Z and Millennials, Liquid Death has already built a cult following. The brand shows that an anti-corporate tone can work.
The lesson in brand differentiation
One reason people don’t connect with branded content is because it’s not engaging. Interactions often feel faceless and boring.
Make your brand fun. Liquid Death’s content works because it stays true to its brand and carries over to its product, marketing and brand identity. Even water can become habit-forming if marketed in an appealing way.
The 8 steps to brand differentiation
These steps are based on principles from The Difference Engine. This is a differentiation best practices model founded by HubSpot Diamond Solutions Partner, Articulate Marketing.
First, let’s look at the eight steps from a high level. We’ll then delve deeper into the details and provide you with examples that you can use as inspiration for your own efforts.
1. Your mission
Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it widely accessible and usable. This Google example shows some key elements to help you define your mission:
- Detectability: If you’re reading this, you know it’s Google’s mission.
- Ambition: “The world’s information”.
- Actions and results: “Organizing,” “accessible,” “useful.”
- Context: Industry position (in this case the technology sector).
- Short is best: A dozen words.
- Clarity: It is easy to read and understand.
Your mission should be a central goal. From here you can position your products and services and set quarterly annual goals Goals and metrics for success and develop your strategies. This is the first step. You want to use this structure to define your ambitions.
Once you identify your mission, everyone in your company will sing to the same tune. Your collective voice will carry. Stations play your tune on the radio, the album goes platinum, you become the next Adele of…HealthTech.
Everything is within reach if you make it your mission to get there.
2. Talent and culture
Every brand has two sides. The first is the brand identity in relation to customers.
Second, it’s about how your brand is positioned in your community, as an employer and as a global citizen. In other words: the culture of your company.
Too many organizations pay lip service to culture. They offer basic benefits and hang a table of “values” on the wall. It’s not enough. Talented employees will go elsewhere. But employees who enjoy a great company culture are 3.8 times more likely to be engaged. And committed and talented people make for an exceptional company.
In fact, customers are also starting to pay attention to workplace culture because they want to work with happy, supported and motivated teams – while also having business partners who champion shared values. It’s no longer just about costs and results, but also about the type of companies people want to work with long-term.
Recommendation: Consider third-party certifications such as: B. from Investors in people And B Corp. Your reviews leave nothing to hide, keeping you honest. Such certifications are proof that you are truly doing your business differently.
3. The toolkit
The best companies use the best tools.
Take Ecologis history as an example. Ecolog has developed a fantastic brand differentiation strategy. They provide unparalleled transparency around carbon offsetting and tree planting with technology that highlights the great work they do. Their climate-positive mission is timely and targeted. Your offer is in demand given the current environmental crisis. So they began to experience rapid growth. Companies want to do their part to achieve net zero. Ecologi provides the means to get there.
Although they were successful HubSpot Sales HubThey relied on multiple systems for marketing. This meant that valuable data was lost. They had limited marketing intelligence and spotty lead capture compliance. All changes relied on developer support.
Once they have been successfully introduced HubSpot’s marketing hubHowever, her team found that they could track lead sources and align their marketing and sales processes. By making optimal use of the tools, they achieved faster results.
Now they can tailor campaigns to specific industries, expand their reach and strengthen their brand reputation.
This example is just one example of how tools allow a brand to stand out from the rest. So, step three: check your toolkit.
4. Strategic blueprints
You want to have a strategic blueprint for all elements of your content and communications. These are the most important guidelines for your positioning.
A strategic blueprint is a current document that everyone in your company can access.
It’s up to you what you need a blueprint for. Most companies have the following:
- Personas: A representation of your ideal customers
- Messaging: The key messages you want to convey to your audience
- Tone of voice: Your company’s attitude; how you speak across all platforms
- Writing Style: The words and grammar you use
- Buyer Journey: The steps from the first touchpoint to becoming a paying customer
Consistency is an essential part of differentiation. When you have a consistent brand, it’s easier to tell whether your audience is reading a tweet or watching a video.
These strategic plans should be implemented with such regularity and enthusiasm that an outsider can guess their content.
Let’s put this idea into action. Try this exercise. Take one of those strong brands you know and outline a persona and the journey they take to purchase, three key messages, five attitude words and some notable styles, such as: B. the use of formal/informal words:
- Innocent drinks
- Old spice
- Apple
Once you’ve done that, try doing the same for your business.
5. Brand architecture
The fifth step is about that Establishing your visual brand. This is a huge topic, but let’s ask ourselves some important questions.
When did you last update your logo? Is it simple, modern and readable? Do you have a clearly defined visual style on your website and other channels? Are things like fonts and color palette defined in a brand book?
Has your website been updated in the last few years? Does it accurately reflect your services and story? Does it load quickly and is it easy to navigate?
As with strategic blueprints, consistency is key. When you have a consistent visual brand, it is more likely to be recognized by your audience. Therefore, they will remember who you are.
Beyond encryptiona provider of secure communications, took its visual branding a step further than most companies. Instead of having a logo and color scheme, they decided to develop a whole Brand family.
Each of their product lines has its own logo and design profile; they are harmonious and yet clear. They are all based on the same branding methodology, with the main site brand and logo being the “parent company”.
Beyond Encryption leverages this family of brands to target segmented audiences while maintaining a clear, differentiated brand.
6. Thought leadership
Thought leadership is a tactic content marketers use to build credibility for themselves or leaders within their company.
Essentially, thought leadership is brand positioning based on expertise.
The good thing about expertise is that, unlike price-based positioning, you can use it in unique and thought-provoking ways. It’s the path to long-term positioning that you build over time, not a quick and dirty race to the bottom.
Real experts have knowledge and opinions that other people would like to know. Companies with in-house experts can differentiate themselves by creating thought leadership content such as blogs and white papers, leveraging their expertise. This will help you build credibility with your audience.
What we don’t recommend, however, is positioning based on the concept Expertise (“I’m an expert, so trust me”). Thought leaders demonstrate their expertise in tangible ways. They have certifications and are evidence-based. They don’t just do it say They are experts. She show It.
The other mistake people sometimes make is confusing expertise with complexity. This means filling your content with obscure jargon about your services. That won’t work either. As Einstein put it, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.”
7. Lead generation
Once you’ve released your thought leadership content to the world, you can expect a growing audience to visit your website. From there, you’ll want to collect contact information like people’s names and email addresses.
Here’s another opportunity to differentiate yourself. In the process of lead generation and nurturing, you begin to see real commitment to your brand. It’s your chance to build a relationship with potential customers.
So many companies are dropping the ball here. You miss opportunities to acquire leads. Or they jump straight into pushy sales tactics as soon as they understand them. Here is an alternative approach:
- Inform: Provide answers to questions without asking for anything in return. Offer resources like e-books or calculators. Be helpful.
- Connect: Target content tailored to your leads’ needs, implement personalization, and make it easier to get to know your personality and your employees a little better.
- Inspire: Give interested parties the opportunity to compare their company with the competition. Offer examples of success stories. Suggest a path to the ideal outcome.
8. Iterative optimization
Finally, let’s talk about optimization.
Sir David Brailsford leads Britain’s first ever professional cycling team. At the 2008 Olympics, his team won the most gold medals in track cycling and did the same at the next Olympics.
Sir David Brailsford said Harvard Business Review“It occurred to me that we should think small, not big, and adopt a philosophy of continuous improvement by aggregating small gains. Forget perfection, focus on progress and amplify improvements.”
You don’t necessarily have to shake up your entire brand to differentiate your business from the competition. You can easily make small improvements that will make a big difference over time.
In marketing, that means observing what works, tracking and measuring the data, testing variations, and implementing the better option every time. This is how you go for gold.
These eight steps to brand differentiation are definitely not for the risk-averse. But they are aimed at ambitious companies and leaders with a growth mindset.
The difference between you and every other company out there is that you are willing to take the first step.
Differentiation only works if it is fundamentally disruptive.
You need to integrate your differentiating element into your brand from day one. It can’t be an afterthought. Today’s winning brands have created products that shape habits, tell stories worth sharing, and live their mission like a second skin.
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in September 2025 and has been updated for completeness.