Establishing Greater Differentiation Amongst Building Materials Brands

In this episode of Constructive Insights, JKBuild’s building materials expert Jen Candlish talks about how building materials brands can better stand out in today’s crowded industry. By creating a differentiation strategy, brands can rise up out of the sea of sameness, communicate what really matters to their customers and, ultimately say something different.

What you’ll learn in this episode:

• How a strong differentiation strategy can help brands get noticed
• The most effective way building materials brands can create a differentiation strategy
• The three critical factors for valuable points of difference (PODs) that matter to industry professionals
• How to use a differentiation strategy to align your internal teams, ensuring one consistent story

Swimming in a sea of sameness: Building materials brands are struggling to get noticed.

Durability, energy efficiency, protection – a lot of building materials brands seem to be using the same terminology when it comes to marketing their products. One walk of a tradeshow floor and you’ll see just how similar these product benefits and features are. Yes, your building product might be durable or high performing, but if your competitors are communicating in the same way, it won’t make waves as intended.

Differentiation, or lack thereof, is a big challenge for brands in the building materials space. It’s even a challenge for us as marketers. If your competitors are all using the same building terminology for their building products and marketing, how can your products get noticed? And, more importantly, how will your customers be able to choose the right product or service for them?

By creating a strong differentiation strategy, you’ll be able to create messaging that will get your brand and building products noticed – a key factor in driving growth.

What is differentiation?

Brand differentiation is deliberately designing your product or service offering to be distinct from your competitors in both tangible and intangible ways. It’s making an intentional effort to define the unique product features and qualities that only your brand can own.

How to create a strong differentiation strategy.

Creating a differentiation strategy is difficult. It requires time, deep understanding and permission to ask yourself the hard questions. But it is an invaluable tool in setting brands up for success. A strong differentiation strategy starts with your points of difference – the heart of your approach. With these, you’ll be able to align your teams, achieve consistency in your marketing communications and be memorable to prospective customers.

Distilling your building product or building material brand’s PODs.

How many PODs should your differentiation strategy have? We recommend keeping it to the magic number of three. Why? Three is often an ideal number when it comes to memory and retention. Think about it: Three Little Pigs; Stop Drop and Roll; Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. There are so many day-to-day examples that utilize this rule of three. Having more true PODs than this can cause your audience to get overwhelmed and be less likely to retain the information you’re trying to share.

Another important note when creating your PODs is to think about the tangible and intangible qualities your brand possesses. Not only do you want to think about tangible features such as price, quality and service; you also want to consider the emotional benefits of your brand. How do you want your customers to feel about your brand or products? Aspects like confidence, inclusivity, trust or peace of mind are all examples of intangible qualities that brands can use to set themselves apart and connect with customers on a deeper level. Covering both tangible and intangible qualities will ensure you’ve covered every aspect of what your brand can offer.

The three characteristics of an effective POD.

How do you know if a point of difference is a valuable one? A good rule of thumb is that every POD should have these three characteristics: distinct, desirable, deliverable.

Distinct: Your POD is truly distinct from what other competitors are offering.

Desirable: Your POD is something that people really want or would value.

Deliverable: Your POD is a promise that your brand can deliver on, time and time again.

Let’s unpack each of these characteristics to better help you in creating a strong differentiation strategy for your brand or product.

> Be distinct.

This is the one characteristic that we find brands often miss when creating their strategy. It’s easy to point out your brand’s or product’s benefits and features, but instead of looking inward, we recommend first looking outward. Look at your competitors and the industry. What problems are they solving and what messages are they putting out to the world? What can your brand communicate that others can’t? What are the gaps that you can take advantage of so you can provide more value to your customers?

“You need to know what your competitors are putting out there in order to say something different.” – Jen Candlish

> Be desirable.

In order for your point of difference to really matter, it needs to be something your customers want. You can have a product that’s incredibly sustainable, but if your audience isn’t interested in that benefit, it will fall flat. Your features then not only have to answer a need – they have to be desired. In order to determine what those wants are, you need to get into the mindset of your customer. What motivates them in their day-to-day life? What are their pain points? How can your product or service make a difference for them in their work? By knowing the ins and outs of your customer – their challenges, their frustrations and their buying behaviours – you are better able to deliver what matters most. This approach is a perfect example of Humanology in action. We use Humanology to blend creativity rooted in human insights with data that informs and technology that amplifies to generate ever-improving results. Using a Humanology mindset, and focusing on strategy grounded in deep insight, will help you reach and connect with audiences in far more meaningful ways.

> Be deliverable.

Now that you’ve gained insights into your competitors and your customers, it’s time to look inwards. What can your brand deliver, time and time again, that is distinct and desirable? Whatever the feature or quality is, it needs to be something you can truly commit to, so that your customers will be happy and satisfied after purchase.

“If we can’t deliver on the commitments we make, and those features and benefits that we talk about, then we’re going to have unhappy customers. And at the end of the day, an unhappy customer is worse than having no customer at all.” – Jen Candlish

How does this work when differentiating corporate branding from product branding?

Of course, in the world of branding, we need to consider the fact that many organizations are set up differently, and therefore need to approach their messaging in unique ways. For example, with brands that function as part of a family, where you might have a parent brand and many different product lines, offerings and even different brands existing underneath it, a good rule of thumb is to start at the top.

If you are a brand that has different product brands to consider, start with your corporate brand, and define the PODs that make your entire operation different. Perhaps it’s your organization’s research & discovery approach, your scientific formulation to product development or your channel strategy that sets your products apart. Look at what brings your offerings together, while still focusing on standing apart from your competitors. From there, you can look to your individual products or offerings to determine how to further differentiate these key assets in meaningful ways that tie back to the parent or corporate brand. This is where your differentiation strategies get pointed and more specific to the value you drive with each product.

Remember, consistency is key.

Another incredible benefit to creating a strong differentiation strategy is that it helps to align your internal teams and ensures one consistent brand story. Whether it’s through your website, your marketing materials, tradeshow booths or more, the points of difference that you’ve created should be reflected in every single piece of communication. By repeating the same brand story throughout all of your marketing, sales teams and customer service, it becomes more memorable to your customers and solidifies what your brand truly represents.

Stay tuned for more episodes.

Stay tuned for more Constructive Insights episodes as we help drive your building materials marketing forward. Want to get in touch? Reach out to us on LinkedIn.