In the beginning of her diary (author's term for this book), Ms Moon states “I wrote this book because I believe that marketing has become the soundtrack of our generation. It is setting the pulse, it is creating the rhythm” (p. 9) for what we consume, for what we crave, for what we love, and for what we hate.
Overall, she is right on target. As consumers we are constantly bombarded by marketing: through the media, through work, in our leisure time and yes, even in church! For example, marketers use the premise that “sex sells!” Almost every sitcom, sports ad, and TV program portrays sex. We set the pulse through our choices: in our values, in our dress, and in the toys we accumulate.
Ms Moon focuses on the thesis that you should set your brand up not to be different from the competition but to present a totally different expectation of what different is, to present yourself, or your brand, in a totally new light – not the same ballpark as the competitive herd.
Her diary focuses on differentiation. She refutes business's claim that differentiation is a firm's primary defense against commoditizion. Rather, Moon argues that “the more diligently firms compete with each other, the less differentiated they become (at least in the eyes of the consumer)” (p. 109). Consumers sway back and forth with the pendulum – inconsistent in their product decision making. Marketers, on the other hand, are consistent and predictable. They want to make their product better to booster its benefits of product augmentation.
In section two of her diary the author discusses three types of brands. The first is reversal brands, and she discusses how their positioning in contemporary culture appeals to our self‐righteousness. Reversal brands are brands that offer is “a value proposition that is inside out in appearance. They take away what we expect, but then give us what we don't expect” (p. 122). Reversal brands are reflective of our contemporary culture.
In discussing the second type of brand, breakaway brands, she elaborates on how breakaway brands are put off center or sometimes at the far end in the process of differentiation forcing us to see the variance. Breakaway brands are transformational devices. They give us alternative reference frames, thus encouraging us to let go of the “consumption posture we usually bring to a product and become involved with entirely new terms of engagement” (p. 147). She points out that the breakaway brand strategy offers us an alternative simplistic view of what a Breakaway Brand actually is.
The final type of branding she addresses is hostile brands. In her words hostile brands are brands “that play hard to get … they lay down a gauntlet, then dare us to run through it” (p. 167). “They are not merely polarizing, they actively summon resistance” (p. 172). They are take it or leave it brands‐not what marketers want to see or hear. They refuse to consider the possibility of modifying the product. Hostile brands have no middle ground. They either cultivate passion and loyalty or they cultivate fighters‐enemies.
She comments that her typology of the three brands is far from definite and far from complete. To be different from the competitive head one must break away from the preexisting parameters and look for a deviation from the norm that is meaningful, that resonates with buyers, as did Ikea, which offers modern, high‐quality, yet affordable furniture. In the end of her diary she describes these types of differences – one says nothing, the second speaks volumes (read her diary to discover if she is correct).
Moone states that brand loyalty is harder to come by today, yet there are many consumers in small rural towns who are brand loyal, whether it be to JC Penney, lands end or the Wal‐Mart brand.
In the section entitled Category Blue she walks us through the role of consumption. She compares consumption to a performance, quoting Shakespeare's “all the world's a stage.” We reveal who we are by what we consume; everything we do holds the potential to become a window to whom are, causing us to constantly monitor ourselves and our consumptions. Because, like it or not, consumption is the identity cloak of our culture.
In the final pages of her diary she points out that the objective as marketers is not to blend into the competitive herd. Instead, the objective is to stand out from the competitive herd. This is what it means to be different.
It is said that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastics 1:9). After reading Ms Moon's book Different, I concluded that, indeed, “there is nothing different (new) under the sun” in her book.
