{"id":10491,"date":"2025-10-21T15:30:39","date_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:30:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10491"},"modified":"2025-10-21T15:30:39","modified_gmt":"2025-10-21T21:30:39","slug":"what-to-do-now-that-unique-isnt-unique-anymore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/attentionmedia.io\/?p=10491","title":{"rendered":"What to do now that unique isn\u2019t unique anymore"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Marketers are trained to look for what makes their brand different \u2014 to find the rational reason someone should choose them over everyone else. But what if that instinct is no longer working?<\/p>\n

In the \u201890s sitcom \u201cSeinfeld,\u201d Jerry\u2019s friend George Costanza reaches that same kind of breaking point. Nothing in his life is going right, so Jerry offers him this advice: \u201cIf every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.\u201d<\/p>\n

George decides to live by it \u2014 and Opposite George<\/a> is born.<\/p>\n

After three decades as a creative director on brands like Burger King, H&R Block and Toro, I can tell you this: George was onto something. When it comes to marketing, doing the opposite of what\u2019s expected is often what gets you noticed.<\/p>\n

Is unique still unique<\/em>?<\/h2>\n

For decades, marketers have been trained to find that single product difference \u2014 the rational reason to believe, the proof that our brand is somehow superior.<\/p>\n

Rosser Reeves introduced the unique selling proposition<\/a> in the 1920s, and it\u2019s shaped marketing ever since. It\u2019s not wrong \u2014 it\u2019s just no longer the sharp edge of persuasion.<\/p>\n

A hundred years ago, most categories had only a few competitors. Take soap: there might have been five brands at most. Standing out with a logical argument wasn\u2019t just effective, it made you memorable.<\/p>\n

Today, every category is saturated. Expecting overworked, distracted consumers to notice how you\u2019re different is like trying to follow every conversation in a crowded restaurant \u2014 it\u2019s just noise.<\/p>\n

A quick Google search for \u201csoap bar brands\u201d returns hundreds, maybe thousands. That\u2019s the reality for almost every industry now. If your marketing relies on a proposition to sell how you\u2019re unique, you\u2019re not breaking through \u2014 you\u2019re blending in.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why the unique selling proposition has become the opposite of what marketers should be doing today.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper: If your value prop sounds like everyone else\u2019s, you\u2019ve already lost<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The dawn of the unique emotional solution<\/h2>\n

Breaking expectations is what creates impact. Our brains are wired to notice what surprises us \u2014 not what we\u2019ve been trained to expect.<\/p>\n

That instinct lives in the limbic system<\/a>, the part of the brain that makes split-second decisions about what matters and what doesn\u2019t. It doesn\u2019t process logic. It responds to emotion.<\/p>\n

Your carefully crafted product benefit? It\u2019s competing with thoughts like how my kid did in school today, whether that comment from a friend was actually a joke and why the dog\u2019s been quiet for too long. Logic doesn\u2019t stand a chance against real life.<\/p>\n

The limbic system either opens the door to more information when something triggers emotion, or it shuts it just as quickly when a message feels too wordy, too irrelevant or too rational. It\u2019s not rejecting your product \u2014 it\u2019s protecting your sanity.<\/p>\n

Many marketers assume consumers will find their products as interesting as they do. That\u2019s like walking up to someone at a bar and reciting your r\u00e9sum\u00e9: \u201cI\u2019m so unique \u2014 Ivy League degree, gold watch, the works.\u201d Nobody\u2019s impressed.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t earn attention by being expected. And it\u2019s not just that people don\u2019t care. They don\u2019t have the time to decide whether they should.<\/p>\n

Dig deeper: 3 must-follow marketing copy rules to win your prospects\u2019 trust<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

How to be unexpected<\/h2>\n

Unexpected moments are memorable because they break assumed patterns. They get noticed and remembered. There are three ways to do it:\u00a0<\/p>\n