Oh hey, how’s it going.
Having a daughter in high school and volunteering as a high school mountain bike coach, I’ve lately been on the front lines of observing good ol’ Abraham Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.
I’m not sure if Abraham had a daughter and I know he wasn’t a mountain bike coach, but that whole love and belonging chunk of the pyramid is strong in these high schoolers.
As humans, we have a real yearning to belong. We have a need to be part of a group.
But the thing that I’ve been intrigued by with these high schoolers is something Maslow doesn’t quite explain—they also really (really) want to believe that they’re different and unique from the people in the group.
But don’t worry, there’s a whole other theory about this called “optimal distinctiveness”. Basically, we want to belong, but we also want to feel like we’re not just like everyone else, which creates a pretty interesting balancing act between fitting in and maintaining the things that make us us.
I’m talking about high school here, but I could just as easily be talking about brands. So let’s make that shift.
We want to stand out, but the pull to be part of the group is strong. And sometimes the need to belong starts making all our weird/interesting/distinctive parts a bit blurry.
And then over time, little by little, the “different” parts get negotiated out. We start using the same language, showing the same kinds of people in the same kinds of places, and telling ourselves that’s just what the category looks like.
Eventually you’re left with something everyone can agree with. Including your competitors.
Where’s the line between belonging and disappearing into the group? I’m pretty sure brands wrestle with this just as much as high school kids do.
SO GUESS WHAT? We made a tool called the Blur Report.
What’s the Blur Report you ask? 🙂
Well, it’s a diagnostic tool designed to show how clearly a brand stands out in a crowded category.
It examines fuzzy overlaps where brands begin to sound, look, and compete alike—from category conventions and brand point of view to customer relevance and selling approach.
Give it try for your brand. I guarantee you’ll get some interesting insight out of it. And anyway, it’s free, so what do you have to lose?
We’ll see you out there.
Robb