If you want to rise above the clutter of all the other companies out there that are providing similar products or services such as those that you offer, you have to be different. You have to be unique.
Seth Godin states it succinctly in his book Purple Cow; you have to be "remarkable."
Which leads us to a company that "gets it." Today we talk about ice cream.
Ice cream has been around for ages. There is cheap, boring ice cream on the market. There are premium products on the market, rich in taste and texture. There are super-premium products available that cost a significant amount of money for each delicious scoop, and are available in exotic flavors. And for awhile, we were all excited by the funky flavors and names offered by Ben & Jerry's. Now that they are owned by a soap company, the brand has lost a bit of its luster. But if you are looking for excitement in your ice cream, we've got the brand for you.
Start with whip-yielding
dominatrices. (Please don't ask me why I know what the plural form of dominatrix
is.) Add slogans like "God Save the Cream." Place the retail store in Selfridges,
one of the largest high-end retail locations in London. Finally, feature
a male-targeted ice cream cocktail named The Sex Pistol, which is laden
with libido-boosting ingredients akin to Viagra as well as a shot of Absinthe,
served in a pink water pistol that is ready to be... well, you get the picture,
right? Welcome to the world of The ICECREAMISTS!
It's ice cream gone bad boy. It's ice cream theater. It's a way of taking a product that is available at every gas station, every convenience store, every supermarket, every McDonald's, and then executing it in a remarkable way to make certain that the brand rises above the clutter.
Spend some time on their website - www.theicecreamists.com (Warning! It is a bit loud if you are looking at it while at work).
When visiting their site, and reading about how they position their offering, think of the things that you might be able to do to really create some uniqueness in the way your product, your service, your company, or for that matter, you are presented to your prospects or your customers. While we aren't suggesting you don a dog collar and stilettos (not that there's anything wrong with that), there are other ways in which you can become remarkable!
As for the Ice Creamists...you have to love the fun. It does bring a whole new meaning to whipped cream.
Discussion Questions: What do you think about how The Icecreamists brand has put a new twist on the ice cream category? What lessons does its early success reveal about breaking through the clutter? Can you think of other product categories that could use a similar shake-up?