Competition is relentless, consumers are buying more cautiously, and every brand seems to be chasing the same trends. In that environment it’s tempting to market in lockstep with your competitors: match their messaging, match their offers, match their claims.
That’s a mistake. There’s a better way to earn attention, one built on what your product actually does and why it matters to the people who buy it. I call it your Edge.
What is your Edge?
Your Edge is the clear articulation of a distinct advantage your product or service has over the competition, and it has to be an advantage your customers actually want. It answers three questions:
- What do you do exceptionally well?
- Why do you do it?
- Who benefits from that work?
Get those answers right, and you have a foundation that sets you apart while drawing customers in. Get them wrong, or skip them, and even a well-funded campaign struggles to land.
The Edge drives marketing, not the other way around
It’s easy to assume that finding a competitive advantage is marketing’s job. It isn’t. The Edge comes first, and marketing carries it to market. If your messaging isn’t built on your Edge, you’re likely wasting budget, and worse, wasting your customers’ attention.
Here’s how I think about the two:
| The Edge | Marketing |
| Is the why | Is the how |
| Is the vision | Is the story |
| Looks inward | Looks outward |
| Defines differentiation | Amplifies differentiation |
| Creates relevance | Creates response |
| Wins | Competes |
Seen side by side, the relationship is clear. Your Edge is the foundation every marketing strategy should stand on.
What your Edge is not: price
Early in my career as a product merchant, I presented a very successful product to management at a retail price of $69.50. The new head of merchandising pushed back: a fierce competitor sold a similar product for $69.00. Shouldn’t we match it?
The company’s founder stepped in with a question: “What happens when they lower their price to $65.00?”
His point was simple. Competing on price is a race to the bottom, and someone can always go lower. The conversation shifted back to what truly set our product apart: the fabrics, the construction, the details customers could feel. That was our Edge, and it held up long after the price debate was forgotten.
Find your Edge before you spend another marketing dollar
If your marketing feels like it’s working harder and harder for less return, the problem may not be the campaign. It may be the foundation underneath it.
I help brands uncover and articulate their Edge, then build the communications that carry it to market.
Let’s Explore Your Edge. No charge. No obligation.
Next in the series: Virtually Everything We Sell Is a Commodity. If price can’t set you apart and your competitors make something similar, what’s left? In Part 2, I’ll explain why the answer is almost never the product itself.
