Political Differentiation

Differentiation in marketing is key, whether you are managing a budget or a premium brand. It is important that the consumer can quickly see why your product or service is better, different or beneficial to them. Whole chunks of the marketing industry are invoicing clients daily to help them with differentiation.

And then there’s UK politics. Now we know what Rizla cigarette papers are for…to fit in the gap between the main UK political parties.

But the great thing about our democracy is that we can all get involved and challenge the status quo and come up with new ways of doing things. So, well done to the parties that have differentiated themselves with ideas like:

• The 99p coin.
• The £ sterling to invite other European countries to join it.
• Increase the minimum statutory retirement age to beyond death.
• Public officials who are convicted of abuse of office offences to have their pictures printed on toilet roll packaging.

Read who is campaigning for these ideas, and a lot more from the BBC News website.

A bit more of this lateral thinking by us all may help us break out of the cycle of developing ‘me too’ offerings.

Kevin Harrington

I’m a UK-based B2B marketing consultant, specialising in strategic advice for SME business owners. I bring extensive hands-on expertise to every client engagement. Senior leadership roles across technology, media, payments, and publishing have shaped my practical approach. Highlights include serving as Chief Marketing Officer at The Panoply plc (now TPXimpact), Chief Commercial Officer at Tungsten Network, and Global Marketing Director at BBC Worldwide. Over the years, I’ve guided numerous SMEs through transformation and value creation. Helping businesses evolve and thrive is a genuine passion. Practical marketing insights and succession planning strategies are at the heart of what I do, as I believe growing a business’s asset value should be a rewarding and positive journey for every entrepreneur.

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