In their book “Why Johnny Can’t Brand: Rediscovering the Lost Art of the Big Idea” Bill Schley and Carl Nichols Jr. share their idea of the dominant selling idea (DSI) and how to create a #1 brand. While you may be familiar with product differentiation these fellas talk about both product and brand differentiation.
Who:
Bill Schley and Carl Nichols Jr.
What:
“DSI” (dominant selling idea)
What is it?
It’s your “motivating difference” – the one difference that tips the scale in your direction versus all others at the moment of purchase. It’s what defines you as the #1 in a desired specialty… They say you have to satisfy these “Five Selling Ingredients” to make this happen…
Questions to Qualify Your DSIYou need to ask if your company or product…
- Superlative – is best in class – better than the competition. Promise me something nobody else does.
- Important – offers something that really matters. Something I really want or would be in the market for if I knew about it.
- Believable – offers a logical reason, has credibility.
- Memorable – has an emotional hook that sticks until purchase time. Do you have something not only that I need – but what I want. (This is the Free Prize)
- Tangible – offers something real. Customers trust it because they’ve experienced it and it performed as promised. Must perform in a way that’s totally aligned and consistent with all of your claims.
How is it done?
There are several key steps that Bill and Carl suggest… I’ll outline them broadly below…
- Identify and choose your unique ownable specialty.
- Create a specialty statement… articulate your specialty.
- Create the five building blocks your DSI star.
1. Base + Extenders…
- Identify your specialty by identifying or creating your ‘unique reason’ for being #1.
- Add “extenders” to your “base specialty” until you separate yourself from the pack.
- Base Specialty + (Extender + Extender + Extender) = Unique Ownable Specialty
Example:
Base Specialty = Lager Beer
Extender 1 = German (Lager Beer)
Extender 2 = Lite (German, Lager Beer)
Extender 3 = Non-Alchoholic (Lite, German, Lager Beer)
Non-Alchoholic, Lite, German, Lager Beer = Unique Ownable Specialty
2. Specialty Statement
Create for yourself a specialty statement which outlines what makes you #1.
“__________ (product/company) is the #1 choice for __________ (specialty). That’s because only __________ (product/company) has __________. (a unique reason why: a superlative ingredient, process, or service that other’s don’t).”
3. DSI Star
You need to complete all five of the star points to help us identify what our dominant selling idea (DSI) is.
- Your name. Is it meaningful? Does it convey what the company/product is about? Is it catchy and memorable?
- What is our unique ownable specialty – what do we do that no one else does?
- What tagline (or mantra*) encapsulates what you do? *More on mantra in the next post in this series about Guy Kawasaki. This is your “DSI wrapped in a magic word package.”
- What is our key image (worth 1000 words)? Not your logo… it’s an “indelible snapshot that demonstrates both performance and proof – you DSI – in a single flash.” This is your…
Drinking Straw in the Tropicana Orange.
Marlboro cowboy.
Krazy Glue guy stuck to the girder.
The fried egg (your brain on drugs) from the
Partnership for a Drug Free America.
- Define our DSI-Level Performance – this is walking the talk. Creating total consistent alignment within our business. Our ’service-level agreement’ with ourselves to maintain our DSI.
Of course, these highlights only scrape the surface of what is covered in the book. With my clients, I use this DSI work in combination with Seth’s “remarkability” and with “creating a Zag“.
Check Out
Books
- Get “Why Johnny Can’t Brand” from Amazon.
(Amazon UK)
Online
- Free downloads from “Why Johnny Can’t Brand.” The Introduction (PDF) and the First Chapter (PFD). (from the Carl and Bill’s company site David ID)
- “Dominant is Sexy” (PDF) article from The Hub on-line magazine. (Jan 2006)
- “Why Johnny Can’t Brand” listed as one of Strategy+Business Magazine’s Best Marketing Books of 2006. (may require registration to see full list)
- David ID, Carl and Bill’s brand consulting company.
See also my previous DailyFix “How to Be Different” posts:
- Seth Godin and How to Be Different: Create a Purple Cow
- Marty Neumeier and How to Be Different: Zag!
Tags: dominant+selling+idea, DSI, how+to+be+different, marty+schley, Why+Johnny+Can't+Brand
Paul,
Great post and timely too. I work with small businesses all the time that go into one business and then examine their competition and decide to COPY what they’re doing!! HUH?????
I try to impart this to all my clients–to survive you have to “zag!”
There is simply too much noise out there to replicate what the competition is doing and then expect to be the dominant player.
Specialize, specialize, specialize, even if it means abandoning an entire product/service offering that isn’t attracting attention. Become the big fish in the small pond.
Not a popular sentiment among businesses who want to take the “lazy” way out, i.e. “Hey Starbucks is making a killing selling high-end coffee, we should do the same!” (Even though we’re known for burgers and fries). Hey McD’s is making a killing making breakfast sandwiches, we should do the same!” (Even though we’re known for high-end coffee). I must note, Schultz and company abandoned this idea a few months ago, but you get the idea.
There has to be some end to this insanity! I want to frame this post and show it to my clients–it would make my job a WHOLE lot easier.
Thanks again…
Dawn… Thanks for reading DailyFix and for taking the time to comment…
I think the core of the problem is that people are lazy. It’s really hard work to figure out your zag, or dominant selling idea… People and companies often don’t want to make the investment and, instead, decide to copy.
It actually requires less investment of time and money to come out being your own leader, than to try to pull ahead of a leader you’ve photocopied.
Thanks again for the note… I’m glad this post was helpful for you. – Paul
Hi Paul,
Thanks for the response.
I find it curious that I was the only one who responded to your blog post.
Seems to me, you’ve struck a nerve with our fellow marketing colleagues–and unfortunately not in a good way.
I guess you and I zag where the others choose to zig.
Too bad.
Perhaps I should launch a comic strip featuring a large round-headed go-gettem character. I’ll call it, Zaggy!
Hear, hear! my goodness! I have come accross so many random (awful) people who ‘do branding’. Get a real branding specialist; check out what they have done; check their references for goodness sakes; get samples of their work. And then, listen when you hire them, actually listen to them . . .