The Word You Own

At Analytive, we are working with a client who is in an ultra-competitive niche.

On top of that, their product is not differentiated. There are small differences, but overall the product is almost a commodity.

As we’re developing a marketing and branding strategy for this client, we opened up discussions about words.

In The 22 Immutable Laws of Marketing, the authors discuss the Law of Focus. That law of focus is most simply put this way:

“A company can become incredibly successful if it can find a way to own a word in the mind of the prospect…You ‘burn’ your way into the mind by narrowing the focus to a single word or concept. It’s the ultimate marketing sacrifice.”

If you’re a brand, you need that one word.

And here’s the thing, it can’t be a word someone else has. If you’re going after the same word as someone else, you’re already in second place. And you’re very likely to always be in second place.

With said client, this is what we’re working on right now.

They want to be the “expert” in the industry. The partner that helps you solve problems.

But their competitor is already owning that word. And there’s no room for two at the top.

So what word do you own? What word are you going to own?

What is the one word that will be associated with your brand?

The beauty of marketing is that you can help define that word.

Because here’s the truth: If you don’t define that word, someone else will.

Even if you’re a small local business or a niche product company, you need to own a word.