What to do now that unique isn’t unique anymore

Every brand claims to be different. The ones that stand out make people feel something — not just think something.

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Marketers are trained to look for what makes their brand different — to find the rational reason someone should choose them over everyone else. But what if that instinct is no longer working?

In the ‘90s sitcom “Seinfeld,” Jerry’s friend George Costanza reaches that same kind of breaking point. Nothing in his life is going right, so Jerry offers him this advice: “If every instinct you have is wrong, then the opposite would have to be right.”

George decides to live by it — and Opposite George is born.

After three decades as a creative director on brands like Burger King, H&R Block and Toro, I can tell you this: George was onto something. When it comes to marketing, doing the opposite of what’s expected is often what gets you noticed.

Is unique still unique?

For decades, marketers have been trained to find that single product difference — the rational reason to believe, the proof that our brand is somehow superior.

Rosser Reeves introduced the unique selling proposition in the 1920s, and it’s shaped marketing ever since. It’s not wrong — it’s just no longer the sharp edge of persuasion.

A hundred years ago, most categories had only a few competitors. Take soap: there might have been five brands at most. Standing out with a logical argument wasn’t just effective, it made you memorable.

Today, every category is saturated. Expecting overworked, distracted consumers to notice how you’re different is like trying to follow every conversation in a crowded restaurant — it’s just noise.

A quick Google search for “soap bar brands” returns hundreds, maybe thousands. That’s the reality for almost every industry now. If your marketing relies on a proposition to sell how you’re unique, you’re not breaking through — you’re blending in.

That’s why the unique selling proposition has become the opposite of what marketers should be doing today.

Dig deeper: If your value prop sounds like everyone else’s, you’ve already lost

The dawn of the unique emotional solution

Breaking expectations is what creates impact. Our brains are wired to notice what surprises us — not what we’ve been trained to expect.

That instinct lives in the limbic system, the part of the brain that makes split-second decisions about what matters and what doesn’t. It doesn’t process logic. It responds to emotion.

Your carefully crafted product benefit? It’s competing with thoughts like how my kid did in school today, whether that comment from a friend was actually a joke and why the dog’s been quiet for too long. Logic doesn’t stand a chance against real life.

The limbic system either opens the door to more information when something triggers emotion, or it shuts it just as quickly when a message feels too wordy, too irrelevant or too rational. It’s not rejecting your product — it’s protecting your sanity.

Many marketers assume consumers will find their products as interesting as they do. That’s like walking up to someone at a bar and reciting your résumé: “I’m so unique — Ivy League degree, gold watch, the works.” Nobody’s impressed.

You don’t earn attention by being expected. And it’s not just that people don’t care. They don’t have the time to decide whether they should.

Dig deeper: 3 must-follow marketing copy rules to win your prospects’ trust

How to be unexpected

Unexpected moments are memorable because they break assumed patterns. They get noticed and remembered. There are three ways to do it: 

  • What you say.
  • What you do.
  • What you solve.

What you say

A story about a blind man in a park shows the power of saying something differently. He sits on a blanket with an empty coffee can and a sign that reads, “Blind. Please help.” 

A young woman walks by, picks up the sign and writes on the other side. When she returns later, his cup is full. Her new message read: “It’s a beautiful day, and I can’t see it.” 

Same situation, new framing. A few unexpected words changed how people felt, not just what they saw. That’s the power of saying things in a way that creates emotion and connection.

What you do

A few years ago, a short online film from Ford Brazil appeared in my feed. It began with a simple insight: about 7% of Brazil’s 46 million people live with disabilities, and outdated sidewalks make daily life harder.

Ford found a way to help. They developed a cargo mat that could double as a wheelchair ramp — a small innovation that created a meaningful difference.

Millions of ad dollars couldn’t match the emotional impact of that simple act. It didn’t just say Ford cared. It proved it.

What you solve

In India, Ariel laundry detergent learned that 79% of people still believed washing clothes was a woman’s job. The brand stopped talking about whiter whites and started asking a more important question: “Why are we still expecting women to do all the laundry?”

The campaign, “Share the Load,” drove sales up 76% and changed the conversation about gender roles in one of the most crowded categories in the world.

What was Ariel’s unique selling proposition? I couldn’t tell you. But its unique emotional solution was clear: Let’s start changing the story around laundry and gender roles.

They didn’t beg for attention or discuss product features. They flipped the script — the Opposite George move — and solved a problem their customers cared about.

The takeaway

Anything that makes an impact — big or small — does so because it surprises us. It breaks through the limbic system’s defenses and earns attention.

In an age where AI will surface solutions faster than ever, brand meaning will matter more than brand claims.

  • Find problems that sit just beyond your product or category.
  • Advocate for them in what you say.
  • Act on them in what you do.
  • Solve them in ways your customers will appreciate.

That’s how you take your brand from ignored to irreplaceable.

Dig deeper: 7 ways to boost customers’ emotional connection and loyalty with your brand

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Contributing authors are invited to create content for MarTech and are chosen for their expertise and contribution to the martech community. Our contributors work under the oversight of the editorial staff and contributions are checked for quality and relevance to our readers. MarTech is owned by Semrush. Contributor was not asked to make any direct or indirect mentions of Semrush. The opinions they express are their own.


About the author

Reid Holmes
Contributor
Reid Holmes is an award-winning creative director, best-selling author, award-winning keynote speaker and founder of House of Holmes Idea Labs. 

With over 30 years of experience in branding and creative strategy, he’s worked with some of the world’s most iconic marketing leaders at brands like Burger King, H&R Block, and Mayo Clinic and others. His work has been recognized by most every award show in advertising, but more importantly, it has driven results. 

Throughout his career, Reid has seen how CMOs are not set up to win. Their success is measured by the sales curve, yet the sales team reports directly to the CEO; customer Service is reporting to Operations; or most critical, paid performance marketing leaves no room for top of funnel investment. 

Reid’s mission is to change this for CMOs so they can drive the results their CEOs expect. Particularly as AI enters the chat and brand marketers are left to figure out how yet another tool must deliver results. 

This is why he wrote the book Appreciated Branding. It’s all about small bets that earn appreciation in the marketplace and in the algorithms long before asking for the sale. Proactively solving bigger problems for consumers makes the brand and its values understood, cared about, “surfaced” in AI and customers motivated to act long before the inevitable “call to action.’

Having raised three children, Reid lives in the twin cities with his wife Katy, a dog and a cat with attitude problems.