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Being different is good, even desirable in the brand world.

As opportunities arise from heightened globalization and access to hitherto inaccessible markets increases, many local, regional and global corporations are investing heavily to create strong brands that can resonate with customers and stakeholders alike.

This has resulted in hyper-competition in literally every industry. As brands proliferate in product categories, achieving and sustaining long-term success become ever more so elusive.

In order for brands to appeal to customers and attract them, despite the enormous options they have, brands should aggressively differentiate themselves from their competitors. The unique identity of the brand, accompanied by the underlying value proposition, is the starting point in the process of differentiation. Beyond this, brands resort to a wide array of strategies to help them differentiate themselves.

However, the key challenge is not just to be different for the sake of being different, but rather, to be different on aspects and dimensions that are of importance and create value to customers.

One of the most widely used differentiation strategies is to have powerful and popular endorsements from third-party intermediaries in the market. These can range from a toothpaste brand being endorsed by the dental association and a high-performance car tire being endorsed by a race driver to holiday destinations being endorsed by popular celebrities and high-technology products being endorsed by expert stars.

While this range of endorsements is indeed very wide, two fundamental aspects remain common.

First, brands seek endorsements from those that are considered popular by their target customer base, guided by the logic that general popularity might lead to a halo effect, where a brand endorsed by a popular endorser becomes popular with customers.

Second, brands seek endorsements from those that are considered experts in their fields and as such can discern the quality and the value of the brand they endorse. The logic in this strategy is to drive home the point that experts can very effectively differentiate between the high-quality and low-quality brands.

Consider the example of Nike golf equipment. While Nike has been the world leader in shoes and other general athletic equipment because of its superior quality, broader market reach, its first mover advantage in many product categories and its consistent efforts at protecting and growing the brand, it was not present at all in the golfing equipment industry. Despite its market leadership in shoes, its initial foray into golf equipment was unsuccessful. To counter that, Nike signed on golfing legend Tiger Woods to endorse its line of golfing equipment, and soon, Nike had a considerable market share in that category.

Why do endorsements work?

While the explosion of brands has undoubtedly given customers an excellent range of options to choose from, it has nonetheless made the process of making a decision highly challenging and tiring.

When options are limited, customers have an equally limited number to compare and contrast before deciding.

But when options become unlimited, customers are invariably driven to spending more time educating themselves on the available options, then searching for reviews from customers who have used those products before, and then arriving at their decision.

Endorsements work because they make the process of making a decision relatively easier for customers. When golfers were faced with the option of Nike golfing equipment, they were not sure about its lineage and quality, and as such did not have any clear evaluation criteria. Tiger Woods’ endorsement changed that because his golfing expertise and experience rubbed off on the brand, and now, customers could make a direct association between Tiger Woods and Nike’s golfing equipment. Thus, Tiger Woods made the decision process very easy for anyone considering Nike’s golfing equipment.

How best to use endorsements?

As brands realize the critical need to differentiate themselves from the competition, every brand seems to be jumping on the endorsement bandwagon, given the obvious benefits of a powerful endorsement from third-party players in the market. So, what was once a novel strategy for differentiation has quickly become a road very well traveled.

How should brands use endorsements?

Two things become important. First, the strategy to have a celebrity or expert endorse the brand should align with the positioning of the brand in the market to ensure that a consistent image is conveyed at all times.

Second, the endorsement route should be used in tandem with other brand communication strategies such that endorsements become one of the many routes the brand uses to strengthen its message instead of relying solely on endorsements.

Martin Roll is a global business and brand strategist. His Web site is at http://www.martinroll.com.