There was a time when being unique in marketing meant something.
In the 1950s, the legendary Rosser Reeves gave the marketing world a gift it still clings to: the unique selling proposition (USP). The idea was simple, powerful, and catchy — create a single, clear, compelling benefit that only your brand can claim. Think M&M’s: “The milk chocolate that melts in your mouth, not in your hands.”
The concept of a USP has stuck around for 60+ years.
The fact that marketers have clung so tightly to the idea of the USP isn’t surprising. It promised clarity in a chaotic market. A single, sharp point of difference. Something you could carve into the brief and rally a brand around.
But now, in a marketplace flooded with parity products, a clear and compelling USP isn’t enough. It may finally be time to really switch our focus.
But here’s the thing: That kind of uniqueness is hard to find, and (more importantly) it’s not even what customers want. These days, trying to be unique often results in forced branding acrobatics, vague superlatives, or jargon-laced mission statements that say everything and nothing all at once.
It’s time to stop chasing uniqueness and start cultivating uncommonness.
Uncommonness isn’t about staking a claim no one else can make. It’s about showing up in a way no one else does. It’s about offering something that may not be exclusive but feels rare. It’s intentional, human, and resonant.
The case for uncommon
When I use the word “uncommon” here, I don’t mean statistically rare, like a purple duck or a 24-carat gold toothbrush. Those things are rare because few exist.
But that kind of rarity doesn’t always translate to value (unless you’re in the market for a gold toothbrush). It can often feel gimmicky, disconnected, or irrelevant.
I’m talking about emotional rarity — the kind of uncommonness that feels rare because it resonates. It stands out not because it’s mathematically improbable but because it’s surprisingly human.
It’s a moment of clarity in a world of noise. A spark of generosity in a sea of automation. A brand that behaves in a way that feels unexpected, thoughtful, and real.
It’s not about being one of a kind. It’s about being proudly one of the few.
When you shift focus from being unique to being uncommon, something interesting happens. You stop chasing differentiation as the goal and start pursuing depth of meaning, resonance, and value.
You stop fixating on how you stand apart and start focusing on how you stand for something. You focus on your brand’s character.
Uncommon isn’t the loudest thing in the room — it’s the truest. It’s the coffee shop whose employees remember your name and your order. It’s the newsletter that doesn’t just inform but makes you feel seen.
For example, Mailchimp operates in one of the most commoditized B2B spaces — email marketing. The platform isn’t the most powerful, it’s not the easiest to use, and it’s not the cheapest. And Mailchimp didn’t invent the category.
But it did build a brand with uncommon character. Mailchimp leaned into a playful, irreverent voice when B2B was still addicted to blue logos and corporate jargon. It invested heavily in creative storytelling (podcasts, zines, original series), not just case studies. It turned utility into personality and personality into loyalty.
Uncommon is the difference between a safe, AI-polished brand voice that checks all the guidelines and messaging architecture boxes and one that makes you stop and say, “Whoa. I want to read that again.”
Why noise often sounds like differentiation
I see increased pressure on marketers today — especially in B2B — to find a way to differentiate or else. As a result, many teams constantly revisit their messaging to try and find some (any) unique angle to their product features and benefit promises.
The truth is, very few B2B companies have a truly unique product. And those that do have one don’t maintain that uniqueness for long.
They’re not alone in their niche. They’re not the only ones offering fast service, intelligent people, or reliable results. And trying to distill some thin sliver of difference into a tidy one-liner USP ironically often ends up sounding like everyone else — just with different punctuation.
Here’s the kicker: Landmark research from the Ehrenberg-Bass Institute shows that distinctiveness, not uniqueness, drives brand growth. Mental availability (being easy to remember and recognize) is more important than having a unique value proposition.
In other words, being memorable beats being different, especially in categories where every company claims the same benefits.
And that’s where the uncommon comes in. Uncommon brands don’t try to invent new terrain. They earn attention by walking the existing landscape in an unexpected way.
In the noisy, lookalike world of modern B2B marketing, how you show up matters more than how hard you try to stand apart.
What used to set brands apart is now table stakes: personalization, video, thought leadership, intent data, and SEO. Check. Check. Check. Everybody’s doing it. That’s why most marketing content looks like it came from the same bland content kitchen.
And AI (bless its heart, as my dad might say) has only made this worse. When used without guidance or discernment, the technology accelerates the march toward mediocrity. It absolutely helps marketers scale, but it rarely helps them find soul.
Brands need better taste more than they need better tools.
Introducing: The uncommon moat
In classic business strategy, a "moat" is your competitive advantage — the thing that keeps the competition from storming your castle.
Marketers used to build moats with proprietary technology, massive budgets, and brand awareness campaigns that blanketed every billboard and browser tab.
Now? Those moats dry up fast. Your tech will be copied. Your budget will be outbid. Your awareness can vanish in the scroll. Even your story will be retold by an AI bot.
But you can build an uncommon moat — not from what you have that others don’t, but from what you dare to show that others won’t. It’s a human voice. It’s a tasty flavor. It’s a commitment to something. It’s the stuff you can’t buy or fake.
Here’s how I think of building an uncommon moat.
Four building blocks of an uncommon moat
1. An uncommon point of view
AI can summarize. AI can paraphrase. AI can even remix. But AI can’t hold an opinion.
Your brand (and the people in your brand) should. Not to be edgy or contrarian, but to be clear and create meaning.
A sharp, uncommon point of view cuts through the content fog. It says, "We believe this." It challenges assumptions and raises stakes.
And it makes the audience feel something (even if that something is, "Whoa, that’s bold.").
Want to be uncommon? Don’t just have a take. Have a spine.
I shared a framework for a point-of-view architecture in another column.
2. Uncommon access
You may not have proprietary data. But you have something others don’t: your people, your stories, and your frontlines.
What do you see that no one else sees? What does your customer service team know that your competitors don’t? What questions do your sales reps get asked every week?
Use that. Build from that. Share the things you hear in hallways and Zoom calls. That’s gold that AI can’t mine.
3. Uncommon flavor
Today, most B2B brand voices are created by committee and edited by fear.
But the best ones? They taste like something. A little salt. A little heat. A note of cinnamon or something just a little sweet.
Don’t be afraid to show up with personality. That could be wit, warmth, weirdness, whatever your flavor is. Voice is one of the few remaining levers you control completely — and it just might be the most underutilized moat.
4. Uncommon commitment
Everyone publishes a blog post. Few build a body of work that contributes value to an industry.
Everyone launches a podcast. Few stick with it for more than 10 episodes.
Everyone shares a quote. Few build narratives that transcend years.
Uncommon commitment means showing up consistently, even when no one’s clapping (yet). It means creating rituals, not just content.
You can’t fake commitment. You can’t shortcut trust. And neither happens in a two-week go-to-market sprint.
That’s the moat.
Uncommon beauty
When you start looking at your brand through this lens, a few beautiful things begin to happen:
Your strategy gets simpler because you’re not chasing everything.
Your content gets better because it has a voice and edge.
Your audience gets stickier because they can feel you mean it.
And you get to enjoy the work again because you’re making something that matters.
The world doesn’t need more unique brands. It needs more uncommon ones. It needs the kind that dares to sound different. The kind that has something to say. The kind that shows up, over and over, with a flavor all its own.
So, go build your uncommon moat. Not to stand apart but to stand for something.
That’s what people will remember. That’s what earns trust. That’s what lasts.
It’s your story. Tell it well.
Is your work award-worthy? You’ll never know unless you enter. Visit the Content Marketing Awards website to review the rules, study past winners, and see the latest categories and deadlines.
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