The Power of Being 'Familiar but Different'

You arrive at the bar.

It’s 9:00 pm.

Saturday.

There are muffled sounds of live music.

You’re pumped as you walk through the door. 

But when you glance at the stage, you’re immediately confused.

This 20-something-year-old is lying on his side, playing some bright purple instrument with dozens of pink and blue buttons. He’s singing a song you’ve never heard before.

You can’t even begin to describe what’s happening.

Seconds ago, you were all jazzed up, but now wondering, “What the heck am I listening to?”

Overwhelmed, confused, and questioning your choice of going out tonight…you grab your beer and start scrolling on your phone while waiting for your friend.

The musician has lost your attention.

But 6 minutes pass, and your ears perk up.

He’s playing the intro of “Piano Man” by Billy Joel.

Despite still being confused about this weird instrument and his stage presence, this familiar tune recaptures your attention.

Your brain thinks, “Hmm, the kid’s pretty good.”

So you put your phone down and listen intently.

Familiarity.

That was the key unlock you needed.

Familiarity matters in business (but so does being different)

Too much ‘different’ can lead to confusion, just as the strange instrument left you unsure until the familiar music played.

But not enough ‘different’ has the opposite effect — you’re just one among many.

Strike a balance between being recognizable and unique.

This is where the concept of "familiar but different" comes into play.

How to be ‘familiar but different’

I heard this concept from strategist Alex M H Smith (from this LinkedIn post).

There are two variations (depending on your type of business):

• Weirding the normal

• Normalizing the weird

For recognizable business models or offers, focus on “weirding the normal.”

This process involves adding a twist to a familiar category. This way, you stand out while remaining within a known framework.

For instance:

• Virtual Reality Travel Agency: This agency specializes in virtual reality travel experiences, allowing customers to explore destinations in VR before booking their trips.

• Data-Based Real Estate Brokerage: This brokerage targets real estate investors with data-driven insights, offering a familiar service (real estate) with a unique approach (data-based).

• Gamified Wellness Program for Remote Workers: This program incorporates game-like elements and challenges to engage remote workers in their wellness journey, turning traditional wellness initiatives into an interactive and competitive experience.

While these examples are more like niches, the same principle applies to your communication.

Side note: most small service businesses (like yours and mine) typically aren’t super weird. We’re grounded in familiar service models: advisory, strategy, coaching, consulting, or digital services. That said, to fully grasp the familiar but different concept, let’s look at other variations, “normalizing the weird.”

For highly innovative business models or offers, focus on “normalizing the weird.”

This process moves novel ideas closer to a familiar category or concept (so your customer’s brain doesn’t break).

From the business model perspective, this mainly applies to tech companies; however, the concept also applies to innovative aspects within your business (e.g., offers).

Tactically speaking, you can achieve this through positioning and messaging. Here are two that I like:

• Ground them, then innovate. Describe the offer by touching on familiar macro aspects (such as simplifying project management or automating client communication). Then, highlight the twist.

• Relate to existing models. Position your innovation alongside a familiar model, such as “We’re like Instacart for senior living facilities” or ”We’re like a newspaper for your email inbox.”

Think about ‘familiar but different’ as a designer thinks about whitespace.

The purpose of whitespace is to create space around text or images to remove chaos and create clarity.

Do that (but to your business strategy).

Too much difference can be overwhelming, while too little can be forgettable.

Thanks for reading.

— Peter

P.S. This is your last chance to get early access, special bonuses, and price discounts for my new program, $10K in One Day.

I’m closing the interest list on September 10 at midnight EST.

If you’re interested, click on the poll below.