If you’ve been following along with us, you’ll know how crucial we believe the “A-ha Moment” is when developing a successful marketing strategy. 

That single moment of clarity can be the spark that makes your product launch not just good—but unforgettable.

At Mortar, we use a simple 5-step framework to help teams like yours uncover that A-ha Moment and leverage it to engage your audience. 

Step 1 –

Lay the groundwork in a workshop designed to bring out your team’s best insights.

Here’s a sneak peek at what we do:

1. Start with the Market & Your Team
   Review the market, talk to key stakeholders, and conduct one-on-one interviews with your target audience. Then, gather your team for a workshop aimed at finding that one, powerful insight that’ll make buyers say, “This is exactly what we need.”
2. Get Creative
   Use techniques like Edward de Bono’s 6 Thinking Hats or role-playing exercises (imagine your CEO pitching as if they were the head of your biggest rival!). These methods spark the game-changing ideas that set you apart.
3. Chase Alignment with the Postcard Exercise
   Before wrapping up, ask everyone to write a “postcard” to their target audience, focusing on what makes them unique. This simple exercise clarifies the approach that will resonate most.

By the end of the session, you’ll have the insights you need to identify your A-ha Moment. And trust us—this process works. 

We’ve seen it redefine entire categories, like helping a leader in classroom hearing evolve from Soundfield Systems to Active Learning Systems.

If you’re ready to make your next launch unforgettable, let’s connect. we’d love to help you create a campaign that’s powerful, deliberate, and designed for maximum impact. 

The launch of Varian’s Ethos ™ therapy today marks Mortar’s fifth foray into machine intelligence* this year.

We kicked off 2019 with Cloudability and machine learning (ML) in the cloud. Apptio snatched up Cloudability earlier this year.

We featured ExtraHop’s use of ML to stop threats outside the corporate firewall in their 2019 campaign. (See the Rise Above the Noise video here).

Our friends at global hearing aid giant Phonak (the parent of Mortar’s client Advanced Bionics) built AI into their new Marvel hearing aids, delighting the hard-of-hearing (the sound from the new devices is apparently incredible!) and resulting in a massive spike in earnings (and, of course, exciting implications for Cochlear Implant recipients—but we can’t talk about that yet. More on that in a future post).

Our most recent project, e-commerce disruptor CommerceIQ is built around using AI to unify Advertising and Sales on Amazon.com.

Of Sunday’s launch of Ethos ™ therapy, Varian said their innovation “marks the moment when artificial intelligence and adaptive therapy combine to create the world’s first application of Adaptive Intelligence”. Varian goes on to say their breakthrough will “inspire healthcare professionals worldwide to reimagine cancer care”.

It’s not quite the mean, machine-driven apocalypse that James Cameron presented in Terminator. But hey, there’s still time.

From the cloud to advanced hearing loss to empty shopping carts, and eliminating cancer, we’re hoping machine intelligence can continue to make our lives easier and yes, maybe, curb suffering. 

Wanna be a part of it? We’re hiring.

* At Mortar Machine Intelligence means the various flavors of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI). And yes, dear readers, although we know that you know that we know there is a difference between the two, confusion about the difference is undeniably rampant.

Yes, Eskimos really do have more than 50 different words for snow.

Why there’s “aqilokoq” for “softly falling snow” and “piegnartoq” for  great sledding, to “matsaaruti” for wet snow that can be used to ice a sleigh’s runners, “pukak,” for crystalline powder snow that looks like salt. The Inupiaq of Wales, Alaska, use 70 terms for ice ranging from “utuqaq,” ice that lasts year after year; “siguliaksraq,” the patchwork layer of crystals that forms as the sea begins to freeze; to “auniq,” ice that is filled with holes, like Swiss cheese. (See this article in the WashPost, doubters).

If our Northernmost neighbors can find room for multiple ways to describe the most plentiful stuff they know, surely we, dear marketer, can find ways to separate our products and services from everyone else.

Writing for the Harvard Business Review in 1980, Theodore Levitt forcefully pointed out that there is no such thing as a commodity—in consumer or industrial goods. In the marketplace differentiation is everywhere.

But why? Why is differentiation so critical to marketing?

Simply put, we will pay more for what we perceive to be difference.  And difference can be produced by pulling on one of at least seven distinct levers:

1. Target: Because not everyone cares about what your organization does or makes, we must learn early to focus on those that matter: the people who need what you make, and desire your solution. Insights into your target audience that lead to a superior understanding of motivation can go a long way to drawing a firm line around how you solve problems others can’t.
2. Purpose: Customers can be very tribal: they find community in shared ideas. We see the differentiating power of purpose in politics, social networks, car ownership, and American’s odd belief that peanut butter pairs well with chocolate.  How you state your purpose can set your offering apart. Using your product can be self-affirming and rewarding.
3. Story: The story you tell about your product and your heritage can be a powerful motivator and a distinct feature. Many of our favorite brands are as much story as they are performance—think about how you feel about Apple’s genesis or Nike’s much applauded transition from footwear manufacturer to champion of fitness everywhere. How you tell your story gets you noticed and feeds word-of-mouth.
4. Experience: What you are like to do business with can be very attractive—how we meet customer need can be fulfilling and valuable. Southwest, Nordstrom, Zappos and Rackspace have all made a name for themselves by providing stellar customer service.
5. Quality: Here in California, In-N-Out burger still attracts long lines of passionate customers despite the availability of much cheaper, more readily available burgers. One reason for In-N-Out’s continued ascendancy is the quality of their product, which, unlike its rivals, actually matches the product it advertises (and tastes awesome IMHO).
6. Strengths: This is an easy one. If you are well-known for a specific attribute others find valuable, differentiation is often a given. We see strength in Amazon’s domination of the cloud in terms of high awareness, robust services and widespread use.
7. Attitude: We love an underdog. We love a rebel. We often seek out and reward those who challenge the status quo because they see a need to do something different. And we agree with them. We see this effect in the zeal of Trump and AOC supporters alike. Many of our favorite brands started life with a novel take on the world. See how Eat24 upended online food delivery by attacking cooking—and ignoring their rivals claims to have organized the Internet. How we talk to the world about what we do—and don’t–can be as liberating and refreshing as our products.

Ultimately, effective brand differentiation needs to create value in the minds of its intended customer. And to do that you must pull on one or more of the difference levers to set yourself apart.

Making the decision to be different is a vital part of any marketing strategy. If you’d like to know how we can help you pull that off, send us a email.

The much-vaunted Sd & A-ha Mortar brand development process in one.