Stop Being the ‘Same’: Stand Out in Crowded Markets

A loaf of bread that cost around 53p in 1995 can now be under 50p for the cheapest option in a major UK supermarket. That isn’t “customers getting a better deal”. It’s a warning sign: when a category trains people to shop on autopilot, brands become interchangeable and margins get squeezed.

If you run a UK small business, this probably feels familiar—just in a different form. On Google, on Instagram, in local service directories, and even on marketplaces, you’re often displayed in a grid where everyone looks broadly identical. Same claims. Same stock photography. Same “quality service at a great price” copy. The result is what some marketers call zombie-like behaviour: customers pick the most familiar or the cheapest and move on.

This article is part of the Startup Marketing United Kingdom series, so I’m going to translate the big-brand lesson (bread, tea, laundry, rail) into practical small business digital marketing moves you can actually execute—without a national ad budget.

Commoditisation online: why customers scroll past you

Answer first: You get commoditised when your customer can’t tell, in seconds, why you’re different—and your marketing repeats category norms instead of challenging them.

Commoditisation isn’t just about price. It’s about mental availability: whether your brand owns any distinct “real estate” in someone’s mind. When you don’t, people buy on habit, convenience, or discount.

The original piece highlights how this happens in everyday categories. Packaged bread and black tea are classic examples: shoppers often grab what they grabbed last time, barely reading the label. In digital, that same autopilot shows up as:

• Clicking the top few Google results without reading deeply
• Choosing the provider with the most reviews (even if reviews are average)
• Picking the cheapest quote because “they’re all the same anyway”
• Responding to a discount email because it’s the only thing that feels different

If your digital presence mainly competes on price or generic claims, you’re training the market to treat you like a commodity.

The “zombie brand” test (60 seconds)

Answer first: If a stranger can’t describe you after a quick glance, you’re blending in.

Open your:

1. Google Business Profile listing
2. Homepage
3. Instagram/TikTok profile

Ask: What would a customer repeat to a friend? If the only answer is your category (“a plumber in Leeds”, “a bakery in Bristol”, “a marketing agency in Manchester”), you’ve got a differentiation problem.

Win by breaking category norms (without confusing people)

Answer first: Keep the core offer familiar, but make the signals distinctive—especially your positioning, tone, and visual system.

One of the smartest points in the source article is the tension between familiarity and difference. Behavioural science work (Richard Shotton is referenced) suggests that when something is genuinely new and risky, it helps to look recognisable. But for everyday, low-engagement purchases, brands do better when they look interesting—because the customer doesn’t need “reassurance”, they need a reason to notice.

Wildfarmed (bread) is an example of deliberate rule-breaking: bright packaging that doesn’t follow aisle conventions, plus a premium positioning (regenerative wheat) in a category not used to premiumisation. Yorkshire Tea did something similar in black tea by building a distinctive voice and humour—without constantly explaining the product’s functional specs.

For small businesses, “packaging” equals your digital wrapper:

• Your profile photos and thumbnails
• Your headline and first screen of your website
• Your review snippets and case study titles
• Your recurring content formats (Reels, carousels, short emails)

Three category norms you should stop copying

Answer first: Most “blending in” happens because businesses copy the same three patterns.

1. Generic promise language

   • “Reliable, friendly, affordable” is what everyone says.
   • Replace with a specific trade-off you’re proud of: “We only take on 12 retainer clients at a time” or “We specialise in Victorian terraces”.

2. Same visual clichés

   • Smiling team with folded arms. Stock handshake. Blue gradients.
   • Swap to a consistent, recognisable system: one bold colour, one lighting style, one framing style, one icon set.

3. Price-led marketing

   • Constant offers create discount conditioning.
   • Use price strategically (see next section), but don’t let it become your main personality.

Snippet you can steal: If your marketing could be swapped with a competitor’s name and still make sense, it’s not differentiation—it’s decoration.

Discounts create “promotion-only” buyers—so use them like a scalpel

Answer first: Run fewer, more intentional promotions, or you’ll train customers to only buy when you’re cheaper.

The source cites laundry care as a category heavily shaped by promotion: one marketing manager notes that around 40% of UK consumers only buy on promotion in that context. Whether that exact behaviour maps to your niche or not, the mechanism is universal: frequent discounting conditions customers.

For UK startups and small businesses, the temptation is obvious—January is quiet, costs are up, and a quick offer can spike cashflow. The problem is what happens after:

• Your regular pricing starts to look “inflated”
• Leads stall until the next offer
• Competitors match you and you’re back to square one

A better promo structure for small business digital marketing

Answer first: Attach promotions to behaviour and boundaries, not panic.

Try one of these frameworks:

1. “Capacity-based” offers (protects margins)

   • Example: “3 onboarding slots this month” rather than “20% off”.

2. “Starter step” offers (reduces risk without cheapening you)

   • Example for services: a paid diagnostic, audit, or taster session.

3. “Bundle value” offers (adds value, not discounts)

   • Example: “Website refresh + 3 landing pages + call tracking setup”.

4. “Community offers” (builds meaning)

   • Example: local partnerships, charity-linked promotions, member-only perks.

If you must discount, do it rarely and explain the reason in plain English (end-of-season stock, new location launch, referral thank-you). Customers respect clarity; they don’t respect constant sales.

Build differentiation with the assets you already control

Answer first: Differentiation shows up in five controllable places: niche, proof, personality, productisation, and point-of-sale.

The article notes that commoditised categories are often won at the point of sale. Online, your “point of sale” is anywhere a decision happens quickly: Google results, map packs, comparison pages, social profiles, booking pages.

Here’s the practical checklist I use when helping smaller brands stop blending in.

1) Niche on purpose (and say it everywhere)

Answer first: A tight niche makes your marketing cheaper because relevance does the heavy lifting.

Examples:

• “Accountants for independent restaurants” beats “accountants in Birmingham”.
• “Emergency locksmiths for landlords and letting agents” beats “24/7 locksmith”.
• “Regenerative floristry for weddings” beats “wedding florist”.

Your niche should appear in:

• Your homepage headline
• Your Google Business Profile services/description
• Your top pinned social post
• Your email signature tagline

2) Make your proof specific, not plentiful

Answer first: One strong, specific proof point beats ten vague testimonials.

Replace “great service” reviews with prompts that generate detail:

• “What were you worried about before choosing us?”
• “What changed after 30 days?”
• “Why did you pick us over the other quotes?”

Then turn the best answers into:

• A short case study
• A before/after post
• A homepage proof block

3) Use a distinctive tone that fits your buyers

Answer first: Tone is a low-cost differentiator because most competitors are afraid to commit.

Yorkshire Tea is a reminder that you don’t have to talk about product features all day to signal quality. A consistent voice can do it.

Pick 3 tone rules and stick to them. For example:

• “We write like a straight-talking specialist, not a corporate brochure.”
• “We use local references because we’re genuinely local.”
• “We don’t overpromise; we explain trade-offs.”

4) Productise your service so it’s comparable on your terms

Answer first: Productisation stops buyers comparing you line-by-line with cheaper competitors.

If you sell a service, package it into named offers:

• “The 14-Day Lead Engine Setup”
• “Local SEO Sprint”
• “Ecommerce Conversion Tune-Up”

Each package needs:

• A clear outcome
• A clear timeline
• A clear price range
• A clear “who it’s for” and “who it’s not for”

This is how you avoid being “a marketing agency” and become the solution to a specific problem.

5) Optimise your “decision screen” for fast choice

Answer first: In commoditised markets, customers decide fast—so your digital UX has to do the work quickly.

For most small UK businesses, the decision screen is:

• Google Business Profile on mobile
• Your homepage above the fold
• A landing page from an ad

Minimum viable improvements that move the needle:

• One clear headline that states who you help and what outcome you deliver
• Three bullet proof points (numbers, constraints, guarantees, turnaround times)
• A visible next step (book, call, quote, WhatsApp)
• A “why us” section that includes a real stance (what you do differently)

A practical 14-day plan to stop blending in

Answer first: You don’t need a rebrand; you need a tight position and repeatable signals.

Days 1–3: Positioning

• Write one sentence: “We help [specific customer] get [specific outcome] without [common pain].”
• Add it to your homepage headline and Google Business Profile.

Days 4–7: Proof

• Collect 5 detailed testimonials using prompts.
• Publish 1 case study with numbers (time saved, revenue increase, reduction in hassle).

Days 8–10: Distinctive signals

• Choose one bold brand colour and one photo style.
• Create 6 social templates (same layout, different topics).

Days 11–14: Point-of-sale upgrades

• Rewrite your top 10 SEO pages’ intros to lead with differentiation.
• Add one strong CTA and one “what makes us different” block to each.

Do this and you’ll feel the shift: fewer “how cheap are you?” leads, more “are you available?” leads.

Where this fits in Startup Marketing United Kingdom

Answer first: Standing out in a commoditised category is the foundation for sustainable startup marketing in the UK—because it makes every channel work harder.

SEO performs better when your positioning is specific (higher click-through rates and better engagement). Paid social gets cheaper when your creative is distinct. Referrals increase when people can actually describe what you do. This is the unglamorous truth: differentiation isn’t a “brand project”, it’s a growth lever.

If your current marketing feels like pushing water uphill, don’t assume you need more content or more ads. Most companies get this wrong—they scale noise. Fix the signals first.

So here’s the question to end on: what’s the one category norm you’re going to stop copying this month—so customers can finally remember you?