When your product and business model are 'better than X', your identity is tied to the other entity. You're always in some kind of comparative game.

A great brand is based on a belief your customers can experience in the future. This shifted perspective allows you to uncouple from the rules that makes your competitor stand out.

• Create a new category others are blind to. E.g., brands like L'Oreal and Estée Lauder defined beauty as something on the outside. Then someone dared to create a category others were blind to - wellness.
• Move from utility to lifestyle. Lifestyle brands are all about life moments that echo the brand's guiding beliefs.
• Change the focus. Brand-led companies show how they think differently by showing the user how the brand belief will change them.
• Change the reality. Smart companies reframe what people take for granted to adopt a new reality that benefits the brand. Eg., gut health or solo travel.