Framework
Eric Ryan's 'sea of sameness' playbook for differentiating commodities
Shaan describes Method founder Eric Ryan, who walks store aisles looking for a 'sea of sameness' (55 identical green soap bottles), then differentiates with new shape, color, risque marketing, and a chemical-free angle. He repeated it with Olly vitamins and Welly band-aids.
“he goes, I walk down the aisle in a grocery store. He goes, anywhere I see a sea of sameness, like an ocean of the same thing. And he showed a picture of the soap aisle and it's like 55 green bottles of liquid that are all shaped the same and all look exactly the same.”
Steal thisFind an aisle where every product looks identical, then differentiate on shape, color, and brand personality.
Framework
Sea of sameness + culture shift: Eric Ryan's brand-building formula
Shaan recounts Method/Olly founder Eric Ryan's repeatable playbook: find a 'sea of sameness' in a retail aisle, then pair it with a cultural shift the old 50-year-old brands don't understand (e.g. readable, non-toxic ingredients for Method).
“he had this talk that I thought was the best talk there, and he said something at the beginning. It's like, yeah, he created Method Soap and like, you know, won in the soap category. Then he created Alli Vitamins and he won in the vitamin category. Now he's doing Wellii. He's going to win in the Band-Aid category. It's like, "Okay, what's the formula here? Is it just like walk down the aisle and pick one of Target?" He said, "Yeah, pretty much." He's like, "I look for a sea of sameness."”
Steal thisWalk a retail aisle, find the 'sea of sameness,' then attack it with a brand built around the current culture shift.