I have previously discussed how important it is for a brand to strive to be different from its competition, not simply “better”. And I just reviewed a case study this morning that bolstered my belief in this principle. The perspective came from Jim Stengel, the former marketing head of Procter and Gamble, when he spoke at the Association of National Advertisers this past month. In his exhortation Stengel described how P&G’s Old Spice product had been stagnant for years, and had been consistently been losing market share to Axe for years. But Old Spice has recently made a strong surge and has been robbing consumers from Axe like never before. So what h has Old Spice done to trigger the momentum shift? Stengel says the keys to success were two actions: Deep introspection, Switching ad agencies And what did P&G discover when they analyzed their brand? They realized they had no true market image, Old Spice needed a new image. Unless you have been hiding under a rock you have seen the result of Old Spice’s evolution. I have placed an image from one of their latest commercials, Old Spice has successfully become the “older brother”of American males 14-25. This strategy and brand positioning has reborn the Old Spice product, and most importantly translated into market share ownership for Old Spice. So if you are looking to take market share from a competitor, do not look outside for your solution, take a page from the Procter and Gamble playbook, and look inside.