This document discusses ways for brands to successfully differentiate themselves, including through employee differentiation by providing superior customer service, channel differentiation by having effective distribution channels, image differentiation by appealing to customers' social and psychological needs through compelling images, service differentiation by focusing on reliability, resilience and innovativeness, and emotional branding by having a rational and emotional brand positioning that appeals to both logic and emotion. The key is for companies to find ways to perform that competitors cannot or will not match in order to avoid becoming a commodity and build a competitive advantage.