During a recent email exchange with an accomplished ecommerce associate, he asked me a serious question about Wisdom Essentials.  The question was, “What makes you unique? In a competitive category like CBD and natural wellness, what is your Unique Value Proposition?”

That question always sends shivers down my spine.  My mind started whirring as I reached for a blank piece of paper and started writing down all the attributes that make us different and better. (American made, lab tested, all natural, non-psychoactive, enhanced with terpenes, nootropics and nutraceuticals, free shipping, satisfaction guaranteed, …)

Any time I do these types of analysis—whether preparing a strategy or a developing a brief or building a product—it occurs to me that its rarely the ingredients that create true “uniqueness”.  After all cola is cola, lipstick is lipstick, shampoo is shampoo.  Don’t get me wrong, of course a new technology or new ingredient can give you an edge, however in the long term it’s a brands philosophy that creates a true distinction in a competitive category.

So, with that blank piece of paper staring back at me, I wrote what truly makes Wisdom Essentials unique: YOU!

It’s YOU! You Are Why We’re Unique.

When we started this brand, the Modern Midlifer was at its center.  In the shadow of “OK, Boomer” (remember that?) and the dismissiveness of ageism, we knew that focusing on you, celebrating you and supporting you (and us by the way) was and is the right thing to do.

It’s well documented by researchers like the MIT Age Lab, The Stanford Center on Longevity, multiple studies and authors that the focus on “youth” had a terrible effect on the largest growing and most important cohort in the country: YOU

Together we were treated as washed up, useless, disengaged or blissfully ignorant.  Marketing and media images portrayed us old, slow, doddering, inept and besieged by “senior moments” that were conveniently used to ignore us.

That is Not Your Truth Though, Is It?

In fact, the rising power of YOU is showing up stronger every day.  Organizations like Modern Elder Academy, Next For Me, Next Avenue and many others are reengaging the Modern Midlifer.

Authors like Kerry Hannon (In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in The New World of Work) and Bradley Schurman (The Super Age), have successfully researched and written about the power, experiences and—yes—wisdom of people like YOU.

The Wall Street Journal has written about you.  Newsweek has written about you. AdAge has written about you.  And the list goes on and on.

YOU are changing everything, from mobility, to commerce, to finance, to real estate, to entrepreneurship, to diet and exercise (Pickleball anyone!?!), including, of course, health and wellness and the desire to find alternative, plant-based therapeutics to stay well.

You Were There All Along

Michelangelo famously said about his artistry,

“The sculpture is already complete within the marble block, before I start my work. It is already there, I just have to chisel away the superfluous material.”

In this case, the same goes for what makes us different—and better.  YOU were already there, we just had to get rid of the superfluous material.

So, to answer the question from my e-commerce associate, as Iron Man said to Pepper Potts, “It’s YOU.  It’ always been you.”