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We're kind of embarrassed bringing this tip to people like you- professional people, in the business of marketing products or services. But it seems like we've run into the problem a few times, so we thought the advice was worth repeating.
You can't market a product effectively until you can separate it from the competitors. ("Make it pleasingly different and demonstrably superior," as they say at Callaway Golf.) The difference can be part of the product itself, or in the way you package, offer, group or price it, but it has to be there. The Beatles looked different from other rock groups of their era. Pringles stacked their potato chips in cans. Dominos's Pizza left out in-store tables to emphasize their home delivery difference. L'Eggs changed the way pantyhose was packaged (they put them in "eggs") and the way the product was distributed (they put them in grocery stores). Regardless of your product or marketplace, before you do anything else, look for ways to create a significant difference in order to gain an advantage over competitors.
If all you can say about whatever you're marketing is that it has the best price-performance ratio in its class, you aren't doing your ad agency - or your sales force - any favors. Ask yourself what you can do to clearly separate your product from competitors'.
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