"Be different" is half the advice. The other half nobody talks about: don't be too different.
The spectrum
On one end: sameness. You blend in. Nobody remembers you. You compete on price until you die.
On the other end: irrelevance. You're so different that nobody understands what you are. No category. No comparison. No purchase.
The sweet spot
The sweet spot is close enough to a known category that people understand what you do, but different enough that they can't compare you to anyone.
- FILA. People understood "sportswear" but "Italian Sport Couture" was uncopyable
- Cirque du Soleil. People understood "entertainment" but "Artistic Entertainment" had no competitor
- Too different. A brand so novel that nobody knows where to shelve it, literally or mentally
The test
Can a customer explain what you do in one sentence? Good. Can they name a direct competitor? Bad.
That's the line. Walk it carefully.