How different is ‘different’ – USP for the sake of having it vs. Sustainable Competitive Advantage via ‘different’iation

On my way to work for the past couple of weeks, I have been coming across this hoarding for a large Bank, that has a tagline “A different place to work” – this is something that has me really puzzled – different how? From who? For whom? …No answer! This defies defies classical advertising teaching that says a claim made always has to have a rational or emotional support. Admittedly, Bangalore is a place for huge investment outlays, especially in the OOH media, for employee acquisition media – we see Jackets worn by Bikers saying “Are you working for Company xxx? Why not?” or hoardings talking about the unique solutions that yyy company develops for the tired shoppers…but, “different”…hullo! And, is different good, or bad?
This does however remind of advertising done for a very different product category – Food – where “different” was an excellent differentiator – maybe it was the medium (audio visual, and hence more interactive – and allowed the message to come through much clearer); maybe it was the execution – humorous/ acted out by two fairly well known people in the comedy genre – maybe it was just the fact that it struck a chord in people’s minds since it obviously reached for a “white space” – this was the Maggi Hot and Sweet Tomato Chilli Sauce campaign – it wasn’t hot/ it wasn’t sweet – it was just….different!