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In today’s crowded marketplace, capturing consumer attention, establishing brand recognition and being asked for by name is challenging. Business leaders often lose themselves in a sea of competitors, despite investing significant resources in marketing and brand development.
If you’re wondering if it might be time to reassess your brand strategy, this article includes a few tests to run against your situation and tips to help you break away from the sea of sameness.
In our organization’s 20-year history, we have completed over 200 brand strategy projects—for businesses spanning Fortune 500 companies to late-stage startups. And while the scale of the issues differs, the patterns that emerge across all are startlingly similar.
Here are the common business scenarios that indicate your brand strategy’s relevance and its ability to support your company’s growth might require a closer look. Think of this as the “test” we run to help us identify whether a brand strategy refresh may be appropriate for the business.
◗ Major growth expectations.
◗ Shifting strategy.
◗ New market entry or new product launch outside the core market.
◗ Threat from an emerging competitor.
◗ Leadership or ownership transition.
◗ Acquisition, merger or divestiture.
◗ Inability to diversify sales channels; the founder is still the primary salesperson.
◗ Tension between internal culture and external brand perceptions.
◗ Visual identity is aging and signals to the market a lack of innovation.
◗ Resist the status quo.
In every industry, there’s an insidious gravitational pull toward conformity. A set of words, colors and imagery seems to have an irresistible allure, and before you know it, everyone looks and sounds the same. Ask yourself: Are you choosing the path of sameness, or are you daring to stand apart? When you look at your product photography, mission statement and core values—if you removed your company name, could each of those be claimed by a competitor with equal relevance? If the answer is “yes,” you haven’t yet reached your unique position.
◗ It’s not what you do, it’s how you help.
It’s a common misconception that success lies in what you do. The true essence of triumph lies in how you help. Take a moment to grab two highlighters and print out four pages of your website. As you review them, mark every instance where you talk about your company, product or service with one color, and every mention of how you help your customer or the impact of your product with another. Which color dominates? If your content is inundated with self-promotion rather than customer-centric language, it’s time to reconsider your approach. After all, no one wants to read a sales pitch disguised as valuable content.
In today’s oversaturated digital landscape, if your messaging lacks resonance and relevance, you risk being overlooked amid the cacophony of voices clamoring for attention. Your customers want to see their pain in your content, not your features and benefits.
◗ You’re competing for human attention, not just industry attention.
Remember, you’re not just competing with competitors; you’re vying for attention against the entire internet. If your newsletter elicits yawns instead of engagement, it’s time to hit pause. If your website lacks personality and charm, it’s time to revamp. At the core of every transaction lies human connection. Your brand must exude humanity, authenticity and empathy to forge meaningful relationships with your audience.
◗ Your org chart is irrelevant to how you represent your products to the marketplace.
Too often, the way your product and service comes to market mirrors the internal hierarchy of your organization rather than aligning with the way customers make purchasing decisions. Simplify your offerings to make them easily understandable and accessible to your customers. Streamline the buying process, eliminate unnecessary complexity, and break down internal silos that hinder seamless customer experiences. Remember, customers don’t care about departmental structures; they care about solutions that meet their needs effortlessly.
◗ Your brand cannot surpass the vision of its leader.
Perhaps the most critical aspect of brand success is standing for something meaningful. A brand cannot surpass the vision of its leader. Consider visionary leaders like Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. They didn’t just envision their companies’ success; they foresaw their transformative impact on the world. The leader’s belief and vision serve as the ceiling for what your brand can achieve in the marketplace.
Define your brand’s purpose, values and mission with clarity and conviction. Let these principles guide every decision and action, resonating with your audience on a deeper level and fostering unwavering loyalty.
◗ Standing apart takes equal parts guts and strategy to be successful.
Standing apart in a crowded marketplace requires a bold departure from the status quo. It entails prioritizing customer-centricity over self-promotion, infusing humanity into every aspect of your brand, simplifying the buying process, and embodying a clear and compelling vision. Remember, conformity breeds invisibility, while authenticity breeds resonance.
Choose to stand apart and watch as your brand transcends mediocrity to become known for its inspiration and influence in your industry.•
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Sauder is CEO of Element Three, an Indianapolis-based marketing consultancy, and host of the podcast “Scared Confident.” She is also owner of Share Your Genius.
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