Branding in a Crowded Marketplace: Differentiation is Key

The rate at which brands succeed and fail in today's ever-changing society is mind blowing. With our fast-paced evolving world, brands are discovering that their previous strategies are no longer effective. While simply slapping a logo everywhere may have been a successful approach several years ago, today it is simply ineffective at cutting through all the market noise and attracting consumer attention. The market is overcrowded and consumers are inundated with logos on a daily basis. Brands now need a connection with the consumer. In our current marketplace, simply slapping your logo on everything just won't work anymore. Consumers want more depth than that. They want captivating stories, new experiences, and variety that is still "on brand.” Rather than simply repeating a logo, brands should adapt to the new marketplace by being unified around several small ideas that manifest themselves differently in design applications yet still feel coherent. Today’s consumers are demanding. They no longer respond to any well designed logo, but “fall in love” with brands that present a unique personality. The logo, as well as the brand, has to come across as special. Brands need to have meaning and purpose to them and a story and design appearance that customers can relate to. While this may seem like daunting news to any organization trying to build its brand, the solution to the problem of an overcrowded marketplace and increasingly fickle consumer is basic: differentiation. The fact that brands need to stand out from the competition has been a truism for as long as businesses have been in existence, but is more important than ever as more and more people start up a new company and enter an already competitive global marketplace. For any brand, big or small, it is important to look inwardly and ask yourself the following questions: • How are you different? • What do offer that none of your competitors offer? • How can you use that differentiation to craft a brand identity? The simple truth in connecting with consumers lies in these three questions. By determining what sets your brand apart, whether it is a revolutionary concept or simply excellent customer service, you can build a branding strategy around that differentiation that consumers can connect to. Standing apart from the crowd does not mean that you have to reinvent the wheel; it simply means that you need to find what makes your organization different and get that message to your customers. In today’s world, success is achieved not from posting a logo everywhere possible but building a message of uniqueness to share with your consumers.