With so many brands on the market, grabbing attention is harder than ever before. Domestic companies are going against each other. They’re also going against the constantly encroaching brands from afar as the global market continues to grow.
Amongst all this fierce competition there is a multitude of companies that seem exactly the same. Here’s what you need to know about why so many seem the same and how to avoid blending in.
Brands Are Everywhere, but Uniqueness Is Hard to Find
New brands pop up every day. But it’s the ones that have a truly unique image that will succeed. The market is experiencing an unwelcome glut that all look, sound, and feel the same. Take the toolmaker Rigid, for example. Their brand colors, black and orange, are uncomfortably similar to those of Black & Decker. Moreover, the engineering in their tools cannot be said to be much better or different from Black & Decker either.
If you want to succeed in today’s market, you cannot let your brand fall into the background of all the noise out there. And there’s a lot of it. One of the reasons why so many brands seem the same is because newer ones actively try to copy other successful and established ones. The danger of this is the risk of diluting your own brand and watering it down into something completely un-unique.
Another reason why many brands have become so similar is a lack of creativity. More specifically, there are too many managers who do not recognize the value of creativity. If there’s no value, there is no development. The result is a slew of uncreative ones with generic marketing that all seem the same.
It’s in the Name
One of the most magical abilities of branding is the ability to convince consumers to pay significantly higher prices on merchandise that’s essentially the same as what’s offered by other brands at lower prices.
Take the auto industry for example. Through the magic people refer to as, “badge engineering” an automaker can source practically the same models from competitors and sell them at higher prices. The ability to command higher prices for the same thing is a wonderful and admirable achievement.
Branding sorcery can make a customer be happy to pay $31,000 more for an Aston Martin that’s basically the same car like a Toyota. While there is very little difference in engineering, there is a massive difference between these brands psychologically. Consumers perceive Aston Martin as significantly superior to Toyota. That perception is no accident. It is a direct result of brilliant branding and marketing efforts that Aston Martin pursued to achieve its enviable and lofty position.
Aston Martin serves as an example to learn from and actively emulate. When you partner with the right branding experts, especially ones with unique knowledge in color management, your brand can follow the same path to greatness.
The Importance of Differentiation
Differentiation has always been important for brands. Today, it is more important than ever. Younger demographics like millennials are expecting high levels of uniqueness not only in service but also in branding. Businesses who want to succeed and capture more market share need to get with the program and start differentiating before they’re swallowed up in the sea of clones and lose their voice.
There are a number of ways to make your brand more unique and set it apart from the rest. First, you need to start working with a company that specializes in color management and digital marketing. These strategic partners can help develop brand colors that will stand out and use digital marketing to reach a larger audience.