A brand is not just the face of your business, it is what people associate with you. From design to ethics, everything constitutes your brand. Whether you hire a marketing agency or do it yourself, it is imperative to keep in mind the 5 reasons your branding can fail, so you can avoid that.
5 Reasons Your Brand can Fail
1. Adapting to Change
Your brand needs to be dynamic and fluid rather than rigid. This means adapting not just to changes but also to the stimuli. That stimuli can range from the audience reactions to social media to various marketing techniques. The point is to put your brand and your audience at the forefront. Simple action and reaction – action of audience, reaction of brand, and vice versa.
2. Understanding the Customer
Your brand needs to cater to and be centred around the audience. The reasons why companies like Coca-Cola have been a market leader since the 1800s is because they have constantly made it a priority to understand what works and what doesn’t for their customers, and served them accordingly. Your brand needs to build that kind of relationship with the customers, creating an experience that is unique and relevant to them, and hence gaining their loyalty.
3. Creating a Unique Identity
Your goal with your brand should not be to be better, it should be about being different. Why? Because different is memorable and different is attractive. Everyone in the market tries to be better, and starting out, better just doesn’t cut it. Different is the aspiration. Fill in the gaps, create your own unique identifier, and communicate with your customers. Make a mark for yourself so the audience remembers you fondly.
4. Expanding All Over the Place Prematurely
While adapting to change is extremely important, so is understanding not to do it in excess. Getting on all the platforms right at the beginning will spread yourself too thin and minimize the impact you can have. It’s better to reach and impact 10 people strongly than to reach 50 and impact 5. Choose a single platform, find your brand voice, drive engagement, and then move to another platform.
5. Not Taking Promises Seriously
Failure to deliver after making a promise is the worst damage you could do to your brand. If you vouch for something, do it. If you promise something, deliver it. That’s how your brand earns loyalty.
If you’re just starting out and need support, I suggest going to a best marketing agency like Lemon Insights that specialise in helping startups make their mark in the industry.
