Don’t just be another
Brands can have a busy time of it these days in grabbing the attention of their audience. As well as seeing approximately 4,000 ads a day, the average consumer now spends over twenty-four hours a week looking at their phone – that’s absolute masses of visual, video and written content that is bombarding them with information, imagery and constant brand messages.
Based on this, it would all seem like everyone has more choice than ever before when it comes to buying a certain product or looking for a particular service – but when you actually think about it, do they?
It’s all too easy for brands to get lost now, they’re all starting to look, sound and more or less be exactly the same.
More variety they say, well we say there’s less. A frantic search to be seen, rather than valued. Some brands soulless, created with little substance.
You’re not just in competition with your rivals, but for the initial and ongoing attention of your audience: how do you reach them through all the noise? How do you get people to pay attention? Why should they choose you over another – and how do you maintain their loyalty?
Well, it’s vital to create standout, rather than become just another clone.
But it’s sometimes quite difficult for brands to recognise that they might not have a clear USP or proposition – and even if they know what it is that sets them apart, how do they showcase this effectively to ensure that the average consumer can differentiate them from others on the market?
Differentiation is more important than ever before – consumers are looking for more depth from brands and it’s an ongoing challenge: to realise the need to step outside of a brands bubble and identify differences, then use those differences to be at the forefront of a consumer’s mind.
It’s all a huge part of the consumer’s decision-making process: you don’t want to run the risk of being another commodity, judged solely on price.
Ethos, the people, the quality of the service and products, will all enable routes to audience that move away from straightforward marketing messages, to engage with consumers on a much more conscious, valid and long-lasting level.
This is all about touching your audience in a way that means something to them, so that you attract, engage and retain the audience that matters most. It’s vital to create a brand that people love and that they feel that they can buy into. Depth and meaning, applied in the right way, will deliver informative, quality brand messages that are much more relevant and memorable.
So, what are we trying to say? Well, we’re in a saturated, cynical, extremely competitive world and if we could give you just one piece of advice, we’d say follow your heart, but make sure your brand creates something that simply the whole world cannot ignore.
