No matter what approach you take towards brand strategy creation, there's a fundamental choice to make: compete with the rest of the market or avoid competition by creating a monster.
1. The standard approach involves building your brand around your product or service. There's nothing wrong with this (many companies excel here) but occupying the same market sector as other companies makes competing against you a straightforward task.
2. A monster carves out their own niche by basing their brand on what they do, AND on their unique reasons for being. This gives the monster ownership over their market position and makes them almost impossible to compete against.
There are reasons to fit in. Walk down the toothpaste aisle - most of them look the same. If your product strategy is based on numbers, this approach may work - sales happen when 10,000 people walk past 300 products. However, brand connections made this way are often thin and price-based. Of course big toothpaste brands advertise, but many others survive by drafting and grabbing the outliers.
It's vital to understand that, in most sectors, other companies can easily compete with your product or service. But they can rarely compete with why you exist. So when you redirect your brand to promote your beliefs, goals, and values, it's very common to experience a paradigm shift. Potential clients who share your beliefs and values will begin to form an emotional connection with your company. Even if your competitors employ a similar strategy, their core values will likely differ, so your devoted followers will stick with you.
In addition, a powerful - and common - byproduct of adopting the monster strategy is staff and clients becoming protective of your company and values. What better way to ensure longevity and loyalty?
It's well worth your time to give this concept some thought. While you do so, keep these points in mind:
- Choose a competition-based strategy or a monster strategy.
- Be wary of hiring an agency that specializes in your industry. They may do great work and have the appropriate tools and insight, but you run the risk of looking like your competition.
- Take your time. A company is like a person. It grows from a baby into a child, a teenager, etc. What stage are you in? Make sure that your short- and long-term actions are guiding you in the correct direction.
Discuss the idea with your executive team and decide whether the monster is the right approach for your company.
