I read a great post on Integrated Brand yesterday and I wanted to share my reflections on it this morning. The point of the post was that brands should focus on building on their strengths, not focus wholly on eliminating their weaknesses. Rather than focusing on who a brand wants to be, the focus should be on who the brand already is.
There are two reasons to operate this way:
- Focusing on your strengths and competitive advantages further differentiates you from your competition. (The key argument of the article)
- Spreading your energy too thin actually weakens your brand in areas it was once strong.
One of my previous clients was an international company that, for years, had focused on a specific market. Its growth strategy involved massive acquisitions across several markets. The company then spread its brand across ALL of its new acquisitions, hoping its strength in one market would translate into immediate sales and respect in others.
That didn’t happen.
What happened instead was their already strong brand in market A lost considerable market share to its competitors. At the same time, it failed to gain the instant notoriety in new markets that the managers expected.
Building on what you already have is a phenomenal way to strengthen your brand. In fact, trying to build on anything else can be dangerous to your brand. Just like an individual can’t be an expert in every field, your brand can’t be everything to every industry. Give your customers more of what you already give them and keep the focus on what has already made you a success.
Where is your branding focus?
