How to Make Your Brand Stand Out

We often hear a similar sentiment from both new and established brands: “with so many competitors, it’s difficult to make our brand stand out from the crowd.” There is no question that brand differentiation is a major challenge and a major opportunity for companies within all industries. There is also no question that making your brand stand out can pay huge dividends. The obvious next step is to ask how exactly can I make my brand stand out? Today, we will explore this question by examining brand identity, brand personality, brand alignment, and a unique brand message.

The Components of Brand Identity

Brand identity includes any and all “visible elements of a brand, such as color, design, and logo, that identify and distinguish the brand in consumers’ minds.” This is commonly mistaken for brand image, which refers to how the public perceives a brand. While the other components of a unique brand including personality, core message, etc. create a deep and meaningful bond with customers, the components of brand identity are the first interaction any potential customer has with your brand.

Consider some famous brands such as Mercedes Benz, Coca Cola, and Nike. Three global brands in entirely different industries. Their commonality? Most of us can almost certainly close our eyes and picture their brand identity. Mercedes Benz’ famous logo, the red and white of a coke bottle, and a box of Nike sneakers are all iconic. All of this to say that making your brand stand out starts with a strong foundation in brand identity.

Brand Personality Drives Customer Loyalty

Sticking with those same examples, what is it about Mercedez, Coca Cola and Nike that truly stand out from the crowd? Their products and packaging are iconic, but that is certainly not all. Instead, these brands further differentiate themselves from the pack using brand personality. Let’s take a deeper look:

• Mercedez is well established as a luxury brand. This is more than just a category of cars — it is a lifestyle and a personality of the brand and those who drive their vehicles. 
• Coca cola is both a classic and a symbol of youth. In this way, the brand appeals to both the older generations nostalgic for the good old days and the younger generations just looking for a soda to enjoy during the ballgame.
• Nike is all about energy, performance, and excitement. Just do it is a slogan that perfectly encapsulates the devil may care attitude of Nike’s brand. 

Aligning Brand Message with Brand Expectation

Brand identity and brand personality are perhaps the two most important aspects of any brand. Yet there is another key concept that makes brand identity, brand personality, and every other brand component truly shine: brand alignment. At a very high level, there are three basic things required to make a brand a household name:

1. Strong brand materials (brand identity, brand personality, slogans, etc.)
2. A unique brand message (this is what we’re looking for when we talking about standing out)
3. A repetition of those branding materials and brand message

Without step 3, customers will forget about your brand as fast as they learned its name. A consistent, clear, and aligned brand message is an often overlooked component of brand differentiation.

Putting it All Together to Create a Unique Brand Message

With the basics out of the way, how can we now put these concepts together and create a unique brand? Creating a unique and appealing brand message can be broken down into several components. All of these efforts should go into answering a simple question: What is your brand and what makes it different?

Build from the ground up. As stated above, focusing on the fundamentals of building a brand is the best way to stand out from the crowd. While other brands chase fads, your brand will stand on a solid foundation of design choices, logos, brand message, and brand personality.

Understand what your customers want. That being said, even the most solid and unique brands won’t deliver on sales if they don’t align with customer needs and/or expectations. Making sure that your brand message solves a customer problem is a great place to start.

Stick to your core brand while adapting to a changing market. Perhaps the most difficult aspect of branding in 2020 and beyond is the balancing act brands must perform between brand consistency and brand adaptability. There is no right or wrong answer here so long as brands stay true to their message while simultaneously letting their customers know that their voices are being heard.

Make Your Brand Stand Out with Clock Tower Insight

Clock Tower Insight is proud to work with a wide range of B2C and B2B industries, including retail, CPG, food service, and advertising organizations. We believe in using powerful, cutting edge research to offer brand-specific insights. With this insight, we work with brands to turn the data into actionable information, and eventually into business growth. Our services include brand positioning, customer experience management, and much more.

Learn more about how Clock Tower Insight can help your business today.