How To Build a Brand Identity That Stands Out from The Competition

If you want to build a brand identity that stands out from the competition, you’ve come to the right article. Read on!

Nowadays people are caring more about being true to their inner selves and thereby more fully embracing their individuality.

It thereby makes sense that businesses now are starting to care more about their individuality too. After all, cultural shifts often have an impact on businesses.

If you’re new to my site, I started my career working for the biggest advertising and marketing agencies in the world. (Read my story here!). I now help entrepreneurs, authors and small businesses with their branding and marketing. (Find out more about my consulting here!)

I know from my over 25 years of marketing experience, that this celebration of individuality leads to good news for your brand identity.

You now have more wiggle room to create a unique, strong brand identity

• It’s safer than ever to freely express your behind the scenes true passions for your business – and with your true voice of expression. (aka: If you’re sassy, be sassy! For example, I proudly describe my books and video courses as “self help for people who wouldn’t be caught dead doing self help!”)
• The more you honestly express your brand identity, the more you’ll be rewarded for being real with consumers – because people value “individuality” as a trait these days.
• Being different is now not a only good thing – as far as your personal fulfillment goes. Being different is also good for profits. You’ll stand out from the competition – and your individuality will garner more respect for your brand.

1. A Strong Brand Personality Stands Out From The Competition

Many businesses make the mistake of trying to blend in – and do whatever they see everybody else is doing.

However, if you embrace your brand’s unique individuality – then you will enjoy more personal fulfillment – and professional success – because you’ll stand out in the marketplace.

Yep, if you’re determined to create a magnetic brand identity, then you need to become a lighthouse of innovation in the sea of your competition.

2. A Strong Brand Experience Should be Part of Your Brand identity

If you want to succeed in building a stand out brand, you must recognize that a good product alone is not enough.

You need to offer “a brand experience” that truly connects heart to heart with customers.

Usually this emotional connection happens when you tell an interesting, emotional story – about why you’re in the business you’ve chosen.

Basically, you need to create what’s called …

• personal business narrative

Example…

• I vulnerably share my very personal story for why I created a video course about stopping emotional eating.

When you build a strong personal business narrative you wind up creating stronger trust with your consumer.

How is that?

Because when you share a narrative about why you care about the business you’re in, then consumers believe your heart is in the right place. They view you as doing what you do for all the right reasons – and feel your product must have integrity. So a good narrative is a great ingredient to include when marketing your brand.

3. A Strong Brand Ecosystem Should be Part of Your Brand Identity

You need to develop a range of products – that all relate to each other – which is called “the brand ecosystem.”

Apple is the pioneer of the brand ecosystem.

They create products and services that all relate to each other – creating a truly broad yet unique experience.

When you create a good brand ecosystem, you wind up providing a “well-rounded experience” for consumers.

How do you know you have a good brand ecosystem?

Ask yourself:

• Do any of your products practically complement each other?

If you have a clothing brand, don’t just create single pieces. Create outfits. For example, develop a pair of jeans to go with your jumper. Or if you’re in the pastry business, create a sauce to go with your chocolate au pain.

Example…

• I share a wide range of books on personal development and a variety of video courses on improving your life – each on different but complementary topics – from love, happiness, health, success, you name it!

Why do you want to create a good brand ecosystem?

• It’s great to give your engaged and loyal consumers the ability to do some “one stop shopping” at your business – and only your business.

4. Global Feedback Should be Part of Your Brand Identity

These days you want to think globally about your brand identity.

Establish a rapport with global customers.

• Customers from Brazil, India, Nigeria (and a whole host of economies), are now interacting with economic giants in the West.

How?

• Create a global feedback feature on your website and or app. (You might want to contact a software development enterprise.)
• Build a customer review, service and feedback interaction software solution.

5. Clear, Intelligent Content Should Be Part of Your Brand Identity

Businesses can no longer hide behind a veil of obscurity. Whether on purpose – or not – customers will distrust businesses that do not clearly explain and openly share lots of info about products – and future plans for more products.

Consider the difference between YouTube versus Tesla.

• When YouTube releases their blogs about big changes coming down the pipeline – they often do so with vague details. This leads users to doubt the intentions of the company.
• Tesla, on the other hand, releases blog posts with clear details of about the next phase of production – sharing insider info about when their cars will start rolling out of the factories. And when customers with pre-orders can expect their car to be delivered.

Take a leaf out of the latter’s book and create an intelligent content strategy  Share openly with your audience about your brand. You’ll garner more consumer confidence – and respect.

6. Relatable Language Should Be Part of Your Brand Identity

Customers are bombarded with advertisements all throughout the day.

Competition for attention is high. And so brands can become obsessed with capturing consumer attention within a tenth of a second.

Make sure marketing campaigns don’t come off as…

• formal sounding – trying to impress
• technical sounding – with complicated language consumer won’t understand
• marketing-sounding – gimmicky and/or slick
• brisk sounding – so fast paced it’s hard to understand

How to connect with customers:

• Be quirky in your word choice – so you sound relatable – and not like a commercial.
• Use conversational language. Marketing language doesn’t have to be uptight.
• Be humorous. Joke around with customers.
• Use stylish design
• Put memes and gifs in your content
• Utilize hashtags
• Interject your products into cultural movements and trends which people are thinking about.

Examples…

• Here I used a memorable meme and gif.
• And here I used humor in a video about curing anxiety 
• One of my biggest bestselling books has the informal title of “How To Be Happy, Dammit”
• My groundbreaking video course about toxic people has the informal title of Manage and Avoid Drama Llamas

One warning…

• Be aware not to try and be too cool. Customers will see this as disingenuous and be turned away from your brand.

Create a stand out brand with a unique brand identity

People are now more open than ever about living more individualistic lives. As a result, more people want products which appeal to their unique individuality. With this in mind, I encourage you to make sure your brand identity is one of true expression and individuality.

If you’re building a brand identity..

• Feel free to be innovative – and stand out from the crowd.
• Become aware of creating a good brand ecosystem – where products complement each other.
• Talk to your consumer in casual language they can relate to – and easily understand
• Recognize that honest, open and detailed content respects the intelligence of your customers.

Hire me as your 1-on-1 Brand Identity Consultant

I started my career working for big advertising and marketing agencies like J. Walter Thomson, Young and Rubicam and McCann Erickson.

Plus I helped beauty companies like Avon, Revlon and L’Oreal to innovate new products and promote them.

I later built my own entrepreneurial business of “self help for people who wouldn’t be caught dead doing self help” – and garnered over 1.5 million online fans.

I’d love to show you the brand honey that brings in the money. Learn more here!