If Your Branding Strategy Fails To Answer This Ridiculously Important Question, Your Brand Will Fail

It’s hard to dispute the power of branding. It’s even harder to execute on a successful branding strategy. Here is a super quick crash course in understanding and mastering strategies for branding your company.

Branding is about perception. It is not about anything else. It is ONLY about How Consumers Perceive Your Brand… 

This is also known as positioning strategy, from the famous book by Jack Trout and Al Ries called, “Positiion, The Battle For Your Mind.” Because that is exactly what branding is, it is about owning mind share in your market.

Now that we know branding is about perception, we have to realize that perception is a product of the image you project. A stronger and more focused IMAGE will drive stronger mind share. A weaker, and generic image won’t conjure anything when consumers are exposed to your brand.

Here’s the thing… We have been programmed to believe there is no such thing as a free lunch. There is always a catch. This is the first battle you face when trying to conquer the mind. WHY ARE YOU SPECIAL!!!

The question every consumer in every decision making process asks is, “If You Are So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?” 

This question manifests itself a hundred different ways. For example, if you have a new business or startup idea and you share it with your friend, they will most likely ask some variation of, “if its such a good idea, why doesn’t it exist.” This question can manifest itself as why now, or how do people solve the problem you are trying to solve currently, or who are your competitors, but the question is the same fundamental question…

What Makes You SO SPECIAL? If You Are So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?

Have you ever cold called a prospect, cold emailed, tried outreach or knocked on a strangers door. You probably start the conversation up against  a very skeptical perspective. They are wondering, “If your startup is such a good idea, why would you need my investment money. If your product is so good, why is it so cheap? If your service is so special, why do you need to cold call?

Have you ever seen a doctor advertising? My initial reaction to such an ad is… If you are such a good doctor, why do you have to advertise to find patients?

“If You Are So Smart, Why Aren’t You Rich?!”

This is an image problem, and one that is crucial to answer in your branding strategy…

They say the purpose of a motto is to answer the question, “Why should I do business with you.” So, the next time you work on a branding strategy, spend extra time really understanding what makes you so special, and find a way to overcome the initial skepticism that comes from the mentality of, “if you are so good, why do you need me and my business?”

One simple way to overcome this objection is to be referred by friends, and clients. An introduction and social proof immediately bypasses this concern…

However, if you are advertising, and marketing yourself, be prepared with a very good answer about what makes you so different.

You can differentiate yourself with a distribution channel the way enterprise rent a car did by focusing on main street car rentals instead of the airport.

Being first in an industry or category, or even creating a brand new category is the best way to build a sustainable brand. By create, it doesn’t have to be an original idea, You just have to be the first in peoples minds associated with that category. For example, “Real Estate Crowdfunding” is a new industry with close to a dozen competitors… I don’t know who was first but I surveyed the public and found that 94% of the population never heard of any of the companies in the industry and never heard of real estate crowdfunding. Therefore, It is still a wide open branding opportunity. Although, being associated with “Crowdfunding” does run the risk of conjuring up images like lendingclub, or kickstarter, leaving the wrong perceptions in peoples heads…

Ultimately, If you can demonstrate why what you are doing is so unique, new and different that anyone else in the marketplace… Than you just solved your issue. Because if it’s brand new, that explains why you aren’t rich yet!