Standing out in crowded market

Knowing how to build a brand that stands out can be a real struggle. I've been diving a little deeper in research recently to understand what brands create a truly memorable, charismatic presence and how we can do the same. My goal is to help you understand how you can be different! Building a brand is something that not only takes patience, but it’s a task that's never fully finished. We grow, our business grows and, so do our brands. You want to craft things with your audience in mind and how your brand will benefit THEM. It's an ongoing reflection on whether you’re brand visually is aligned with where you are at.

I've developed 4 questions you need to be asking yourself with some fab industry leader examples of how others have tackled the same questions.

1. What are you trying to achieve through your business?

Examples:Patagonia: "We're in business to save our home planet."

Ikea: "To create a better everyday life for the many people."

TedX: "Our mission statement is to spread ideas."

2. Where does your brand take a stand against common practices?

Example: Barbie #Rolemodelcampaign

Barbie is committed to shining a light on empowering role models in an effort to inspire more girls. As a part of the Dream Gap Project, they are introducing girls to remarkable women’s stories to show them you can be anything. This includes stories from founder of Shondaland, founder of Women's Startup Lab, CEO and co-founder of Canada Learning Code and more.

Since 2015, Barbie has been on a mission to honor diverse role models, both modern-day and historical, who break boundaries in their fields to inspire the next generation of girls. Barbie is shining a light on female role models because every girl imagines she can be anything, but actually seeing that she can makes all the difference. With 81 percent* of moms globally worried about the type of role models their daughters are exposed to, Barbie is igniting a conversation around the importance of positive role models, underscoring that you can’t be what you can’t see. Barbie has honored women or “Sheroes,” including Ibtihaj Muhammad, Misty Copeland, Ava DuVernay, Eva Chen, Ashley Graham, Laurie Hernandez, Savannah Guthrie and Hoda Kotb.

This campaign is all about inspiring young women to have role models that are about more than just superficial looks, but ones that are truly making a difference in the world. The great thing about this is it's encouraging all forms of body types, looks and styles. It's encouraging girls to learn and be actively inspired.

3. How do you make the experience truly memorable for customers?

Example: Guinness tours

Guinness Storehouse, Ireland's No. 1 visitor attraction is a "must see" on any visit to Dublin. As you make your way through the space, explore the ingredients, history and culture that tell the Guinness story.

Its real name, the Guinness Storehouse, is the largest tourist attraction in Ireland.  In 2015, it was selected “Europe’s Leading Tourist Attraction” at the World Travel Awards.  Though visitors can glimpse at the factory buildings, it’s not a tour of the factory.  Rather, the Storehouse is a like an Irish and Dublin culture museum, Disneyland, beer education course, antique store, historical advertising museum, and dining establishment, all in one.  The GUINNESS brand experience, a wonderful melding of history and fresh, new, engaging technology, takes place in a 7-story building dating back to 1904.

The level of imagination, sense of discovery, variety of presentation techniques and formats, keep visitors wondering what could be next.  All elements result in an experience that surprises and delights.  It’s a virtuous cycle that fosters social media sharing and attracts more visitors to come, learn and appreciate the brand and its history.  The success metrics are impressive: Over 50% of visitors to Dublin visit the Storehouse and approximately 92% are from other countries.  The experience is a triple win that benefits the city, country and brand.

4. Do you understand your customers biggest pain points? How are you addressing those?

Example: Amazon have provided a range of solutions to a number of pain points customers have.

1. One-click purchases: We tend to take innovations like one-click buying for granted… until you go to another retail website and have to fill out multiple forms and click through multiple pages to place an order. Across the board, Amazon really has streamlined the ordering process to make it as quick and easy as possible.
2. Dash button: A small but smart and practical innovation. Amazon dash buttons are a physical manifestation of Amazon’s one-click ordering. You can buy one for $5 for major brands and then just click it when you want to reorder that item and—presto!—your order is placed.
3. Alexa: While the voice-assisted technology isn’t entirely there yet, Amazon’s voice-responding virtual assistant is helping to propel it forward. With the Amazon Echo, Tap, and Dot, Amazon is getting people accustomed to using this technology—and trying to grab their share of the market (versus competitors like Google and Apple). Amazon’s voice assistant, Alexa, is amazing at doing Amazon things (placing orders, finding music, etc.). And she can hear and respond to voice commands at a normal volume from across a noisy room, which is pretty impressive.
4. Kindle: Before the Kindle, e-books were stalling. Readers and content existed, but they weren’t breaking through. Then Amazon gave people a quick, convenient and affordable way to get books and the medium surged forward. By working to put a Kindle in the hands of as many people as possible with a low price tag, Amazon took control of the e-book market—becoming the destination for purchasing content. It harkens back to an age-old business tactic: You don’t make money on the razor, you make money on the blades.

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