Build A Profitable Brand. Be Different Not Better

Build a brand is one of the most important steps in building a profitable business. It gives your company a voice and attracts the right customers.

However, to many companies, this is a challenge. It doesn't matter if you are established and or a start-up. Budgets can be tight and resources can be limited. Not to mention, a lot of business owners only think of building a brand as getting a logo or watermark created (that's another article in the making).

Lastly, when creating a brand identity, most people look at those dominating their industries and try to "one-up" them or do what they do... just better.

Being better is a recipe for failure and here's why:

You align Yourself with your competition

You can't beat them if you join them.

When you try to be better, your potential customers associate you with the innovators and since they have strong brands and are already trusted by their customers.

Plus, it's almost impossible to win over brand loyal customers.

Have you ever tried to get am iPhone lover to switch to an Android? Exactly!

Figure out what separates you from the competition. What makes you different.

Different wins over better every time and here is why:

It Grabs You Potential Customers' Attention

In the world where we receive 4,000 to 10,000 ads per day on average, you need to stand out.

Let's go back the iPhone example and how Apple became the leader in the smartphone industry.

The smartphone was already in existence when the first iPhone was unveiled and released.

The first iPhone sucked (my opinion and the opinion of many)

You had connect to the internet on Wi-Fi, meanwhile other phones already had built in internet from the factory.

However, Apple combined your camera, your phone and your music player with a responsive touch screen.

Apple led with different and now has every other company trying to be better in the feature department....

People lined up for days outside of their local Apple stores to wait on it's release and the phones sold out the same day!

All because it was the newest thing and people want to stand out.

Their slogan is literally "Think Different"

They also went to each carrier and made sure they controlled the customer experience overall. This is why IMessage is the way it is meanwhile other companies still use the text message technology from old flip phones.

We can argue that iPhone aren't better than other smartphone providers like Android, however, we can't argue that they are not different.

Not only did they do this in the phone space, but they did it with the iPod, the iPad, the PC and tablet space and even Apple Music, their streaming service that allows users to pay a flat monthly fee to stream music and purchase singles if they don't want to purchase an entire album.

This concept is called the "same but different" concept.

Many greats use this same concept.

Take Elon Musk and Tesla for example. They took a car, an invention that was created in 1886, and made it all electric.

You Only Compete With Yourself

We have a habit of measuring our success against what others are doing.

Take Google, the world's leader in search technology. They have worked hard to become the world's number one search engine. So much so that when we search for information online, we say were going "google" it, even if we use another browser like Microsoft Edge or Safari (Apple's web browser).

Here are two ways to figure out how you are different from the competition:

Start With Your Why

Nike, the second largest apparel company in the world didn't become the juggernaut it is because of the clothes and shoes they sell. It's because of the way they built their brand.

You may know their famous slogan, "Just Do It" but do you know why Nike was created in the first place?

They are in the market to "Bring inspiration and innovation to every Athlete in the world" and if you have a heartbeat, Nike feels like you're an athlete.

When you think about it, this will make more sense to you.

Take a look at any Nike advertising. Most of it isn't directly created to sell you anything. Instead, they inspire you with phrases and stories.

They form partnerships with someone of the best athletes and entertainers in the world and they grab your attention (and your money) in a way that makes you want to "Just Do It".

They also spend billions of dollars developing technology to make sure you perform better in whatever sport or activity you're into.

Their Dri-Fit technology, the basketball sneakers that help you jump higher and even now, their patented technology in the metaverse are all geared toward helping you be a winner.

Interview Your Best Customers

Oftentimes we think we have all the answers, but in actuality, the market we serve determines why they buy.

Talk to your best customers and ask them why they buy from you and what makes you different than anyone else in the market. You'll find some commonalities in their answers.

Once you do, incorporate their answers in your brand strategy and in your messaging, because if they are loyal to you for that reason, there are others waiting to be an advocate of yours for the same reasons as well.

So, now that you understand why you should be different and not better, how are you going to incorporate this into your branding?

If you want to build your brand in a way that attracts the right customers, go to https://www.gilbertoherrera.com/hire-gilberto/

I am only taking on two more clients for the remainder of the year and spots are for sure to fil up fast.

#buildabrand #businessgrowth #standoutinbusiness #gilbertoherrera #scaleyou