Today’s blog is all about what the average business owner, entrepreneur, or marketing director. We have created a short but meaningful list of the common attributes of some of the world’s greatest brands with the help of a professional services brand consultancy, with the intention of creating a bullet proof blueprint to success for you to pattern your branding strategy against.
- Great brands set themselves apart from the competition.
Global brands like Ikea, Whole Foods and Nike tend to play by their own set of rules. They totally go against the grain by breaking the preconceived notion of function, service, style or culture and catch the competition off guard. Through this avant-garde approach, they manage to establish and maintain strong leadership positions.
As a sports brand, Under Armour has transcended past adidas and taken second place behind Nike and they didn’t manage to do this be creating a slew of ‘me too products’, rather they broke the preconceived notion of function in a t-shirt and have parlayed that into a sporting goods powerhouse.
In the tech sector, Apple has always done an excellent job of differentiating themselves, hence the tagline, “Think different.” The seem to have been born that way, and cemented their legacy as the counter-culture antithesis to Windows and IBM.
According to a 2002 Wired Magazine article, “they did it by building a sense of belonging to an elite club by portraying the Mac as embodying the values of righteous outsiderism and rebellion against injustice.”
Differentiation and originality can be painstaking to develop, which is why only a select few brands are able to capitalise on it successfully. If your company is grasping at straws with the concept, we would recommend working with a branding agency Dubai to help fill the gaps.
- Great brands connect on an emotional level.
According to a leading study from a brand design agency in Riyadh, emotion is just about everything when it comes to building an iconic brand. If you’re a motorcycle enthusiast, you’ll be familiar with the cult-like culture of Harley Davidson.
As one of the UK’s first premium brands, M&S has survived recessions, PR nightmares, dry periods, and they still retain a formidable presence on the UK high street, trading in over 300 stores throughout Britain alone. Marks & Spencer’s have maintained their focus on selling high-value, premium products to customers across the UK. It’s this devotion to their brand purpose that has helped the company to hold onto its position in the marketplace, despite a difficult trading environment.
- Great brands deliver on their commitments year upon year.
Several companies seem to think of branding as a one-time event — do it and it’s done. But that is hardly the case at all. Branding requires constant diligence.
You won’t stay competitive long enough to become iconic if you’re not delivering on your brand promise. To remain emotionally connected to your consumers, you have work at it on a day-to-day basis. In reality an iconic brand does not guarantee longterm business success.
- Great brands are excellent communicators.
A powerful, purpose-driven culture won’t get far if you don’t communicate clearly. Therefore, sharp storytelling skill is another thing that all the great brands have in common. It is a challenging task, and it is where many companies fall short. Their advertising says one thing, but their social media campaigns and website says another.
Overall consistency and alignment is something all the great brands share. If your brand needs help, we recommend teaming up with a highly reputable brand design agency in Abu Dhabi to get you on the same trajectory as the great brands that we all know.
