9 branding mistakes your company should avoid

Your brand represents your promise, so it’s critical that you construct it carefully and purposefully. A brand has never been successfully developed by just posting a nice logo and some short text on social media. Brands must devote a great deal of time and energy to developing a true identity. It is necessary to conduct research, identify competitors, and speak with knowledgeable specialists. Every company should understand what branding is and why it is important. Errors are inevitable whether you’re launching a brand-new company or already have one up and running. Here are seven blunders that brands make, that you would be wise to avoid.

1. Failure to research the competition

This is especially crucial if your company is new. By studying the competition, you can learn what well-established companies in your field have done, where they have succeeded and failed, and how you might differentiate your brand from them. Products, services, target markets, websites, and social media platforms should all be included in your investigation. If you don’t, this could trip you up in two different ways: first, you won’t be able to accurately assess the competition, and second, you won’t be able to accurately replicate a competitor’s strategies.

2. Failure to understand your target audience

You must be aware of the audience you are speaking to before you begin selling or even pitching. You need to be aware of their needs, expectations, points of identification, and preferred brands. Finding your target demographic will make branding and messaging much simpler.

3. Taking feedback from the wrong sources

You need to get feedback from the appropriate people, depending on the kind of goods or services you want to offer and the market you want to target. You won’t be able to set or meet appropriate goals if you just use sources that have positive feedback. Consider your options before accepting assessments from friends, family, coworkers, and relatives who might give you great feedback regardless of the situation. The best review platform for any contemporary brand combines both social media and review websites.

4. It’s not just about logo redesign

As was previously mentioned, branding is more than just a logo or a tagline. Everything you stand for, including the voice of your business and the type of material you produce, is part of your brand. When you have a competitive advantage and a unique style, you will find an audience. Without that, nothing is worthwhile!

When a company rebrands, they may spend thousands of dollars on a new logo but less on other brand assets. For instance, simply altering a fashion brand’s logo won’t increase sales. It should concentrate on its customer service staff, product quality, advertising (both online and offline), competitive pricing, and many other elements in order to develop a lucrative e-commerce company.

5. Inconsistency

Your company will be greatly impacted by brand consistency. Building consistency promotes familiarity, loyalty, and ultimately credibility. Be consistent in all of your interactions with your audience, including promotions, personality, and communication.

Coca-Cola, for instance, may be the most reliable brand in history. In 130 years, its emblem rarely changed at all. Everyone is familiar with its festive Christmas advertisements and summer campaigns featuring fun in the sun. Even after Pepsi notably triumphed in consumer taste testing, the brand has garnered such a high level of loyalty that no other drink can compete. In the current digital era, Coca-Cola has amassed a sizable following on social media, making it very simple to reach its target demographic wherever they may be.

6. Not focusing on first impressions

A brand will not be noticed if it has a clumsy design. Even with a fantastic product, persuasive marketing, and first-rate customer service, people may never pay attention in the absence of a visually appealing presentation.

Even today, some bigger brands that became well-known before the internet can get away with poor design, but any company founded after the middle of the 2000s should be aware of this. The legitimacy and allure of your brand will increase with a contemporary, user-friendly design.

The solution: If your brand’s design or website needs an update, give it top priority because you only get one chance to make a first impression. You can focus your efforts using a variety of business resources, as well as tools like Lucidpress that can make visual design simple and efficient.

Poor customer service

Unsatisfactory customer service can seriously harm your brand, whether you recognise it or not. The customer experience should be your brand’s top concern because people are more likely to share unpleasant product experiences than positive ones.

For instance, customer service at United Airlines struggled last year when a video of a passenger being dragged off a flight went viral in April 2017. The CEO’s delayed answer felt cold and unrepentant, adding insult to injury. These events significantly depressed United’s stock price and altered public opinion of the company as a whole.

The solution is to remember that “the customer is always right.” Even if it requires more effort, you must meet your users where they are. Costco, Marriott, and JetBlue are a few examples of companies with top-notch customer service. Businesses that provide satisfaction guarantees, incentives, and compensation for errors develop a strong, devoted customer base.

Misusing (or not using) social media

Another approach to damage your brand and reduce client happiness is to ignore social media.

A lot of social media blunders simply result from well-intentioned campaigns. For example, when Crocs and Cinnabon tried to pay tribute to David Bowie and Carrie Fisher, respectively, their insensitivity was amplified by their extensive social media reach.

Sometimes, brands just don’t devote enough time and resources to their social media campaigns. Maintaining accounts on multiple social media platforms demonstrates to customers your concern for them, especially when you can quickly address their queries and grievances.

The solution: Spend real time and money on a social media strategy. If you’re looking for a company to follow on social media, Wendy’s is a terrific choice. The brand maintains a consistent image, shares content frequently, and engages with its fan base thanks to its nearly 2.5 million followers on Twitter, 8.5 million likes on Facebook, and over 700,000 followers on Instagram. The business’ social media team also follows current affairs and popular culture, which is a wonderful method to interact with followers.

7. Not having a Plan B

Many companies believe that once a brand is established, it will take care of itself. That is totally untrue today. To deliver greater quality and adjust to the shifting needs of the market, you should continuously refine and change your offers. Not every branding strategy will be successful on its first try. You must be prepared with a backup plan in those situations to ensure quick recovery.

Blockbuster is one of the most obvious instances of a company that refuses to change. The inventor of Netflix approached Blockbuster in 2000 with an offer to buy his relatively tiny business, which provided online movie rentals through a mail subscription service. Blockbuster rejected Netflix because it did not see the potential, despite the fact that the well-known video retailer derived the majority of its income from late fees.

While it has shifted from mail-order Discs to streaming, and the company now creates hundreds of original episodes and movies, Netflix is still a shining example of how to adapt to change. Only a small number of outlets remain for Blockbuster in Alaska.

Listen to your customer base as a solution. When customers insist on more options or more comfort, change your approach to satisfy their demands. If not, another company will undoubtedly do so. [ ]

 8. Insensitivity

Branding insensitivity is a serious problem. Businesses frequently make news for producing well-intentioned advertising that end up becoming PR catastrophes. Consider the disastrous 2017 Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial. Instead of evoking feelings of camaraderie, it either made viewers chuckle at the shoddy execution or outraged at the way the Black Lives Matter movement had been turned into a commodity.

The McDonald’s Filet-o-Fish commercial from the United Kingdom is yet another outstanding illustration of insensitivity. The advertisement showed a youngster questioning his mother about his departed father, only to learn that their shared love of McDonald’s was all they had in common. Several consumers believed that using such a serious topic to advertise fish sandwiches was emotionally deceptive, and the company quickly removed the advertisement as a result.

The solution: Take into account how your brand interacts with any delicate or contentious issues before diving in. A sincere effort to arouse viewers’ emotions can easily devolve into exploitation. Understand where the line is.

9. Selling the “what” instead of the “why”

Selling your company’s characteristics rather than a big idea is a classic branding blunder. People don’t purchase what you do; they buy why you do it, as Simon Sinek famously put it.

Sinek uses TiVo as an illustration of a firm that made a big splash with its features—including the ability to pause and rewind live TV—but fell short of genuinely grabbing people’ attention.

By encouraging people to “think differently” about computers, Apple, on the other hand, became one of the most popular brands. Instead of selling certain technical details, it offered a way of thinking and a way of life.

The solution is to focus on a value that you hold dear and create your brand around it. Coca-Cola offers happiness in a can. Nike promotes inspiration. Your brand should have a nearly palpable energy rather than focusing on dry, explicative messaging.

It’s not simple to run a brand. But, you must always remember that your company consists of more than just its goods and services. Your ability to influence client experience will determine your level of success. Your brand identity is based on this. You won’t want to turn back once you’ve built up trust in your brand.
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