Avoiding Brand Collision- Part Two
Brands collide not because everyone is trying to fit into the same spot, but because no one in the pileup has any idea where they are going.
Last week, I gave an example of brand collision: when two different products end up with the same or similar branding. At the very least, this is confusing for the consumer and has the potential to weaken both brands. In some cases, the collision can be downright embarrassing.
I talked briefly about how to avoid such an occurrence, but today I want to go a little further. It’s easy to spot overlapping taglines using Google, but those are really just the symptoms of a larger problem.
With a list of some 20+ businesses that all use similar slogans, it’s clear that not all of them can possibly be doing the same thing. They throw around the same buzzwords because they have nothing specific or extraordinary to say about themselves.
Brands collide not because everyone is trying to fit into the same spot, but because no one in the pileup has any idea where they are going.
In competitive markets, many look to design to make their company or product more noticeable. While it’s true that good design is important, its pursuit can often cause businesses to overlook the big picture. The way to emerge from the pack starts from within with a business, not its brand. If the message is vanilla it’s probably because the product, is too. Great brands grow from great businesses.
As a designer, I’d rather communicate your strengths than conjure some up for you. A great product starts by being better or substantively different from its competitors in some important area. That’s Business 101. I may be biting the hand that feeds me, but I don’t think better branding makes a poor or indistinguishable product “good”.
Success doesn’t begin with slick graphics or statistically improbable phases. If your product is not outstanding, how can your brand stand out?
