Let’s face it, your brand isn’t the only one of its kind out there. In a bustling marketplace packed with well-established brands, smaller brands can find it daunting to secure their market positioning and thrive.

Brand competition against big brands requires a strategic approach that goes beyond mere visibility.

To truly make a mark and succeed, your brand must win the mind to win the market. 🧠

Winning the mind opens a whole realm of opportunities for smaller (but just as competent) brands. There is an opportunity out there for your brand to stand out and carve its unique space through all the noise through strategic market positioning. 

But how? 

In this blog, we’re going to delve into where your brand can find opportunities in a competitive market and explore how innovative strategies and creative branding can pave the way for success in your market positioning.

You Share Your Customers With The Biggest Brand Competitor That You Have. 

What’s the first brand you think of when you’re out and about and want to grab coffee? Most would say “Starbucks” or “Dunkin Donuts.”

But what about when you’re at home, curled up on a couch on a rainy day? (And you’re going to grab coffee from the kitchen).

Most would say:

• Stok
• Chameleon Cold Brew
• Folgers
• Nespresso
• Keurig
• Stumptown

This right here is a prime example of how yes – you share your customers/clients with the biggest brands (because most people certainly aren’t exclusive to one coffee company or type only).

When thinking of your largest competitor, what is the situation where your ideal client’s answer might change?

 For Stok, Nespresso, etc → it’s when you’re at home.

It’s a messaging play for many service-based businesses. It’s a convenience play for others. Perhaps you only offer a sliver of what your largest competitor does – but you do it in a more niche way, and better. 

⭐ Win the mind to win the market. 

This is where powerful branding and strong messaging come into play. 

Standing Out Through Creative Branding

Consumers are scrolling right past bland branding. A strong, well-defined brand identity, coupled with compelling messaging and visuals, can have a significant impact on consumer perception and engagement. 

The data doesn’t lie: creative drives 10-20 times more sales and enhances the journey to purchase through enhanced engagement (B2B LinkedIn Institute).  

Strong branding is about smart strategy, not just size. 

It involves creating a unique identity that goes beyond just what you sell. It’s about telling a story that resonates with your audience and forms a deep connection with them. 

This emotional tie is what helps you cut through the clutter and differentiate yourself.

What a well-defined brand identity consists of: 

Distinctive Visual Elements

 Visual aesthetics is a big part of how people remember your brand, and color is a key player. Color is the new black. Color *actually* increases brand recognition by 80% (B2B LinkedIn Institute). 

If a picture is worth a thousand words, then a picture with a pop of color is worth a GAZILLION words! However. What if you have a beige baby palette? 

Click here to learn how you can sprinkle in color to your neutral branding.

Brand Personality

This refers to the human characteristics or traits that are attributed to a brand. The brand personality makes it relatable to consumers. 

To discover your brand’s personality, thorough market research must be done. This is an important step and provides valuable insights into how your brand can stand out. 

Here are 3 simple questions to discover brand personality: 

1. What are your core values? Describing these values with words like respect, integrity, passion, or creativity can help in defining the tone and characteristics that your brand wants to embody. 
2. What are you? What are you NOT? List out what you do, say, act like, etc. Then do the same but with what you would NOT do, say, or act like.
3. If your brand were a celebrity, who would you be? If you were to put a face to the name, what face would you choose? 

PSA: This is just surface-level research. To get a fleshed-out, deep-dive research, we suggest talking to the *experts* (aka, marketing strategists… like us!). 

📖 Thirsty for more? Read on: 

• Adobe – Brand Personality: Traits, Examples, and Definition
• Shopify – How to Define Your Brand Personality with Examples

Consistent Brand Messaging  

Consistent messaging helps consumers recognize and associate the brand with specific qualities, values, and benefits, leading to top-of-mind awareness and increased brand recall.

Whether it’s social media, email marketing, or your website, always make sure your brand’s voice and message are consistent across all platforms.

☝️Fun Tip: Sprinkle in Some Humor

Humor. Rules. The. World. It is now how you’ll have a competitive edge. When you balance humor with a meaningful message, it’s WAY more likely to be shared and garner mass attention. (Kind of like going viral!!!)

Don’t just take my word for it.

When humor is used, there is a  65%+ higher engagement rate and  42% higher form fill rate (B2B LinkedIn Institute).  

Turns out, people remember funny sentences more. And your brand could be top-of-mind for your audience when you lean into humor.

One of our favorite ways to add a dash of humor to your marketing is through email subject lines. 

Write a snappy one-liner that relates to the email’s content. Give it a whirl through A/B testing and see how your open rates perform!

User Experience

Imagine you’re 5 years old, playing with your favorite toy. User experience (UX) is all about how you feel while playing with it. If the toy is easy to use, fun, and makes you happy, it has a good user experience. If the toy is hard to use, breaks easily, or doesn’t make you smile, it has a bad user experience. 

UX is all about making things easy, heckin’ fun, and enjoyable.

When your website provides a top-notch user experience, it sets you apart from the competition. It builds trust, shows that you care about your customers, and leaves a lasting impression.

A seamless website UX gives your brand an edge and is important for engaging site visitors.

UX Website Features Include:

• Strategically timed movement
• Flashing headlines
• Scrolling marquees
• Bold colors and copy
• Engaging visuals

📖 Read on: 5 Ways to Design a Lead Generation Website With Examples 

Where Your Brand Can Find Opportunities

In an ever-evolving market, smaller brands can find unique opportunities to capture consumer attention and loyalty. 

For instance, being curled up on the couch can trigger thoughts of niche coffee brands like Stumptown or La Colombe can come to mind over Starbucks or Dunkin.

This points to the potential of leveraging specific situations to create stronger messaging and market positioning for your brand.

Ensure that your brand resonates with your audience and is present in the right spaces to effectively engage with consumers.

By embracing your unique identity, values, and story, you can establish a deep connection with your target audience and ultimately build a brand that stands out and resonates with consumers on a meaningful level.

We are currently working with 2 established  brands right now who have hit a major wall with client/customer attraction – they came to us acknowledging they have a problem with both the branding + messaging. It’s a common trope for many established businesses – there’s a need to evolve both things.

Having a marketing playbook that explicitly identifies your branding, messaging, and market positioning can shed light on where your brand can find opportunities.

Messaging and effective branding are how you’re going to cut through the noise of competition. And sometimes it’s really hard to optimize when you’re in the thick of your own brand. Which is why we exist. 😉 

Whether you’re just getting started or looking for a shakeup, tap into our team for creative brand messaging and an actionable, strategic plan that covers only the RIGHT marketing avenues for your target audience.

Pull up a chair and let’s chat about how we can work together. 🥂