How to tell if your Brand is Confused

20 March 2015

Is your brand identity speaking clearly?

There’s nothing trickier than getting your branding right. Too informal and it alienates a high-value market. Too formal and it alienates those on a lower income. As a result, many businesses attempt to appeal to a broad spectrum of markets, and in turn confuse their company mission, their target market and end up losing out on some serious revenue. We’ve compiled a guide on how to tell if your brand is confused.

What exactly is a confused brand? There’s a lot of jargon thrown about when talking about brand confusion – colour theory, font accessibility, user journey – but what does it actually all mean?

It’s super easy to get wrapped up in the nitty-gritty of whether your new site should be azure blue or cerulean mist, but ultimately, it’s how it’s all pulled together across your brand presence – so everything from your premises to your social media.

How to tell if your brand is confused

Ask yourself the follow questions:

  • What is my company mission?
  • What is the purpose of the company?
  • Where is the business heading in the next five to ten years?
  • Who are my target markets?
  • Who buys my service?
  • Why do they buy my service?
  • What is a typical customer like?
  • What are their interests, career choices, social priorities?
  • Where do they hang out?
  • Does my website, logo, premises, social media, etc. reflect these values?

Appealing to your high-spending market with a gaudy budget logo put together on some free software? You might want to think again. Consider the message your company is sending out.

  • Are the services you offer clear and concise?
  • Have you made clear what your offer actually is?
  • Do you have a unique selling point that makes you product better than your competitors?
  • Do you offer luxury hotel rooms with a twist?
  • Or do you offer exclusive cuisine only available at your restaurant?

Make sure your product is clear and concise – it will help to eliminate poor communication and unhappy customers.

  • Is my brand uniform across all platforms such as Facebook, Twitter?

Make sure your brand image is consistent across all platforms. Keep straplines similar, logos the same and limit informal imagery to social media platforms like Instagram. Ensure you keep your tone consistent when interacting on other platforms outside your website/premises.

  • Do I maintain a consistent tone in content across my site/platforms in line with what my market needs?
  • Finally, is your tone in your company content correct for your market?

If you’re aiming for luxury, an informal approach will probably turn away high-value customers. Sell the experience, not just the service/product. It’s not just start-up businesses that need to be wary of brand confusion; it’s not uncommon to come across companies with a long trading history who have lost their way with their branding. As companies grow, services evolve and markets change – so what may have been apt as branding before, has rapidly become outdated.

Be it stuck in old ways or perhaps a fear of change, not updating branding can lead to costly implications. Getting company branding right first time round means that logos and values will stand up against the test of time and 5, 10, 15 years later only minimal tweaking will be required to adapt to the market. Re-branding can be an expensive activity – and also detrimental to the efficiency of a business.

Ultimately, it’s as simple as this: constantly re-evaluate your positioning, and your branding will pay dividends. Make your brand identity shout with confidence and clarity!