Why Strong Branding Is Never Enough on its Own

It’s long been a central tenet of marketing that, without a strong brand, a business will stand no chance of succeeding. More and more, it’s not simply a strong visual identity that is needed, a business has to find its own distinct tone of voice too.

The logic behind this is simple. In a world where consumers are continually bombarded with marketing pitches from more and more companies all after a share of their spare dollars, it’s the ones that are going to stand out.  So, the ones that have the most distinctive and memorable styles such as skittles.com will be ahead of the game from the get-go.

Then it’s simply a question of linking up with the customers with whom that brand identity and feel resonate most strongly and – bingo – they will start to come on board.

For big brands which have one or two main competitors, for example when it is Coca Cola v Pepsi or Fed Ex v UPS, the differences are clear to see and the choice is also a relatively straightforward one for consumers to make. The fact that these sorts of organisations have multi-billion dollar marketing budgets also helps.

The small business conundrum

But for smaller companies, especially start-ups, it’s an altogether more complex picture. Not only are they likely to face competition from a far greater number of other companies, they have neither the time nor the budget to effectively build a brand. Yes, they may have a neat new logo designed by a local design studio and be advertising in the local press or online. But they just won’t have the heft to make this count in any really significant way.

That’s not to say that having a look and feel, as well as a distinctive tone of voice, is unimportant, it clearly is. But it needs to be supported by plenty of other elements if the business is going to thrive.

Incentives trump branding

For example, offering incentives for new customers is one of the most powerful tools that any business has. This is particularly true in fields where competition is fierce. One of the main examples in recent years has been in the world of online casinos. With so many operators chasing a finite number of players, they have invested in offering joining bonuses, probably taking some of the budget that otherwise would have been used for brand development.

And it’s not just a question of offering incentives, it’s also making them appealing too. One only has to look at the casino bonuses at casinofinder.com to see how generous these need to be. Another advantage for any company that is suitable for listing on a comparison site, whatever the sector, is that it allows customers to directly compare the offers available.

So, whether your business is in insurance or retail, real estate or construction, if you can come up with a compelling offer, this is almost always a more effective use of your money than investing it in branding.