When brands get lazy, less valuable product alternatives will become a strong competition. Every business needs to be reminded that no product has a monopoly on performance in this era of swift innovation. The minute perceived difference is eroded, the sooner a firm starts losing ground.
It’s the era of consumer power. The choices in each sector have never been higher. The shelves are intimidating. The mailboxes are brimming with countless newsletter pitches. Social media spaces are excitingly filled with bold sales calls. You can’t even look up without seeing an ad on the out-of-home billboards notifying you that a new car brand, some new services or products better than your current choices are in town.
How do you feel about a friend who hasn’t changed a bit in the past two years? Some people may not see the difference. But if you are the type who has been exposed and enlightened by new experiences, you will see the difference. You will pull back. You will take your options.
The brand battleground is not around being today’s choice, but as a partner for tomorrow’s needs. If tomorrow needs change and the product lags, the broadening waves of pitches will sweep the customer somewhere else.
So, it isn’t people alone who get lazy. Businesses get lazy. Brands get lazy. Institutions get lazy. A department can get lazy. A product gets lazy. Mind you, a product or service or a person becomes a brand as soon as they take and communicate a unique position that creates market expectation. This goes beyond reckless tags and logos. Your brand is about what you say you are and how consistently you are able to create an experience that justifies what you claim to be. No lecture on brand building. Let’s move on.
Precisely, your company and its products/ services can be perceived to be lazy if it fails to consistently meet expectations. The thing is that expectations are always shifting. A slide in sales doesn’t start suddenly. It starts when consumers can no longer see the perceived difference between a product and its competition.
Call the preceding a course in capitalism 101, and you would be almost right. Capitalism punishes a brand that stays the same for longer!
I don’t know what Alphabet Inc. (owner of Google) is going to do to arrest the hawkish intent of OpenAI, which owns ChatGPT. The next time you check, ChatGPT wants to do the same thing Google has helped you with in the past 10 years – and do it even better.
Has Alphabet Inc. been lazy? I can’t tell. OpenAI is simply changing market expectations. The scale is higher now. The profitability and relevance of Google Search Engine and Chrome are tied to how swiftly it can meet the new market expectations.
You are also in the game. Someone, somewhere, is trying to scale expectations in your market. It is a game. You must rise to it. Here are three ways to avoid being perceived as a lazy brand and being dumped:
- Renew constantly – Car brands come up with series and models as a response to changing expectations. It is strategic. Some days ago, I saw Coke reviving its perception through the launch, or relaunch, of the campaign that puts people’s names on a Coke bottle. Guess what? Consumers will pay attention to the Coke brand again until its competition does something new. The lesson here is that the market is a circle of newness. Tweak. Revamp. Add something. Whatever meets consumer expectations. Like Nike would say, ‘Just Do It.’ Meanwhile, I add, for effectiveness, ‘Do It Strategically.’
- Extend the line – Familiarity is likely to develop into boredom. As soon as the market gets familiar with the form of product or services you offer, move further to create new forms of similar services to extend the options they have from you. Presently, you can brush your teeth with solid or liquid forms of some toothpaste brands. That isn’t bad for an example of range extension. If you extend the line, you are protecting your brand from boring your customers.
- Maintain a relationship – A relationship can be broad or deep. Relationships on social media can be said to be broad because they provide access to a wide audience. However, a relationship approach that combines social media engagement and on-ground experientials runs deep. Broad is good. Deeper is better. Every brand needs a deep relationship. When push comes to shove and you haven’t been able to sustain innovation, it is the deep relationship you have built with the market that will sustain your relevance until you can respond to meet emerging market standards. As everyone seems to binge on social media marketing, the brand that does that and puts foot on the ground to engage face-to-face with the market at intervals will have an added advantage. Go out there occasionally and engage.
