The Biggest Brand Mistake You Can Make

One of the keys to having is a cult-like following is to deliberately create some division in your market. And great examples of this can be found in almost every sporting competition.

In the Australian Football League (AFL), there is a team called Collingwood. And, Collingwood is your archetypal sporting team. They have a long history of success and they are the team everyone loves to hate. You either barrack for Collingwood or you barrack against them.

Typically, there is a team like this in most sporting competitions, the nemesis, the enemy, the team that must be beaten. Just because.

This is great branding because it provokes passion and certainty. The passion comes from supporting and defending your team, your brand. The certainty comes from the supporters who are really clear about who they barrack for. Ironically, Collingwood’s team colours are black and white. This is either your team or it’s not.

And this brings us to the biggest brand mistake you can make… to attempt to appeal to everyone. All this achieves is beige, grey and appealing to no one.

Think of it this way… You’re doing a sales presentation to a new client. What sort of result do you want? Well, of course you want them to say ‘Yes’. The next best result you can get is a resounding ‘No’. At least this is clear for everyone. The worst possible response is not ‘No’, it’s ‘I’m not sure.’ This leaves you nowhere. Typically, you can assume that ‘Not sure’ is really a ‘No’. Either way it’s a sure sign that you haven’t presented your case clearly enough.

And, this is the biggest brand mistake you can make – to leave your potential customers ‘not sure’. So, step out of the grey zone and give your brand an edge so your customers can choose more easily and more clearly. Strike their passion and evoke certainty!

Great brands divide people. Great brands stand for something. And, great brands are decisive. Is that black and white enough?