3 key elements of branding: Relevance, Credibility & Differentiation

When you look at companies — large and small — that have become successful brands, you’ll notice strength, consistency and often superiority in three key areas: Relevance, Credibility and Differentiation.

Let’s look at the 3 key elements of branding and see how companies combine them into a winning recipe for sustainable growth.

Elements of Branding – #1 Relevance 

In his book on Brand Relevance, David Aaker says, “Relevance is not black and white. It’s a spectrum.”

He talks about fuzzy relevance and says, ” Understanding and managing relevance can be the difference between success and being mired in a market environment where differentiation is almost impossible to achieve.”

Brand relevance is closely related to specialization, niche marketing, categorization and mental framing. Because you can’t be relevant to everyone.

For example, if you have an automotive repair business that specializes in off-road vehicles, the brand will not be relevant to most car owners. Just Jeep enthusiasts, maybe some Land Rover snobs, Bronco buyers and big truck guys with their Warn winches and lift kits.

Nothing wrong with that, as long as the company doesn’t suddenly decide to start doing electric sports cars. That’s when relevance gets fuzzy indeed.

Many brands go through periods of declining relevance — at least relatively.

Apple was the highly relevant poster child of the computer industry when it launched the Mac in 1984. Since then it’s been through a few phases of relative irrelevance, but it’s always bounced back with blockbuster products like the ipod and the iphone.

The ebb and flow of relevance can hurt entire categories. For instance, all department stores are declining in relevance. Cola sales are slumping. Tennis racquets are not selling.

In competitive situations like that it’s even more important to make sure your brand is staying relevant for the people who still buy in your category. Especially the infrequent buyers! Advertising can accomplish that. It’s just good, old-fashioned top-of-mind awareness.

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Elements of Branding – #2 Credibility

In this age of fake news, Ai-generated images of anything you can imagine and a massive flood of mis-information, credibility is more important than ever.

There are many elements of credibility… dependability, honesty, transparency, empathy and authenticity all come into play. But it all boils down to trust.

Call it a capitalistic fact of life; it is in every company’s best interest to be trustworthy. Trust and trustworthiness can become a tremendous competitive advantage.

You really don’t have a choice. Trust is the only thing that makes your content valuable, your sales pitch viable and your business model sustainable.

Trust is hard to earn and easy to lose, so be very careful about the marketing tactics you choose and your brand affiliations. When you lose credibility you lose relevance.

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Elements of Branding  – #3 Differentiation

There’s an amusing debate among academics in the marketing world about the terms “differentiation” vs. “distinctiveness”.

It think it’s nonsense. (But that’s how professors sell books.)

Every company needs distinctive brand assets. No doubt. That can be all sorts of things, from the product design to the company’s audio signature, the packaging, the brand identity, tagline and color palate, to the company’s proprietary processes or choice of spokesperson.

All those distinctive little touches put together are what differentiate one brand from another.

If you produce credible content and run ads that are distinctive, you will differentiate yourself from the competition. If you innovate continuously you’ll produce distinctive products that are different from the other products in your category.

The two go hand in hand.

The only alternative is commodity products, and even those can be marketed distinctly and positioned differently.

So don’t worry about the difference between distinctive and different. Just be both. And do it in a credible, consistent way. That’s how iconic brands stay relevant.

If you’d like some help with any of these three elements of branding, contact me here.  Or reach out on LinkedIn.

Click here for another post on the R.C.D. formula in branding.