Brand strategy can set you apart

When it comes to branding your business, it pays to find ways you can stand out from the competition.

YOU can say anything you want about Amazon, but you cannot doubt the power and the depth of its brand.

Amazon owns way more than its name in the marketplace. The brand name you know best is ‘Amazon shopping’, when you’re comparing a price at a bookstore or an appliance store, or a hardware store, or for that matter, any store. You take out your smartphone and you compare Amazon pricing to whatever you’re thinking about buying. And at that moment in time, you make a snap decision to either buy at the store or buy with your phone.

Note well: Amazon shopping is just the tip of its brand-iceberg. The depth of their brand goes way beyond the name because when you purchase from Amazon, you refer to it in one of two ways – you either ‘1-click it’ or you ‘prime it’.

‘1-click’ means you purchase with your credit card without having to enter anything or do anything other than click your smart phone.

‘Prime it’ means you get it in two days, freight free.

Think about that for just a second. You don’t even say the company’s name. Amazon is known by the services that it provides; 1-click for my credit card and prime for two-day free shipping.

That is the definition and the power of brand depth. Amazon has created services that are so powerful the company is literally known by the name that it has attached to the service.

Okay, so much for Amazon. What are you known for? What name is attached to your brand or your business that you have or are creating a reputation for?

Okay, you don’t have one. So my next question is, what could you become known for? Could it be same-day shipping? Could it be a better guarantee? Could it be free freight? Could it be a live person answering the phone 24-7? Could it be one-hour service response time?

Whatever it is, it has to be something that sets you apart, far apart, from your competition.

Amazon’s brand is so deep that someone would have to spend billions of dollars to compete, and even then there would be no guarantee of success.

With Amazon feel safe and secure, it is 99.9 per cent reliable, and it’s likely that you have received hundreds of its packages. Even Amazon boxes are branded.

So for you, Amazon is a great brand to study. A great company to use as a model for services that you’re trying to provide to your customers in order to secure their long-term business, their genuine loyalty, and help build your reputation by posting positive things about their experience with you, your products, and your services. And, oh yeah, make a buck.

More than 100 books have been written on branding. I wonder if Amazon founder Jeff Bezos has read any of them.

Other dominant brands such as Apple, Google or eBay own their space and their keywords, because they have consistently provided products and services that people know and trust; their online presence has become sophisticated to a point where they can claim ownership.

Whether it’s ‘iTunes’ or ‘Google it’, they own the phrases and words that connect and create recognition of their brand.

What words, phrases, and services are associated with you that disassociate you from your competition?

Major clue: If you’re still fighting price, it means there’s little or no differentiation.

The best thing you can do right now is take a close look at every aspect of your business, your products and your services, and determine at least one area where you have the potential for recognition and market dominance.

Focus on that with every ounce of your social power.

Jeffrey Gitomer is an American author, professional speaker and business trainer, who writes and lectures internationally on sales, customer loyalty and personal development.

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