The average consumer will spend just shy of $65,000 on goods and services in a given year. Seeing as how there are hundreds of millions of adults living in the United States, that volume of spending is great news if you have a product on store/digital shelves.
Still, millions of products fail every year. That’s odd because you’d think that with the amount of money flowing through the economy, you could move just about anything into consumer’s homes. What makes all the difference in winning or losing the game of product sales is product branding.
Product branding is the overall motif that accompanies your product. It’s Nike’s orange swoosh. It’s the cartoon characters you see adoring packs of ramen in international markets. It’s that “it” factor that tells consumers you’re different.
Curious to know why specifically product branding is important to your success in today’s market? Keep reading to find out!
Awareness Beats Quality
You could be selling the best smelling perfume in the world. If nobody knew your product existed, you wouldn’t sell a single bottle. On the flip side, your perfume could be mediocre! But if it was priced right and everybody knew your brand, chances are, you’d move enough bottles to do well for yourself.
Therein lies the importance of awareness.
There’s an old saying that there’s no such thing as bad publicity. That holds true in product markets as the worst thing you can be when you’re trying to sell something is unknown.
There Are Competitors in Every Space
If you were selling cans of beans at a market and were the only person doing so, you wouldn’t need product branding. That’s because if someone walked in and was looking for beans, they’d either buy your can or walk out with nothing.
That hypothetical of you being the only product on a shelf though is far from accurate. Today, there are hundreds of brands/options in just about every kind of product niche. It’s product branding that allows companies to differentiate themselves from the competition to catch consumer’s attention.
If you ignored product branding advice and kept your packaging and brand marketing agency efforts vanilla, you’d get lost in a sea of competition that took their branding more seriously.
Markets Have Become Global
Think that your product can take on local competition without having to delve too deep into product marketing ideas, unique branding plays, etc.? Even if that was true, almost no industry today is competing solely with its domestic market.
Today, economies are global and consumers are increasingly using the internet to buy products from competitors that are working out of Asia, Europe, and Latin America.
As competition becomes more fierce via globalization the importance of differentiating yourself from similar products will become more integral to your success.
Shelf Space Is Limited
Consumers aren’t the only ones that will judge your product branding. Brick-and-mortar retailers will as well.
Think about it – With limited shelf space, retailers like Walmart and others have to be selective about which products they let into their stores and which ones they reject. Retailer’s intention is to bring products in that will excite consumers enough to drive sales and entice loyalty.
If your product boasts vanilla packaging and has no “wow” factor associated with it, why would a retailer want to carry you over a competitor’s? The answer is that they wouldn’t.
Therein lies another reason why it’s important to discover more inspiration on product branding and to work with people that can guide you to a successful strategy.
Perception Affects Quality
When consumers fall in love with your branding, they’ll be more forgiving of your product. This correlation between perception and enjoyment is something you’ve probably experienced at some point in your life.
For example, let’s say you gained access to a restaurant that had a wait-list that was weeks long and you paid a premium to eat there. Chances are, you’d be predisposed to having a great experience.
Granted, if your product is notably bad, lack of quality can override a positive initial perception. If your product is middling or better though, great branding could make it so your consumers perceive what you’re selling to be excellent.
Companies Hang Their Hats on Loyalty
Great branding means more repeat buyers. And that’s important because new customers are much harder to attract than repeat ones.
You’ll learn firsthand how important repeat shoppers are to your bottom line as your product moves through its life cycle. Believe us when we say that earning customer loyalty is made much easier if you take the time to build up a brand successfully.
Protecting Yourself Through Uniqueness
Branding that is stark and original is branding that’s protected. Branding that’s vanilla and similar to other brands lives in a much murkier area that is a lot easier for others to copy.
If you want to be able to bring intellectual property lawsuits against companies that you feel infringe on what you’re doing, unmistakable building branding will serve that end so make those investments and better insulate yourself from theft today!
What Does Your Product Branding Strategy Look Like Going Forward?
You’ve just read a rundown on the importance of product branding. After having gone through our information, does your product branding strategy look different? Are you more committed to investing in unique branding?
We hope so and advise you to connect with brand designers and experts today to get consults on what their vision for your product(s) looks like. We’re confident you won’t be disappointed with what they cook up.
For more on product branding and related topics, explore additional content on our blog.
